Good evening. I am Jason Rush, VHHS Applied Technology Teacher, Libertyville resident, and the D128 Union Building Representative for VHHS. My Union Message tonight is about the EdX Professional Development Day that took place Friday, February 14th at Libertyville High School.
I’m certain that I won’t be the only person who speaks about EdX tonight. When you assemble the collective expertise of our D128 Teachers Union, our Educational Support Personnel, and building and district administration to offer four forty minute sessions, you get a smorgasbord of practical, intellectual, and entertaining professional development, worth mentioning more than once.
A few example titles of the presentations are as follows: “How to Leverage Differentiation to Encourage Belonging” by VHHS’s Elissa Gong; “Engage, Explore, Excel: The Power of Classroom Technology in Student Learning” by LHS’s John Taylor and Lisa Davis; “Dispatches from a Screen-Free Classroom” by VHHS’s Ellen Macias, and finally “Engaging the Homefront” by LHS’s Danilo Sutic.
This is only four examples of the 55 presentations by over 80 presenters, curated by the LHS and VHHS Instructional Coaches. Beyond the impressive number of sessions, what really makes EdX remarkable is the collaborative spirit that filled the day around the District 128 theme “Belief and Belonging.” Teachers, support staff, and administrators share their expertise and engage in meaningful discussions about improving our practices, supporting our students, and learning for the sake of broadening our personal horizons. Shoutout to our ESP brothers and sisters who, by my anecdotal assessment, presented and shared their knowledge at a greater rate than I can remember at this EDx event since 2017. There seemed to be more opportunities than ever for ESP to broaden their professional knowledge.
As I mentioned last year these sessions provide not only professional development but an opportunity to stretch our intellectual muscles. I, an applied tech teacher, made sure to visit LHS Social Studies teachers Regina Odishoo and Paul Lecaroz session about the origins of the Armenian Genocide. Did you know the blueprint for the Second World War Holocaust was written by the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide? I do now.
To conclude; the D128 2025 EDx was excellent.