8 am - 11:50 am (Leadership Summit) Wednesday, February 14

Today’s school and district leaders are facing more challenges than ever before. Rising costs, inadequate funding, and political pressures seemingly force leaders to do more and more with less and less each year. Simultaneously, the current speed of technological breakthroughs has led to the coming age of workplace automation, currently being accelerated by artificial intelligence, dramatically altering the world of work that our students will enter upon graduation. With the vast disparities of inequity that have existed for centuries, school and district leaders must work tirelessly to break many patterns of the past, particularly for traditionally marginalized groups.

Built upon the foundation of collaborative leadership and school culture, a redesigned learning experience fundamentally shifts the teaching and learning paradigm to one that prepares students to be future ready, where each child has a voice, and their unique story is valued. Participants will take part in a handful of fun and engaging culture-building activities that they can replicate for those they serve to impact their schools as well as an evidence-based framework for sustainable transformation.

• Leverage the Future Ready Framework as a foundation for innovative change;

• Take part in a variety of culture-building activities that they can bring back to their school and district teams;

• Begin to shift professional practices to support innovation and sustainability across the curriculum;

• Understand the latest research and emerging practices that support digital learning innovation;

• Explore and discuss the role of artificial intelligence as part of the K-12 experience;

• Utilize a problem-solving protocol to collaboratively navigate current challenges; and

• Build a network with like-minded educators who support empowerment and leadership.

8 am - 11:50 am (Leadership Summit) Wednesday, February 14

After serving at both the elementary and secondary levels, and then as a school and district leader, Tom now serves as the Director of Innovation for Future Ready SchoolsⓇ, a project of All4Ed, located in Washington, D.C. He has testified before the United States Congress and has previously worked alongside that body and the US Senate, the White House, the US Department of Education and state departments of education, and school districts throughout the country to implement student-centered learning. Murray serves as a regular conference keynote, and has previously been named one of “20 to Watch” by NSBA, the “National/Global EdTech Leader of the Year”, the “Education Thought Leader of the Year”, and the “Education Policy Person of the Year” by the Academy of Arts and Sciences. His best-selling book, Learning Transformed, was released with ASCD, and his most recent book, Personal & Authentic, is also a best seller. Connect with him at thomascmurray.com.

Follow Thomas on X (Twitter) @thomascmurray

Dr. Adam Phyall III is the Director of Professional Learning and Leadership for Future Ready Schools and former Director of Technology and Library Media Services for Newton County School System in Covington, GA. Since Adam got his first laptop in college, he has been hooked on the fantastic things that technology can add. Early in his teaching career, Adam began having students create videos and podcasts to explain advanced science concepts. Once Adam saw the impact that technology had on learning in his classroom, he began to share his activities and strategies with his peers. This led to Dr. Phyall working as a Building Instructional Technology Leader and later as a Director of Technology & Media Services.

Throughout his professional career, Dr.Phyall worked extensively with Title I and Urban schools to improve technology integration with economically disadvantaged students. He has planned and developed Mobile Learning plans for school districts in Georgia and Missouri that have led to 1:1 device initiatives. His philosophy on teaching is “if you’re having fun teaching it, then your students will have fun learning it.”

Follow Dr. Phyall on X (Twitter) @AskAdam3