Spotlighting Excellence: SAU 29’s Innovation Institute Allows Teachers to Share Creative Concepts, Best Practices

With about 1,000 instructional staff and leadership spread across seven communities, collaboration within School Administrative Unit 29 in Keene is a continual challenge.

So in 2017, SAU 29 launched its first Innovation Institute, a full-day professional development conference led by SAU teachers. This year, nearly 50 teachers presented workshops at Keene High School on Nov. 5, bringing together professional staff from SAU 29 schools in Chesterfield, Harrisville, Keene, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson and Westmoreland.

Like any conference, attendees could select topics that best suited their classroom needs and professional interests. Workshops this year included arts integration, innovative teaching strategies, best practices to support student success, and technology tools and techniques. By sharing strategies and pedagogy, teachers help ensure learning equity across all buildings and grades.

“I’ve had teachers say to me, ‘I look forward to this day every year,” Superintendent Robert Malay said. “Our staff wants to share; they truly want to help one another.”

Lessons learned at the Institute have an immediate impact.

“Our staff is able to learn at a very high level and take a number of best practices back to their classrooms and students the next day,” Malay said.

Collaboration extends beyond the conference, as instructional staff also take an active role in mentoring and ongoing professional learning. Wells Memorial School Principal Kate Abbott and Jen Antosiewicz, an instructor at the Cheshire Career Center at Keene High School, serve as Co-Chairs of the Professional Development Committee, which includes both teachers and administrators. Abbott and Antosiewicz presented about the Innovation Institute to the Board of Education.

Abbott, Antosiewicz, and Superintendent Malay highlighted the Institute and its benefits to members of the state Board of Education on Thursday, Nov. 14, as part of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association’s monthly presentation.

“The depth and breadth of knowledge among instructional staff is an important reason New Hampshire ranks among the best states in the nation for public education,” said Mark MacLean, Executive Director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association. “Through the Innovation Institute, SAU 29 staff renew their commitment to quality education, which tremendously benefits their students.”