60 educators from a dozen Adirondack schools gathered at the CFES Center to plan their programs for this school year aimed to build college and career readiness for some 3,000 students.

This article originally appeared in the Plattsburgh Press Republican. Read the original story here.

ESSEX — Sixty educators from a dozen Adirondack schools gathered at the CFES Center to plan their programs for this school year aimed to build college and career readiness for some 3,000 students.

The gathering for Adirondack educators was one of 12 planning and training workshops that CFES hosted in Essex and around the United States for more than 500 educators in September.

“These annual workshops provide educators with support to reflect on past activities and develop innovative ways to guide their students through the CFES core practices: Pathways to College and Career, Essential Skills and Mentoring,” a press release from the Essex-based organization said.

PERSONALIZED

Rachael Charron, an English teacher at Crown Point Central School, found the workshop a good opportunity to connect with and exchange ideas with other educators.

“We love attending this event, and it is especially refreshing to hear how CFES programs work in other schools and to gather their ideas to strengthen our own,” she said in the release.

Each Adirondack school personalizes CFES programs to best prepare their scholars for college and career, the release said.

For example, during the 2016-17 school year at Keeseville Elementary, the sixth-grade grade class built leadership skills when they organized a basketball tournament to raise money for a family whose home was destroyed by fire.

Scholars at Saranac Central School developed and implemented a peer mentoring program that matched middle schoolers with high school students.

And across all 12 schools, 2,700 Adirondack students visited at least one college campus.

PATHWAY TO SUCCESS

CFES Vice President for Programs Tara Smith was inspired by the commitment of the Adirondack educators.

“Our world changes so quickly that we don’t know what specific careers will be available to our students in 10 years,” she said in the release.

“But these students have support from their teachers and community to help them navigate those changes and put them on the pathway to success.”

CFES is a global leader helping K-12 students from low-income rural and urban communities become college and career ready.

CFES SCHOOLS

A dozen Adirondack schools participate in CFES:

  • Ausable Forks Elementary and Keeseville Elementary, both part of
  • Ausable Valley Central School.
  • Beekmantown Central School District.
  • Crown Point Central School.
  • Elizabethtown-Lewis Central School.
  • Keene Central School.
  • Lake Placid Central School.
  • Peru Central School.
  • Plattsburgh High School.
  • Saranac Central School District.
  • Ticonderoga Central School District.
  • Westport Central School District.
  • Willsboro Central School.