2026 C2C Annual Education Summit
About this Event
Join us for an inspiring day of community collaboration at the Cradle 2 Career Annual Education Summit!
🗓️ October 20th, 2026
📍 Mayo Civic Center
🎟️ Free admission & lunch
This year's theme:
"Instruments of Change: How We All Play A Part"
We're bringing together people from all walks of life who care about educational outcomes in Rochester - including teachers, parents, business leaders, community members, youth-serving organizations, and students. Together, we'll explore exciting ways to support our young people from early childhood to their careers.
What's in it for you?
- Hear inspiring stories of local success
- Share your ideas for improving educational outcomes
- Connect with others who are passionate about our community's future
- Enjoy a day of learning, networking, and free lunch
Whether you're an education professional or simply care about Rochester's youth, there's a place for you at our summit. Come be part of the change!
Register now and help shape the future of educational outcomes in Rochester!
Learn more about Cradle 2 Career on our website.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agenda Overview:
Venue Opens | Light Breakfast 8:00 - 9:00 am
Warm Welcome 8:25 - 8:45 am
Julie Ruzek, Executive Director, Cradle 2 Career
Student Talks 8:45 - 9:20 am
Students from the P-TECH Program will take the stage to share their passions, ideas, and interests in the style of a TED Talk. This is an opportunity for them to use their voice, inspire others, and practice presenting on topics that matter most to them.
Breakout Session 1: 9:30 - 10:20 am
Breakout Session 2: 10:30 - 11:20 am
Breakout Session 3: 11:30 am - 12:20 pm
*Breakout Sessions & their descriptions are included in the agenda breakdown below.
Lunch 12:30 - 1:10 pm
Enjoy a buffet-style lunch featuring a build-your-own salad and sandwich bar.
Panel Discussion 1:20 - 2:15 pm
Instruments of Change: How We All Play A Part
Rochester Public Schools
Rochester Community and Technical College
University of Minnesota Rochester
Olmsted County
City of Rochester
Strive Together
Afternoon Breakout Sessions: Centering Physical & Emotional Wellness 2:25 - 3:15 or 2:25- 4:25 pm
Choose from a variety of afternoon sessions focused on physical and emotional wellness. Session lengths vary, with some lasting 50 minutes and others continuing for the full two-hour block. Attendees are welcome to depart once their selected afternoon session has concluded.
Session 1
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Don’t Create a New Song—Join the One Already Playing: Rethinking Engagement
Host: Beth Martinez, Cradle 2 Career
Info: Authentic community engagement isn't always about creating something new. Sometimes, it means listening, showing up, building relationships, and joining the spaces where families are already gathering.
In this session, learn how Cradle 2 Career has partnered with Pamoja Women to strengthen the way we gather caregiver and parent voice while keeping engagement within spaces that are already familiar and trusted by our community. Rather than asking families to join another group or meeting, we chose to join a space that was already established.
Participants will explore how they can collaborate with existing community spaces, uplift caregiver voices, and advocate alongside families to better understand and respond to their community's authentic needs.
We all play a part—and sometimes our role is simply to listen, join in, and help amplify the voices already leading the way.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Turning Student Support Into Lasting Change
Host: Anna Schmidt, Cradle 2 Career
Info: Over the past year, the High School Graduation Network has worked to strengthen the supports that help students navigate the transition from high school to what's next. Partners have tested approaches to increase access to financial aid support while exploring how schools, employers, and community organizations can work together to expand career-connected learning opportunities.
In this session, we'll follow the network's journey from where we started and what we tried, to what we learned and what we're working to change. We'll share what the network has learned from implementing tactics in the community and explore how those lessons are shaping a broader vision for systems change. Together, we'll consider opportunities for policy and practice change and how collective action can help turn those opportunities into lasting change.
Come learn how small-scale action can reveal opportunities for larger systems change, and consider what role you can play in moving that change forward.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Student Talks
Host: Leah Baethke, Rochester Public Schools
Info: For the last several years, the 10th graders have culminated their time in the P-TECH classrooms by giving their own TED-style talks. They have the opportunity to select their own topic, plan their presentation, gather any necessary information or visuals, and present it to their peers. Through this assignment, students are able to pursue and share their passions and interests.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Student to Student Mentoring
Host: Kristopher Davidson, Rochester Public Schools
Info: Gage has created, implemented and grown a peer mentoring program entitled, 'Student to Student Mentoring'. The program has many components, but essentially pairs one fifth grader with one to two kindergarten students to tutor/mentor kindergartners in literacy every morning. The program has yielded increasingly strong results in literacy for kindergarten students. Mentoring has also demonstrated strong social-emotional outcomes for students. The session will include all aspects of the program from design, implementation, reflection and opportunities for continuous improvement. Growth data will be shared as well as next steps.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
The Power of Connecting Across Local, Regional, State and National Levels[...]
