Take a deeper dive into the topics that matter most.
Scroll down to explore each breakout session, meet the incredible educators and leaders behind them, and start mapping out the conversations that will shape your summit experience.
Tiny House Showcase Session
Tiny House Showcase Session
Presenter: Nancy Fritcher, Millard Hawk Elementary School, Central Square CSD
The Tiny House Showcase session will be an interactive presentation offering a space for attendees to engage with a truly authentic learning experience from inception to fruition. In this session, facilitators will demonstrate how students transitioned from "learners" to "lead architects" by showcasing their design portfolios, architect clipboards, and their tiny house models. Fourth grade students will be invited to attend, bring their Tiny Houses, and discuss the authentic learning experience. Educators will have the opportunity to engage with facilitators and students alike. This session aims to share actionable strategies for project-based learning, allowing colleagues to leave with an action plan and sustainable design for their own classroom.
Resources:
Grade levels: All
Harnessing the Power of AI
Harnessing the Power of AI
Presenter: Thomas Colabufo, Superintendent, Central Square CSD
This session equips teachers and administrators with practical strategies for integrating artificial intelligence into classroom practice. Participants explore popular AI tools with proven student engagement potential, then see firsthand how AI's conversational capabilities can deepen and differentiate instruction — all grounded in Harvey Silver's Thoughtful Classroom framework. Whether you are new to AI or looking to go further with tools you've already tried, this session offers concrete takeaways you can bring back to your school or district immediately.
Resources: Presentation
Grade levels: All
AI Friend, Foe, or Tool
Presenter Lisa Blank
Organization Watertown CSD
Offered In Session 3
Thread Applied Pedagogy & Instructional Practice
Navigating the AI Paradox in STEM Classrooms through an interactive exploration of strategies to use and opportunities for students.
Animate to Innovate
Presenter Bryan Zevotek
Organization Watertown CSD
Offered In Session 2
Thread Curiosity & Innovation
In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore accessible animation tools and discover how student-created animations can transform the way learners engage with and demonstrate understanding. Rather than simply regurgitating information, students become creators, designing animations that visualize concepts, tell stories, and reveal genuine comprehension. We’ll explore how animation crosses curriculum lines, from illustrating a scientific process to retelling a historical event or representing a math concept in motion. No prior animation experience needed — just a curiosity for rethinking how students show what they know. You’ll leave with beginner-friendly tools, cross-curricular project ideas, and a fresh perspective on student creativity as a powerful learning strategy.
Adaptable Arthropods: Build-an-Insect
Presenter Dan Collins
Organization SUNY ESF
Offered In Sessions 1
Thread Applied Pedagogy & Instructional Practice
In this session, I will walk participants through the synapomorphies of insects, and then some of their variations/adaptations. This will allow participants to take notes and design their own insect with the provided worksheet. Examples of scaling this activity up and down based on grade level, as well as extensions into language and writing will be provided.
Brain STEM Curriculum: Addictions and Concussions
Presenter Leigha Burkhalter
Organization Clarkson University
Offered In Session 2
Thread Applied Pedagogy & Instructional Practice
A research-informed curriculum session exploring how brain science connects to student health topics including addiction and concussion — integrated through a STEM lens.
Building Classrooms & Careers: Apprenticeships for Students and Educators
Presenter Krystal Ripa
Organization SUNY Empire State University
Offered In Session 2
Thread Workforce & Community Ecosystems
Explores how apprenticeship models can simultaneously strengthen student career pathways while addressing educator and school workforce shortages. By embedding apprenticeship opportunities directly within school districts and educational ecosystems, students gain meaningful early career exposure, paid work-based learning experiences, industry-aligned skills, and college credit opportunities — while schools cultivate future educators, support staff, and workforce talent from within their own communities. Empire’s statewide reach, strong employer and workforce relationships, flexible learning models, and commitment to adult and nontraditional learners make it an ideal partner for districts seeking innovative, community-centered solutions.
Business and School: Forming Meaningful Partnerships That Benefit Our Students
Presenter Elizabeth Garofalo
Organization Canastota Central School District
Offered In Session 3
Thread Workforce & Community Ecosystems
How do the business community and school district “show up” for each other? This session explores how to form partnerships and work side by side to provide work-based learning experiences for students. Students earn micro-credentials and foundational employability skills while businesses work with future employees and help shape the workforce.
Capstone for All: Preparing Students to Adapt to a Rapidly Changing World
Presenter Cindy Hlywa
Organization East Syracuse Minoa CHS
Offered In Sessions 2
Thread Curiosity & Innovation
A brief overview of the yearlong Capstone course taught at East Syracuse Minoa CHS, followed by two immersive idea development experiences. The session addresses how to prepare students for an unpredictable future through curiosity, collaboration, and authentic problem-solving.
