Wagilabs: What A Great Idea!

by Pamela Stepko and Kim Williamson WagiLabs is on a mission to change the world one idea and one community at a time. The program is designed to develop a ‘kidpreneur’ mindset in which students embrace curiosity, compassion, courage, and connection in order to change their communities.   Students at Cumberland County Elementary School began their journey this summer by looking inwards and identifying their passions. Next, they focused outwards, taking a critical look at their community and identifying potential areas for improvement. An emphasis was placed on viewing the community from multiple perspectives and walking in the shoes of all its members. Themes explored included mindfulness, empathy, collaboration, struggle, and perseverance.

This culminated in a series of collaborative brainstorming sessions, where the students were encouraged to translate their passions into action plans that could create real, positive changes in their community. WagiLabs, developed by Chic Thompson with Sandy Damashek, Emmanuel Abebrese, Jennifer Krzewinski, Mary Green and Miya King, ignites a reflective culture and encompasses the “5C’s” (collaboration, communication, creative thinking, critical thinking, and citizenship) through embedding the five core Wagi Ways : “Get Messy,” “Yes, And,” “Dream Big,” “Do Good,” and “Keep Going.” Find out more about Wagilabs and follow Cumberland County's project here.

OUR GIFT TO NEW TEACHERS EVERY new teacher in Virginia is invited to join the New Teacher Network, sponsored by VASCD and the Virginia Teachers of the Year We'll provide support and encouragement all year long! Sign up by Sept 30 LEARN WITH US THIS FALL We have outstanding seminars, conferences and other learning opportunities coming your way. We'll help you build classroom community, "gamify" your instruction, design performance assessment, and more! Find out  more!

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