Summer Institute for Authentic Learning and Leadership: Full Schedule

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

8:30am EDT

Ready to Launch: Welcome to the 2026 Summer Institute!

Wednesday July 15, 2026 8:30am - 8:45am EDT

Join Bob Hunt, Superintendent of Upper Arlington Schools and Emmy, Ellen, Kathy, and Kristin from Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership as they welcome participants to the 2026 Summer Institute.

Speakers

Bob Hunt

Superintendent, Upper Arlington Schools

Ellen Erlanger

Co-Founder and Director of Professional Learning, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Kathy Meyer

Co-Founder and Director of Professional Learning, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Partnerships for ALL

Emmy Beeson

Executive Director, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Greetings fellow travelers. Thank you for joining us in the this journey to reconnect to the Joy of Teaching and Learning. When I was a school leader, through trial and error, I fell in love with authentic learning experiences for staff and students because I saw teachers who... Read More →

Kristin Bourdage

Director of Professional Learning, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Dr. Kristin Bourdage is a passionate educator with more than 32 years of experience as a middle school and Title I Reading teacher, literacy coach, education researcher, professor of education, district administrator, and professional learning leader. She currently serves as a professional... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 8:30am - 8:45am EDT
Performing Arts Center

Keynote Presentation

8:45am EDT

The Future of Learning Is Human

Wednesday July 15, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am EDT

Performing Arts Center

What becomes possible when we design schools around the capacities that make us irreplaceably human?

In this interactive keynote, educator, author, and possibilitarian Sam Chaltain and learning scientist and people researcher Dr. Jane Shore invite participants into a shared exploration of what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world, and what that means for the future of learning.

Drawing on ideas from Sam’s and Jane’s joint collective project The Art of Being Human and Jane’s recent book People-Based Learning (2026), participants will seek to identify the essential qualities that make us uniquely human: and our capacity to learn with and through one another.

Through story, reflection, dialogue, and collective sensemaking, participants will examine where schools help these capacities flourish, where they unintentionally suppress them, and what becomes possible when we design for humanity rather than efficiency alone.

Grounded in research and deeply participatory, this experience is less a keynote and more a shared inquiry. Participants will leave with new connections, renewed clarity, and practical experiments for creating learning environments that help young people become not just knowledgeable, but fully alive.

As the session concludes, participants will be invited to continue the conversation through The Art of Being Human, an ongoing collaborative project exploring the qualities, experiences, and relationships that help us make sense of ourselves and one another in a changing world.

Together, Sam and Jane bring a unique combination of future vision and human insight, inviting audiences to consider not only where education is headed, but what has always mattered most.

Click here for your free digital copy of Seed + Spark (a $38.12 value). Thank you Sam for sharing this!
Click here for your free copy of "The Overview Effect."

Speakers

Sam Chaltain

samchaltain.com, Writer/Storyteller

Sam Chaltain is an educator, author, and possibilitarian whose work explores what becomes possible when we reimagine the assumptions underlying school and learning.

Jane Shore

Founder, School of Thought

"I'm a learning scientist, school co-founder, visual thinker, and self-described peopleologist who studies and designs for what people make possible for one another.Come find me if you want to talk about: People-Based Learning, designing schools and gatherings where people learn with... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 8:45am - 9:45am EDT
Performing Arts Center

Keynote Presentation

about <br>

11:10am EDT

Juggling Potential to Achieve Authentic Learning & Leadership

Wednesday July 15, 2026 11:10am - 12:00pm EDT

Performing Arts Center

Trying to bring the fullness of yourself into the work you do? Be encouraged to walk the tightrope of melding hobbies, passions, and workplace initiatives in an effort to master the juggling act of leveraging your potential. Through stories, actual juggling, and crowd participation, Dr. Jen Mott will leave you inspired to reassess the talents you can tap into in order to bring the fullness of who you are into the work you do!

Speakers

Jen Mott

Assistant Principal & Athletic Director, Mason City Schools

Dr. Jen Mott has been with Cincinnati Circus Company since 2006 as a juggler, stilt-walker, balloon artist, and fire performer. She also began college that same year. Since then, she earned both her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education for Spanish and completed her Master’s... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2026 11:10am - 12:00pm EDT
Performing Arts Center

Keynote Presentation

8:30am EDT

Mission Authentic Learning: Moonshot Thinking to Imagine, Create, and Act!

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:30am - 9:40am EDT

Performing Arts Center

Every great innovation in learning and leadership begins with imagining new possibilities and is fueled by the inspiration of others who have dared to dream big. In this interactive experience, participants will harness the power of their imaginations to identify an authentic challenge, hear from past Summer Institute keynoters “mission messages,” envision a creative solution, and develop their own “moonshot idea" for authentic learning. Participants will leave feeling empowered and ready to create positive change while experiencing firsthand what Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership is all about: leveraging the creativity of educators and tackling real-world challenges that make learning irresistible.

Speakers

Emmy Beeson

Executive Director, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Kristin Bourdage

Director of Professional Learning, Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Thursday July 16, 2026 8:30am - 9:40am EDT
Performing Arts Center

Keynote Presentation

8:30am EDT

8:45am EDT

11:10am EDT

8:30am EDT

Get help with the event