Host: Abby Wicker, StriveTogether
Info: Cradle 2 Career has spent a decade plus proving Rochester's cross-sector partners can move outcomes when they align. But local proof points hit a ceiling: they stay local and are subject to the winds of change unless something connects them to state policy, funding, and data systems. This session introduces "Nested Civic Infrastructure" (NCI), a framework StriveTogether developed with the national Cradle to Career Network for how community, regional, and state systems become formally and durably connected. Attendees will leave with a concrete picture of where that connection is already working to advance Rochester's Cradle to Career outcomes and the potential that exist.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
From Community Voice to Collective Action: Inside RPS 2030
Host: Kent Pekel, Rochester Public Schools
Info: RPS 2030 is Rochester Public Schools’ community-informed plan for ensuring every student is challenged to strive and supported to thrive. Developed over the course of a year, the plan reflects input from hundreds of students, families, educators, and community members through three working groups focused on elementary, middle, and high school, as well as interviews, focus groups, surveys, and feedback forms. This session will offer an engaging look at the plan’s major priorities, the evidence and promising practices behind them, and the systems needed to turn strategy into results. The timing is especially significant: the Rochester School Board is scheduled to vote on RPS 2030 the evening of the summit. Participants will also learn how businesses, nonprofits, postsecondary institutions, youth-serving organizations, and other partners can become involved in supporting and implementing the plan.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Teaching Struggling Readers: Working together using science and proven [...]
Host: Evalina Day, The Reading Center
Info: This session will explore the Science of Reading (SOR), research on struggling readers, proven techniques for these students, and a partnership between a local nonprofit, The Reading Center (TRC), and Rochester Public Schools (RPS) to improve literacy outcomes.
15% of students have difficulties learning to read despite appropriate classroom instruction. TRC has specialized in Orton-Gillingham, successfully helping these students since 1951. TRC aims to reach underserved students by partnering with schools and providing no-cost tutoring where most students are at a lower socioeconomic level. This year, we have expanded this partnership to training educators at no cost. An RPS reading specialist will share her training experience.
TRC offers online, SOR-aligned Professional Development free to MN teachers and to the attendees of the C2C convening through Dec. 31, 2026. Schools can consider inviting TRC to partner with their schools, and educators can learn about O-G training.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Two Generations, One Future: Disrupting Poverty in Rochester
Host: Katie Ticho, Jeremiah Program
Info: This session presents Jeremiah Program's two-generation (2Gen) model, a proven framework for disrupting intergenerational poverty by serving mothers and children simultaneously. It integrates replicable practices: coordinated education/career coaching, an onsite Child Development Center, Empowerment & Leadership curriculum, and stable housing.
Attendees will gain practical strategies adaptable to any sector. In a small-group exercise attendees will map a "two-generation opportunity" within their organization and leave with a tool for immediate use.
The session offers a model for identifying collaborative partners, showing how JP's local network, spanning referral, education, and family-support functions, operates in practice.
The content is evidence-based with ~20,000 single mothers in poverty across southeastern Minnesota. Real outcomes show how micro-level service data fuels macro-level coalition-building and advocacy that extends benefits to families never formally enrolled at JP.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
Why Educators Stay: Leadership Lessons for Retention and Commitment
Host: Sumeyye Kucukosman, Harmony Public Schools
Info: Educator retention is essential to stable educational systems that support students from cradle to career. Drawing on qualitative research with veteran educators, this session shares promising practices associated with long-term commitment, including supportive leadership, collegial relationships, mission alignment, and practical organizational support. Participants will use a “Why Educators Stay” reflection tool to identify strengths and retention opportunities within their own settings. A stakeholder-mapping activity will help participants identify appropriate partners, such as educators, leaders, HR teams, preparation programs, and community organizations, and determine their roles in supporting retention. Participants will leave with research-informed strategies, discussion prompts, and a concrete action step for strengthening educator commitment through collaborative practice.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
The Hidden Sentence:Supporting Children and Adolescents With Incarcerated[...]
