Approximately 400 Warsaw Community Schools teachers became the students Wednesday afternoon.
Warsaw Schools dismissed early so teachers could participate in staff development. But instead of being told what conferences to attend, teachers made their own choices based on what their interests and needs were.
According to Tom Kline, WCS secondary education curriculum director, Warsaw Schools prepared for the "teacher's choice" conferences for the past six months. He said the school system saw a need for teachers to have staff development in many different directions.Teachers gave the planning committee ideas of what they would like to see.
Interests were then matched up with an expert in the area to lead the 45-minute sessions.
Teachers had the opportunity to attend three different sessions. The first two were for secondary teachers, and the second and third sessions were for elementary teachers, with the second session overlapping for both.
Inbetween the sessions, Kline said, snacks were provided by the Culinary Arts Program, sponsored by the Warsaw Education Foundation and Horace Mann.
Kline said the presentations ranged from technology-oriented sessions to one about gangs. There were presentations on CPR training, Rosetta Stone, netTrekker and on the book "Made to Stick."
Embarq showed teachers how to use their CCC video. Nancy Rooker, WCS, said Kathy Black, a trainer with New Dimensions Media, gave the session on the CCC video. Embarq sponsored it, so there was no cost to the school corporation.
The WPD session on gangs was "very popular," according to Rooker.
"Our whole thought, leading up to this, was to do two of these," said Rooker. The second one is scheduled for April 1.
All the participating 400 teachers signed up for the sessions online. She said there were 47 different presenters, with some of them working together.
"We really have some very talented teachers with these areas of expertise," said Rooker.
