The first salon was held at Charter Farms on May 4, 2011. The topic was what kind of education system is needed to make the Lehigh Valley an innovative region. About 25 participants shared their concerns about education and also education experiences from their past that had a particularly strong impact on their success in life. The document below summarizes the conversation from the evening:
Notes from Salon on 4 May 2011
The second salon was held at Charter Farms on August 3, 2011, continuing the discussion about the education system needed to make the Lehigh Valley an innovative region. Several participants shared prepared comments on education challenges and issues that reflected personal experience and perspectives from students, educators, and business leaders. The group then divided into 3 subteams, with each team tasked to look forward to 2025 and identify what skills, knowledge, experience, etc. would be part of educating the ideal graduate if there were no constraints. Notes from this salon are included below.
Notes from Salon on 3 August 2011
As an interesting adjunct to the second salon, artist Anthony Marracinni developed a graphic that captured the discussion while everyone was talking. A photo of this graphic is included below.
The third salon was held at Charter Farms on Wednesday, November 30. Part of the discussion continued about issues with our education system when it comes to skills such as initiative and innovation which are in much higher demand today. However, many participants had expressed an interest in finding a way to try some of the things we have discussed. So this time a contingent from Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School was invited to share what they are doing with Charter Partners Institute. The two organizations have partnered to evaluate how to incorporate innovative leadership skills into the core curriculum for all students at the school. We learned about the vision for that partnership and what has transpired, and also talked about some unmet needs identified by the team. Participants were very interested to contribute their knowledge, skills, and connections to assist, which requires some kind of process or system to match the right people with the needs of the student teams. Some online tools will be available in the near future to help, and we can consider other ways to build and maintain such connections. Notes from the session are included at the link below.
Notes from Salon on 30 November 2011