Host: Carrie O'Neill, Olmsted County Public Health
Info: In response to justice involved families in Olmsted County, local public health, corrections, and education partners have developed targeted initiatives to support affected youth and families. This session will provide an overview of local and state parental incarceration data showing potential impact on children’s development. Using the frameworks of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), ambiguous loss, and known student risk factors, presenters will share lessons from REAL Talk, a school-based support group facilitated by Public Health Nurses that has demonstrated positive outcomes for youth. Attendees will gain practical strategies, resources, and implementation ideas that can be adapted to their practices, leaving with actionable tools to strengthen local supports for children with incarcerated families.
Session 2
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
A Stronger Start, Together: Building an Aligned System for Young Children
Host: Greg Jacob, Cradle 2 Career
Info: Our community has many people and organizations working to support young children and families, but lasting change requires more than strong individual programs. Over the past year, the Transition 2 Kindergarten Network has been exploring how partners can work together to better support the social-emotional development of young children and the adults who care for them.
In this session, we'll follow the network's journey from where we started and what we tried, to what we learned and what we're working to change. We'll explore how the network has used local data and community perspectives to better understand the needs of children and families, and how that learning is shaping the network's next steps looking beyond individual programs to consider what could change across the broader early childhood system.
Join us to see how collective impact moves from individual efforts toward shared solutions, and how our community can help shape what's next.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
The Power of Talk: From Play to Print
Host: Danielle Knoll, Rochester Public Schools
Info: Engaging young children in rich conversational interactions is foundational to a student's literacy success. This session explores the importance of a language rich environment for young learners and its implications on reading comprehension. We will explore strategies for creating playful opportunities that support students' language development.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Who Believed in You? The Investment that Changes Everything
Host: Angie Ellsworth, Timeout Behavior Coaching
Info: Every leader’s story begins with someone who believed in them.
Through authentic stories and conversation, participants will reflect on the people who shaped their own growth and discover how everyday interactions can create cultures where individuals feel valued, empowered, and capable of leading through their influence.
Aligned with the Cradle 2 Career focus on investment and sustainability, this session highlights how stronger organizations and communities are built when we recognize and develop the strengths, skills, and leadership potential of all people—students, educators, families, employees, and community members.
Participants will leave with practical strategies to foster connection, confidence, collaboration, and leadership in their own settings, recognizing that meaningful change often begins with one intentional moment where someone feels seen, valued, and believed in.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
To Lead is to Serve: Creating Servant Leaders
Host: Purity Ongeri, Rochester Community Initiative
Info: We are going to be explaining how to create effective leaders using the 10 pillars of servant leadership: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, growth commitment, and community building. This is a philosophy coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, focusing on how to serve the community instead of having the community serve you. We find that this philosophy is going to be best implemented by high school teachers, counselors, and adults in order to prepare teenagers for post-secondary plans.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Beyond Internships: A Low-Cost Model for Authentic Student Work Experience
Host: Kari Kolling Anderson, Rochester Public Schools
Info: Many students from underrepresented backgrounds lack access to authentic workplace learning experiences that build confidence, skills, and a sense of belonging. Traditional workplace learning experiences or internships often happen outside the school day and are limited to those who have connections. Classroom instruction alone does not allow students to fully develop industry-specific skills needed for the workforce. In this session, you will learn how P-TECH 535, an early college high school, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN co-designed an authentic, work-based experience for students—during the school day—that met both student learning goals and organizational needs.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
From Reporting to Supporting: A Mindset Shift for Our Community
Host: Mary Eichten, Olmsted County Child and Family Services
Info: When can mandated supporting be our first response?
This session introduces a shift from a “mandated reporting first” mindset to a “mandated supporting” approach grounded in child and family wellbeing. Using local data on report types, screening decisions, and racial disproportionality, participants will identify practical, support‑focused strategies they can apply immediately in their own work settings.
