About Us
Empowerment Collaborative
Instructional Principles
We believe that learning is transformed by using the following guiding principles with our students. Schools use our set of nine instructional protocols to direct their planning and choices as they pursue their vision to become Empowerment Collaborative schools. An additional set of commitments guide the district in supporting schools and communities as they redesign the school environment.
Empowerment Skills
We envision schools that leverage simulated workplace enviornments, authentic learning and assessment, and career mindsets. Graduates from our schools will possess the following skills.
Critical Thinking
The empowered student synthesizes knowledge and design process to respond to problems, empathize with needs, build solutions, and reflect on their metacognition.
Self-Empowerment
The empowered student demonstrates authentic independence and advocates for themself. They determine what they value, how they want to grow, and set and pursue a vision. They seek to understand themself and how they contribute to society (e.g. through career, service, innovation, creation). They recognize their successes and failures and can reflect and analyze how risk, work, failure, revision, and persistence contribute to personal growth.
Communication
The empowered student understands the power of information and crafts messages to represent themself, serve purposes, and respond to needs. They reflect on the way others see them and seek to grow in public writing, speaking, and self-presentation.
Collaboration
The empowered student is accountable to all members of a team. They are aware of the role their presence, work ethic, and contributions have on the team’s success. As team members and leaders, they seek consensus, manage and follow norms, and motivate each other.
TESTIMONIALS
What People Are Saying
I have never been more excited about an initiative than what I see happening with the empowerment districts and the work that you’re leading. You are shaping the future of education, and you’re doing it at a critical time: a time for our students when they need it the most, a time for the education system which needs a rethink, and a time for the state of West Virginia.
We wanted to prove to them that learning doesn’t have to happen in the classroom, and this is the perfect example of that.
I love what you’re doing with the Empowerment Districts: You’re creating makers and dreamers and doers, and then they can choose the path that best suits their skills, and they can impact the world as a result.
Partners and Collaborators
Michelle Blatt
West Virginia State Superintendent
West Virginia Department of Education
Michael Fitzwater
Superintendent,
Calhoun County Schools
Gary Hough
Superintendent,
Fayette County Schools
Joetta Basile
Superintendent,
Monroe County Schools
Steve Freshour
Empowerment Academy Pilot Design Team Member