In this post, we would like to thank the partners that made the Expanding Horizons deep dive possible. This experience was developed to support other districts interested in designing work based learning experiences with organizations in their local context.
SeaWorld San Diego, a long-time partner of San Diego Unified welcomed participants with open arms and hosted the opening of PoPPCon 2019. SeaWorld went above and beyond providing not only a venue, but also park admission for each attendee. Expanding Horizons participants were then treated to a behind the scenes look at SeaWorld Rescue, which serves as the inspiration for the Ocean Link Lab experience that was explored the next day. The Ocean Link Lab was co-developed by San Diego Unified and SeaWorld Education to look at ways human actions are impacting ocean ecosystems.
Attendees were then provided a glimpse of San Diego Unified’s Elementary STEAM effort being piloted at 32 sites. Sunset View principal Jamey Jaramillo shared her experience rolling out the STEAM program at her school and opened classrooms where students were busy collaborating and exploring the interactions between organisms and their environment. A unit informed by our partners at SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, and Project Wildlife.
We then transitioned to BioLabs San Diego where our friends at LaunchBio detailed how Community Block Grant funds are being used to illuminate the world of entrepreneurialism in biotech. Presentations from Ed Hidalgo, Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab and World of Work Founder, Dr. Edward Abeyta Associate Dean UCSD Extension, and Thrively, rounded out a day that highlighted learning and discovery across a lifespan, or as Ed and Ed like to say, K-gray.
Expanding Horizons culminated Friday aboard the USS Midway where educators experienced what the Classroom of the Future Foundation is doing for students in the realm of Cyber Security as well as how Raytheon engineers donate free time to open up the world of automation, robotics, and engineering in their STEM Innovation Lab. The Midway also provided a powerful example of how a school/district might enter into a win-win partnership with local museums to bring history to life while providing standards aligned work based learning experiences that support 21st century skill development. The Shipboard Engineering and Damage Control Excursion is just one of many educational programs offered by the USS Midway, what makes it unique is that it was developed in partnership with SDUSD teachers Melissa Maggio, Philip Prado, and Cora Trojanowski. Their contribution to PoPPCon emphasized what a tremendous resource our teachers are when developing programs with partners.
This conference, nor the unique experiences only available here in San Diego Unified would not be possible without our tremendous partners. We would like to thank the entire San Diego community who come together time and time again in service of our students. It was our pleasure to show off all of your efforts and we look forward to working with you to deliver another one of a kind learning excursion next year, PoPPCon 2020 :)