Through interactive case examples, attendees will practice identifying concrete resources, alternative responses, and collaborative partners—such as community organizations and culturally specific providers—who can help meet family needs without unnecessary system involvement.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Building Mathematical Thinkers: How Communities Can Support Student Success
Host: Kelly Stroeing, Rochester Public Schools
Info: We will start with the vision and key shifts within Minnesota's new K-12 Mathematics Standards. Next, we will explore the Mathematical Practices and how classroom instruction is evolving to emphasize reasoning, communication, problem-solving, and conceptual understanding. Finally, we will identify practical ways families, community members, and local organizations can encourage mathematical curiosity and confidence in students.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Youth Co-Design: Tapping an Under-Utilized Asset for Stronger Communities
Host: Jess Roberts, ByDesign LLC
Info: Every system built for young people is stronger when young people help build it, yet youth are rarely involved when decisions about their education, health, and futures get made. This session introduces community co-design, an approach that treats young people as design decision-makers and as conduits to peers that traditional engagement never reaches.
Through the Rochester Youth Co-Design Lab, high school co-designers, supported by near-peer facilitators from the University of Minnesota Rochester, spent the summer shaping real regional solutions, from preparing youth for emerging health tech careers to strengthening how the community supports student wellbeing. Attendees will learn what co-design is, how it differs from surveys and listening sessions, and hear directly from youth co-designers about what improves when young people help make the decisions. You will leave with practical strategies and a near-peer model you can adapt to bring authentic youth voice into your own work.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
From Youth Voice to Community Leadership: Growing Through Service
Host: Abby Beyers, RiseUp in Partnership with AmeriCorps
Info: This session will share the experiences of two young people involved with RiseUp Partnership in different ways. One participated in the Community Youth Council for several years, while the other has served as an AmeriCorps member for the past two years, supporting students through mentoring. Both have participated in community events and are now taking on new roles within the organization.
They will share how these experiences helped them grow and how RiseUp Partnership creates opportunities for youth and employees to build skills, leadership, relationships, and community connections. We will highlight the broader impact of the Community Youth Council, mentoring, youth programming, conferences, Day on the Hill, AmeriCorps, and community events.
Participants will reflect on their own work and identify ways to create more meaningful opportunities for young people in their communities.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Career Pathways Come to the Fore: Moving Past CTE versus 4-Year College
Host: John Fanning, Education Partnership Coalition of MN
Info: Historically, the pendulum has swung between approaches that emphasize Career and Technical Education and approaches that focus on 4-year college degrees in ways that made them mutually exclusive and in competition with each other. Emerging best practices center students and their aspirations, connecting them with multiple pathway options, and support post-secondary enrollment and completion decisions that coincide with career exposure, exploration, commitment, and launch. In this session, we will share emerging frameworks that can inform practice at multiple levels: school, school district, regional, and statewide.
Session 3
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
How Does Collective Impact Actually Work: The Cradle 2 Career Story
Host: Julie Ruzek, Cradle 2 Career
Info: What does collective impact look like in practice? Cradle 2 Career’s Executive Director and Data Manager will share the what, why, and how of our collective impact work, highlighting successes, challenges, and lessons learned along the way. We’ll also explore how our local efforts connect to state and national organizations using collective impact to drive systems transformation. Through presentation, interaction, and conversation, participants will connect the content to their own work while exploring opportunities to engage with and contribute to Cradle 2 Career’s collective impact efforts.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
From Awareness to Action: Strengthening Prenatal Support in Our Community
Host: Anna Schmidt, Cradle 2 Career
Info: What happens when community partners come together to tackle a challenge that no single organization can solve alone? Over the past year, the Prenatal to Age 3 Network has brought clinicians, doulas, community organizations, and families together to increase awareness of and access to doula support. Through provider education, community outreach, and new opportunities for collaboration, partners have begun turning shared knowledge into changes in practice and policy.
In this session, we'll follow the network's journey from where we started and what we tried, to what we learned and what we're working to change. We'll look ahead at how the network is working to strengthen connections across the prenatal and early childhood system and build toward a more supportive prenatal experience for families.
Come learn what we've learned, celebrate what collective action has made possible, and explore where we go next to turn promising changes into lasting systems change.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Authentic Engagement
Host: Julie McLaren, Rochester Public Schools
Info: Are your surveys missing the mark? Explore practical ways to authentically and meaningfully engage your stakeholders. In this session, we'll examine practices that Gage Elementary has implemented to better partner with its families, students, and community partners to enhance its educational programming. We'll share how to avoid data analysis traps and how to adapt these authentic engagement practices to better suit your organization's collaboration goals.