City & School Synergy: A Blueprint for Civic-Powered Community Revitalization
Presenter Ami LaDuc, Karen Noel, Denise Rodriguez, Kelly Stadtmiller, Mayor James Rice & Chris Waldron
Organization Fulton City SD / City of Fulton
Offered In Session 1
Thread Workforce & Community Ecosystems
What happens when you give students the keys to their own community? The City and School Synergy Program empowers Fulton’s youth to take active ownership of their city throughout their secondary school careers. Join us to see how Fulton is transforming with its community partners. Participants leave with insights and a blueprint to implement a similar program in their own community.
Resources: City & School Synergy: A Blueprint for a Civic-Powered Community Revitalization
Hi-5 Friends: Empowering Youth Leaders
Presenter Joe Palmer
Organization Frankfort-Schuyler CSD
Offered In Session 3
Thread Equity, Identity & Student Voice
An exploration of youth leadership development, offering practical strategies for empowering student voice and building leadership capacity across secondary grade levels.
Invent It Forward
Presenter Rick Beal
Organization Terra Science and Education
Offered In Session 1
Thread Curiosity & Innovation
Terra Science and Education provides innovation, invention, and entrepreneurial learning to instill problem identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and creativity skills for life. K–12 students can compete at local, regional, state, and national levels in Invention Convention events for awards, prizes, patents, and even the chance to be on Shark Tank. Terra offers a free curriculum guiding students from idea generation to a working prototype, and can help schools host their own Invention Convention event.
Resources: Description
Portraits with a Purpose: Using AI to Transform Student Identity and Readiness — The Brockport Story
Presenter Anthony Smith, Brockport CSD and Ryan Lanigan, Phoenix CSD
Organization Brockport CSD; Phoenix CSD
Offered In Session 1
An exploration of how Brockport CSD used AI tools to transform how students understand and communicate their own identity and readiness.
Resources: Presentation
Prop Talk: Communicating with an Individual’s Lived Experience
Presenter Katie Laissle
Organization Syracuse Stage
Offered In Session 3
Thread Equity, Identity & Student Voice
Clear communication is the backbone of any successful team, and theatre offers a powerful, hands-on way to build it. Participants step into the roles of directors and designers, challenged to communicate a specific visual concept using only written, email-style messages — no images, no sketches. Through a few rounds of exchange, teams refine their language, clarify intent, and navigate misinterpretation before the designer brings the idea to life. Inspired by the collaborative process of theatre props artisans, this exercise reveals how easily meaning can shift and how precise, thoughtful communication can bridge the gap.
Question Formulation Technique
Presenter Leigha Burkhalter
Organization Clarkson University
Offered In Session 1
Thread Applied Pedagogy & Instructional Practice
An introduction to the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) — a structured protocol for teaching students to ask their own questions. Applicable across grade levels and disciplines, QFT builds student curiosity, critical thinking, and ownership of learning.
STEM Community Partnership: Work as a Micron Fellow with the MOST Museum
Presenter Brian Heffron
Organization CiTI BOCES
Offered In Session 2
Thread Workforce & Community Ecosystems
A sharing of the work being done through the Micron Fellowship in partnership with the MOST Museum — exploring how school, business, and community institutions can collaborate to build STEM-rich ecosystems that serve students and the broader region.
Tough Empathy Pedagogy in Action: Supporting Student Growth Without Lowering the Standard
Presenter Kayla Akbar
Organization Le Moyne College C-STEP
Offered In Session 2
Thread Equity, Identity & Student Voice
Explores how educators can support students with both high expectations and high levels of care without lowering standards or removing accountability. This session introduces tough empathy pedagogy — a relational and purpose-driven approach that helps students build confidence, self-efficacy, and long-term success. Through an interactive reflection activity, real practitioner examples, and practical strategies across K–12, higher education, and workforce development spaces, participants examine how purposeful support helps students navigate barriers, discover identity, and take ownership of their pathways.
3-D Modeling and Printing Across the Curriculum
Presenter Bryan Zevotek
Organization Watertown CSD
Offered In Session 3
Thread Curiosity & Innovation
In this hands-on, collaborative workshop, educators will explore 3D modeling tools like TinkerCAD and other accessible design software while getting their hands on real printed examples they can bring back to their classrooms. Together, we’ll move 3D printing out of the maker space and into everyday instruction — deepening learning across disciplines from math and science to history, art, and beyond. You’ll leave with practical project ideas, software confidence, and a clearer vision for how hands-on, visual learning can transform your classroom.
Using Gallup CliftonStrengths to Help Students Tell Their Story
Presenter Paul Muench
Organization Daneli Partners
Offered In Session 1
Thread Equity, Identity & Student Voice
Daneli Partners has partnered with K–12 schools and numerous colleges across the state to develop students’ strengths and prepare them for success in the workforce. Using Gallup CliftonStrengths, students gain a clear understanding of their natural talents and how those strengths shape them as they intentionally work toward the attributes outlined in a Portrait of a Graduate. Students learn to lead with authenticity and communicate their value with purpose and clarity.
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