SXSW EDU 2024
Founder and Chief Storyteller Max and Chief of Staff Annie were at the South by Southwest Education Conference (SXSW EDU) this week. Each year, SXSW EDU draws educators, entrepreneurs, and education thought leaders together. SXSW EDU is a vibrant and dynamic event that brings together the brightest minds in education to share ideas, network, and create the future of teaching and learning.
Here are a few of their biggest takeaways:
- Keynote Speaker Sarah Rose Siskind shared that stories improve the memory of a message seven-fold! We also learned about the science of incorporating humor from her.
- Educators are testing many new ideas for how to best equip students with skills to be successful and institutions like Western Governors University (WGU) use competency-based education remain at the forefront of education delivery methods (check out their podcast!).
- Keynote Speaker Spencer Russell shared that 1 in 5 adults in the US are functionally illiterate and so information-sharing methods such as video and accessible websites that work seamlessly with screen readers are key in communicating with a wider audience.
- The future of education will be shaped by those who can tell the stories of how education positively affects learners of all ages to create opportunities for people and families.
While we find learning for work fun, we also try to make a point of doing another, outside-of-work activity together when we travel. Annie and Max chose an excursion to the Museum of Ice Cream in Austin, TX.
Familiar faces in the 2024 YWCA Women of the Year nominations
If you’ve ever seen us out and about, you know that we LOVE celebrating our community. Every year, we look forward to the YWCA Cass Clay Women of the Year nomination announcement, and we are excited to witness women who do good work receive recognition.
YWCA Cass Clay’s mission is to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. While their more familiar work is with women in crisis (such as needing shelter after escaping abuse), YWCA Cass Clay also wants to empower women by celebrating them. The Women of the Year event honors those who shape the Fargo-Moorhead community through their passion, service, and significant achievements. The women nominated and honored are celebrated at a banquet attended by more than 800 people.
This year especially, we saw a lot of familiar faces on the nominee list. Congratulations to all of the nominees. A special shout out to the nominees who we’ve had the pleasure of working with:
- Shannon Bock from CCRI, Inc.
- Jakelle Hoffmann from RMHC of the Red River Valley
- Jennifer Illich from FirstLink
- Megan MacFarlane from Moorhead Minds Matter (M3)
- and Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre
We admire and appreciate your great work and can’t wait to celebrate you in April!
Filming in-school telehealth with CREA
More filming happened last week as the crew headed out to Garrison, ND to film for the Central Regional Education Association (CREA) and their work with Avel eCare nursing. By providing full-time, telehealth nursing services, schools can better provide for their students when health issues occur during class, recess, lunch, or whenever. From the occasional bump or scrape to helping students manage chronic conditions, the eCare nursing service keeps students in school while attending to their health needs. CREA helps by facilitating the eCare setup, from grant applications to staff training.
A week of coffee
Our office espresso machine can FINALLY make all the fancy coffees we could want. While we haven’t talked much (or at all) about the office coffee machine saga, it’s nice to say that we now can get our Americanos, espressos, lattes, and hot water all from the same machine!
You can also check out Content Specialist KJ. She worked remotely at Twin Cities’ Gray Fox Coffee one morning. By random chance, she and the barista were pleasantly surprised to find he matched the latte art to her Tellwell shirt. It was one of those happy little coincidences that make the whole day just a little magical.
And don’t worry. Just because we have a fancy in-office coffee machine or are globe-trotting to Garrison, Austin, or Minneapolis, we still support our local coffee shops! Check out Youngblood Coffee Roasters’ creation for Project Manager Emma!