Gage Elementary "casts a wide net" in seeking feedback and responding to community needs. By analyzing the "why, how, and who" of stakeholder participation, we are able to be more responsive to individual and collective needs. We partner with organizations like Cradle 2 Career and others to gather in-depth information and recommendations. Our collaboration work has led to innovative programming for our caregivers, like "Thrive Time" and "Family Collabs," which give families side-by-side learning opportunities with their children.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Community Partnerships Supporting LGBTQIA2S+ Youth Mental Health
Host: Josh Halverson, Rochester Public Schools
Info: The Youth Health Coalition is developing community-led solutions to address disproportionate mental health challenges and suicide risk among LGBTQIA2S+ youth in Olmsted County. This session shares how youth are given leadership roles in the Coalition and help address three priorities: promoting supportive spaces, creating trauma-informed educational materials, and expanding access to affirming providers. Presenters will demonstrate how these actionable practices can be adapted in attendees’ own settings and outline a clear way for attendees to collaborate with the Coalition on evidence-based initiatives. We will highlight how partners are already advancing goals and encourage attendees to strengthen county-wide belonging, safety, and support for LGBTQIA2S+ youth.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Adult Mental Health First Aid: Supporting Those Behind Youth Success
Host: Ashanté Gills, National Council of Mental Wellbeing
Info: Research shows that the mental health and well-being of educators, caregivers, youth-serving professionals, employers, faith leaders, and other trusted adults directly influences children’s academic success and overall development. This interactive session introduces Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an evidence-based public education program that highlights best practices for recognizing signs of emerging mental health or substance use challenges, responding with confidence and compassion, and connecting individuals to appropriate support. Through discussion, real-life scenarios, and participation, attendees gain practical tools, local resources, and immediately applicable strategies for schools and community settings. The session demonstrates a collaborative community response by connecting attendees with NAMI for ongoing mental health resources, while the NAACP will coordinate MHFA certification opportunities to expand Rochester’s network of trained community responders.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions in Practice
Host: Katie Ticho, Praxis: Knowledge into Action
Info: Microaggressions occur in everyday conversations with students, families, and colleagues. Research shows these impact trust, safety, and quality of care. This interactive session helps participants recognize microaggressions as they occur and respond with confidence and professionalism. Participants will build a foundational understanding of microaggressions, explore their impact on individuals and communities, and build practical skills for responding effectively in real time. Emphasis will be placed on fostering culturally responsive practice, repairing harm, and strengthening inclusive communication.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
PEPP: Building Early Childhood Mental Health Through Partnership
Host: MaKayla Oxley, Mower County Family Services
Info: PEPP (Providers Empowering Providers and Parents) is a community-based early childhood initiative that supports children, families, and family childcare providers through evidence-based social-emotional learning, parent engagement, provider mental health supports, and cross-sector partnerships. Participants will learn how PEPP uses monthly provider wellness socials, peer support networks, family education, newsletters, and Conscious Discipline® tools to strengthen kindergarten readiness and provider retention. The session will share practical resources, partnership-building strategies, and replicable approaches for reducing provider isolation, increasing family engagement, and creating sustainable community support systems. Attendees will leave with actionable tools for identifying collaborative partners, implementing provider wellness initiatives, and building stronger early childhood networks in their own communities.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Partnerships in Practice: Building Pathways for Student Success
Host: Weston Johnson, Goodhue County Education District
Info: At Goodhue County Education District, partnerships help create stronger opportunities and supports for students. This session will highlight two examples of how Goodhue County Education District (GCED) builds partnerships in response to identified needs. Through the GCED Reading Center, presenters will share how collaboration across schools, families, and community partners supports evidence-based reading instruction, assessment, intervention, coaching, and professional learning. The session will also explore how relationships with local businesses and community partners developed into internship opportunities and career pathways in education and the trades. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how identifying needs, connecting the right partners, and building relationships can expand opportunities and improve outcomes for students.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Beyond the Courtroom:Transforming Truancy Through Collaborative [...]
