Consortium Connects are online professional learning roundtables or webinars that are free for NCSSS Member Schools.

Register for the topic you're interested in. Join other teachers and administrators for professional learning and the sharing of ideas.

Consortium Connects Schedule

September

Setting Students Up For Success

Support is Critical to Positive Academic Experiences

While we recognize that students have been selected to attend the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics – and many of our other NCSSS member schools – because of their academic excellence thus far, experience has taught us that additional support for the entering class is a necessary and welcome supplement to students’ schedules.

GSSM created The Center for Academic Success in fall 2017 to enhance students’ academic experiences. The Academic Transition Course is just one element of that Center, and is designed to assist students with the academic transition to GSSM, so they can take full advantage of the resources and opportunities available.

Please join our speakers in this webinar as they lead a discussion on the following:

• How our schools support students as they work to achieve success.
• Initiatives underway at GSSM to enhance students’ academic experiences.
• Partnerships within our schools that help coordinate support.

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June

Working in groups allows students to use their peers as a resource whereas group work is designed for each member of the group to contribute to solving a problem. This session will identify different strategies to support effective group work in a teacher's classrooms. Join us at 2 p.m. ET June 28 to learn more about working in groups.

Participants will be able to:

• Understand how assessments should be designed to require accountability in a group work setting
• Understand the importance of rubrics for group work activities
• Gain strategies for monitoring student engagement during group work

Speaker Corey Williams is the Assistant Director at Rockdale Magnet School of Science and Technology and he has been serving the school for one year. Previously, he was a math teacher in Dekalb County Schools in Georgia and then transitioned to the private sector to be a math consultant for four years. Williams is a Georgia native with 10 years of experience in education. He graduated from Georgia State University with a BS in Mathematics and an MAT in Secondary Mathematics Education. Currently, he is pursuing an Ed.D in Curriculum and Instruction from the same institution.

April

Join Scott Bolen, Research Coordinator at the Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology to discuss research competitions available/open to high school students.

Time: 2 p.m. ET
Date: Thursday, April 26

Scott Bolen is the Research Coordinator at the Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology (RMSST) in Conyers, Georgia. Before serving in this position, Scott spent six years teaching Biology and nine years teaching Research at RMSST. He serves as co-director for the Rockdale Regional Science and Engineering Fair. In addition to these roles, he currently works with underrepresented Research students as two-time Society for Science and the Public (SSP) Advocate.

In 2015, Scott received the Georgia Junior Science and Humanities Symposium’s Science Teacher Award. Scott hold degrees from Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He is the busy father of three children: Georgia Xan, Peyton, and Caralee.

Scott will lead a discussion of research competitions and how to help students prepare for those competitions. We will look at timelines for some of the major competitions as well as brains storm about other opportunities that all of our students might benefit from.

February

Join Rick Smith, director for student affairs, and Lauren Zarandona, lead mathematics instructor and leader of summer camps, from The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and Meagan Pollock, executive director of Design Connect Create, a STEM camp in Texas, for a conversation about STEM Summer Camps.

Time: 2 p.m. ET
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 27

Are your students interested in furthering their STEM knowledge beyond the classroom? Enter STEM summer camps. But how and when should you steer your students to camps, and which ones are best for their varied interests? 

Rick, Linda and Meagan will discuss their experience with STEM summer camps and preparing students for the best experience out of the school environment.

Please join our speakers in a conversation that will cover the following questions:

• How do you help your students pick a summer camp?
• What are the best summer camp experiences out there?
• How do I design a STEM summer camp at my school?

The webinar will include time for discussion and interactive conversation.