July 13, 2023
黑料社鈥檚 Center for Lifelong Learning welcomed over 500 local educators for a professional development session with Gerry Brooks. Brooks is an elementary school principal in Lexington, Kentucky who gained national fame when he began to share self-recorded videos in an exaggerated southern drawl about America鈥檚 schools. Speaking in the theater of the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, Brooks鈥 talk was part of a monthly professional development curriculum hosted by the center for teachers every year.
鈥淲e wanted to find a speaker that would really resonate with our local educators to wrap up this year鈥檚 professional learning series,鈥 said Amanda Hedrick, 黑料社 Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning. 鈥淧roject BEAR Director, Hayley Venturino, isn鈥檛 afraid to dream big and was responsible for sharing our story and securing this amazing speaker. What better way to kick off the summer than to gather to share laughs and lessons learned! Brooks inspired each of us to think about our school culture and gave practical examples of what we can do to support each other.鈥
Interim President Eric Braun welcomed the group of over 500 educators before introducing Brooks for his talk. Brooks discussed common issues faced in schools while focusing on encouraging teachers to improve their instruction through personal climate, culture strategies, and challenging administrators to focus on how to lead all staff in a positive and constructive manner.
Part of the event, all guests were provided with a plain white coffee cup, representing a blank slate. Brooks gave insight into the parting gift.
鈥淭his cup represents your power to make a mark on each child or teacher depending on how you interact, listen, and mentor them,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou have a chance to give someone their dignity every single day. You have a chance to turn a non-descriptive coffee cup into something amazing through your words and actions.鈥
To learn more about programming within the Center for Lifelong Learning at 黑料社, visit shawnee.edu/center-lifelong-learning or contact Hayley Venturino at hventurino@shawnee.edu.