Host: Rebecca Smith, Three Rivers Restorative Justice
Info: Chronic absenteeism stems from root-cause barriers that traditional punitive measures rarely fix. This session explores UPLIFT, a cross-sector partnership between Three Rivers Restorative Justice and KMS Schools that transforms truancy intervention into a restorative, community-backed support system aligned with C2C’s High School Graduation outcome. Best Practices: Demonstrates evidence-based Restorative Practices—family conferencing and accountability circles—as effective alternatives to court referrals. Practical Resources: Attendees receive a "Restorative Attendance Toolkit" with referral flowcharts, circle prompt cards, and attendance agreement templates. Partnering Strategy: Outlines a clear roadmap for schools and nonprofits to form partnerships, navigate data sharing, and align roles. Actionable Content: Features an interactive mock circle exercise so participants practice root-cause problem-solving to apply in their own settings.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Minnesota Statewide Data Exploration
Host: To Be Announced
Afternoon Sessions
🕑: 02:25 PM - 04:25 PM
The Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework – A Community Approach
Host: Kelli DeCook, Family Service Rochester
Info: "The Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework is a research-informed, strengths-based approach that prevents child abuse and neglect by focusing on the well-being of all families and helping families identify and build on their own protective factors. This training will provide an overview of the framework and create opportunity for us all to think about what our role is in support of strengthening families. Practical and concrete examples for incorporating the protective factors into every day interactions will be given and we will discuss an emerging community collaborative, Every Child and Family Thrive, that brings together community partners with a vision for a thriving Olmsted County." [Please Note: This is a 2-hour session.]
🕑: 02:25 PM - 03:15 PM
Brain Fitness: Building a Community of Mental Wellness Superheroes
Host: Dustin Dean, MindMaxED Brain Fitness Academy
Info: "MindMaxED Brain Fitness Academy is built on a simple belief: the mind can be trained just like muscles are trained, through intentional practice and repetition. This interactive session introduces practical Brain Fitness strategies that help youth strengthen resilience, emotional agility, locus of control, cognitive flexibility, communication, and productive action during challenges. We view these as mental wellness “Superhero Powers” that can be strengthened over time.
Participants will practice evidence-informed strategies they can use in schools, youth programs, healthcare, mentoring, athletics, and homes. A key focus is collaboration, because no superhero succeeds alone. Attendees will identify their own Superhero Power, recognize potential community partners, and explore how shared Brain Fitness language can help youth move from Pain & Past toward Power & Potential. Participants will leave with practical questions and tools they can begin using immediately."
🕑: 02:25 PM - 03:15 PM
Head Trash: Identifying Your Limiting Beliefs
Host: Peggy Paul, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
Info: "Peggy will guide us in tackling head trash - the limiting beliefs that hold us back and make room for thoughts that actually work for us."
🕑: 02:25 PM - 03:15 PM
Singing Bowl Meditation
Host: Kandice Shaw, Sangha by Ritual Collective
Info: "Experience the power of sound and discover how it can influence the body, mind, and nervous system. Kandice will guide you through a restorative experience designed to ease tension, quiet mental noise, and support a greater sense of calm. No previous meditation experience is needed."
🕑: 02:25 PM - 03:15 PM
LeadTime Coach: Aligning Principal Intentions with Daily School Realities
Host: Peter Christopherson, Rochester Public Schools
Info: "Every school leader steps into their building with a clear strategic goal: spend time in classrooms coaching teachers to improve student outcomes. In reality, the daily operational fires of a school building constantly pull principals into reactive crisis management. This session introduces a continuous-improvement framework that helps leaders move from a state of constant firefighting to intentional, reflective leadership. By utilizing data to compare daily calendar realities against strategic goals, attendees will learn how to build a practical "time-defense" habit that protects teacher observations and drives systems-level success."
🕑: 02:25 PM - 04:25 PM
Downtown Walking Tours
Host: To Be Announced
Info: Walking tours will take place in downtown Rochester and highlight partnerships, local initiatives, and collaborations happening throughout our community. Additional tour details, including a separate registration link, meeting location, and other important information, will be emailed to participants closer to the Summit. [Please Note: Walking Tours are a 2-hour session.]
Panel
🕑: 01:15 PM - 02:15 PM
Community Panel: How We All Play A Part
Info: What does it look like when institutions across a community work toward shared goals for young people? This panel will bring together leaders from Rochester Public Schools, Rochester Community and Technical College, the University of Minnesota Rochester, Olmsted County, the City of Rochester, and StriveTogether to discuss collaboration, community priorities, and opportunities to create lasting systems-level change.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
