The Pathways Department at Porterville Unified School District hosted almost 200 teachers, administrators, business partners, and community leaders from districts spanning across the nation, for an Experiential Site Visit (ESV) convening. Hosting in-person ESV events is an annual tradition for PUSD Pathways since 2008, but this year was completely virtual.
“We were thrilled to welcome so many people virtually to Porterville over the course of two weeks for our experiential site visit and showcase our Pathways program. Those in attendance were able to see firsthand how our Pathways program is set up and how it truly is a team effort to provide the best experience for our students.”
-Cynthia Brown, Director of Student Pathways
The first day, March 3rd, kicked off with a welcome by PUSD Superintendent, Dr. Nate Nelson, Anne Stanton, President of the Linked Learning Alliance, and Gary Hoachlander of ConnectEd (The National Center for College and Career). Director of Student Pathways, Cynthia Brown led the group through the inception and evolution of PUSD’s 14 career-themed Pathways, which included virtual tours, informative video segments, and panel discussions from local business partners, community leaders, teachers and counselors.
The second day, March 10th, was led by Pathway Ambassador students Maria Basurto and Chloe Ross. They welcomed JD Hoye, the CEO of NAF (formerly known as the National Academy Foundation), to provide a welcome and starting point for day two. All participants had the opportunity to attend various “deep dive” breakout sessions to learn more about aspects of the PUSD Pathways program. Breakout sessions included: Work-Based Learning, Student Recruitment and Ensuring Equitable Access, Creating & Maintaining High Quality Pathways, Creating Student Ambassador programs, Developing a Broad-Based Coalition and Advisory Council of Support, Transforming Teaching & Learning, and Early Exposure to Pathways through K-8 STEAM Education.
“Participants were able to get a firsthand look into how the PUSD district-wide Pathway system works. Offering this visit in a virtual format was the next best thing to an in-personal visit. Participant feedback was very positive. Everyone was able to pick up some key takeaways and ideas that they can implement into their own districts/pathway systems.”
-Cynthia Brown, Director of Student Pathways
The virtual Experiential Site Visit was a collaborative effort in conjunction with PUSD Pathway partners: Linked Learning Alliance, ConnectEd, and NAF.
To learn more about the 14 PUSD Open-Choice Pathways, please visit www.pathways.portervilleschools.org