Students at Flagstaff Academy Charter School had the day off on Friday but that didn’t stop their teachers from learning. Teachers and staff at the school took part in the annual Tech Fest on Friday.
Flagstaff’s mission is centered around science and technology, said Katie Gustafson, executive principal.
Tech Fest is part of the school’s in-house professional development program. Some of the teachers and staff are skilled in areas of technology that others are not, Gustafson said. The annual event allows everyone to learn from one another’s skills to improve their own.
In addition to improving their skills, teachers learn how to incorporate technology in areas of education that may have been lacking before, such as art or PE classes.
“We started working years and years ago to build the capacity of our staff to utilize technology to make their jobs more efficient and to give really creative and exciting learning experiences for our students,” Gustafson said.
The focus of this year’s Tech Fest was learning more about Artificial Intelligence, or AI. The conversations on the topic are still new and this year’s event allowed teachers and staff to explore how it ought to be used in the classroom and to define the parameters around AI.
Gustafson said the professional development day has increased teachers’ ability to manage the changes in spreadsheets, filter emails more efficiently and manage their duties with the aid of technology. The event also promotes the school’s community by allowing staff and teachers to share their technology interests and skills with their colleagues.
“We as educators, at Flagstaff Academy, are lifelong learners ourselves and we get to showcase those who have expertise or interests in these areas. We are growing from one another and that just builds our community and that sense of comradery among our staff members,” Gustafson said.
Recently the school updated its Elementary Innovation Lab. During the event, the staff were allowed to visit the lab to play with the same technology their students were learning about. The Mobile Innovation Lab also visited Flagstaff on Friday where students from the St. Vrain Valley School District demonstrated the latest technology and Flagstaff teachers and staff were able to see what students in the public schools experience.
“It is important for educators and for teachers to have the time to grow, and to learn, and to digest new information. I love when we can provide that in-house for our staff and really showcase what our community can do,” Gustafson said.
