The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Initiative announce 2021 Vision Building Workshops for Arkansas schools considering implementation of an EAST program.

Workshop Information:

The Vision Building Workshop is a chance to get an overview of the EAST Program and a chance to learn more about EAST students and projects. Matt Dozier, President of the EAST Initiative, will present the EAST model; and Melanie Bradford, Grants and Special Projects Coordinator for the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will be on hand to answer questions about this year’s opportunities for start-up funding. This workshop is the best opportunity for prospective EAST schools to see, hear, and ask questions. This is the time for local teams to seriously begin the process that leads to local school adoption of EAST in the local community. It is also a required activity for the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Grant Program.

Experience has taught that the EAST programs which see the greatest success are those started with the strongest foundation of local support. Therefore, it is recommended a team of people from different areas of the local educational community attend the meeting. Team members should ideally include a district level administrator, a building level administrator, a counselor (or whoever schedules students for classes) and a teacher representative.

To register, contact Melanie Bradford, with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, (Melanie.Bradford@ade.arkansas.gov) or Tami Baker, Executive Coordinator to the President/CEO, (Tami@EASTstaff.org) with the date your local district plans to attend.

Please direct further questions about this workshop to Melanie Bradford at 501-951-5164 or Tami Baker at 501-472-7852.