Thirty-eight teachers from Sampson County Schools and Clinton City Schools descended upon the grounds of Sampson Community College for a three-day workshop that focused on “Raising the Roof in Teaching 21st Century Skills.” The workshop, which was made possible through the SCC Tech Prep Consortium, was held on the campus June 15 – 17.

“Raising the Roof” was no ordinary staff development workshop. Rather, it was an exciting opportunity for area educators to join forces and experience new techniques for the classroom. Workshops centralized around classroom management and taught ways to implement practical, proven and powerful strategies ready for use in any classroom. Phillis Ostheim, a retired educator from Duplin County, was the presenter who provided the three day staff development opportunity. According to Kim Fann, career development coordinator and CTE director for Clinton High School, the workshop was a perfect collaboration between the school systems and SCC. “The workshop provided a wonderful opportunity for teachers in different program areas to be able to come together as a professional learning community with the opportunity to network and learn as a group.”

Additional focus was paid to writing materials from the International Center for Leadership in Education and included techniques for designing rigorous and relevant lesson plans. In particular, special attention was geared toward technical writing of all courses as well as tips for technology use, presentation guidelines and assessment strategies. The workshop concluded with a comprehensive look at literacy materials as well as the implementation of twenty reading strategies that were presented with the hopes of also increasing reading comprehension.

According to Sue Miller, vice president of academic affairs at SCC and coordinator of the Tech Prep Grant, the workshop was an enormous accomplishment for effective education in Sampson County and the students it serves. “The workshop encompassed a variety of techniques that provided a wealth of information that we hope these teachers will take back to their individual school systems.”