Instructor: Kathy Wilheit, Literacy Specialist, Center for Literacy Education, Wake Forest University, and Abi Woodson, WS/FCS English Language Arts Instructional Coach

Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: 168 Alumni Hall, Wake Forest University

Address: 5911 Forest Bridge Dr, Winston-Salem, NC 27109

Host: Wake Forest Department of Education

Primary Audience: K-12 teachers who plan to implement ELA standards in 2027-28

REGISTER HERE

Are you already thinking about the shift to the new North Carolina ELA standards in 2027-28?  Gearing Up for Change: The 2026 NC ELA Standards is designed to be a collaborative learning experience in which you direct the learning. Leaders will provide guiding questions. Participants will have time to look at the new standards, explore differences from previous standards, dig into the unpacking documents, and discuss with peers along the way. This is not a “sit and listen” workshop–it is an opportunity for targeted work with colleagues in a protected time and space. When you register, please be sure to provide the grade level/s you teach so that we can collect the needed materials and group educators accordingly.

Kathy Wilheit retired from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools after 29 years and served in a variety of roles. She taught Spanish, English as a Second Language, served as a school-based instructional facilitator, and worked as a district coach twice, once as K-12 ESL Lead Teacher and once as an Elementary English Language Arts Coach. As an adjunct professor in the Department of Education, she taught Elementary Literacy and Exploring School Communities. Currently she champions Teacher Professional Learning with the Center for Literacy Education, and supports undergraduates in field experiences.

Abi Woodson has been an educator committed to strengthening literacy instruction and improving outcomes for students for 22 years. She spent 15 years teaching 3rd and 4th grade before transitioning to her current role as an English Language Art Instructional Coach, where she supports teachers and schools in implementing research-based literacy practices that translate into meaningful student growth. She is passionate about helping teachers understand not just the what and how of instruction, but the why and how intentional instructional decisions can directly impact what students know, understand, and are able to do as readers. She enjoys collaborating with educators and both creating and joining professional learning experiences that are engaging, relevant, and immediately applicable.

Instructor: Dr. Brook Davis, Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Time: 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 2

Location: TBA

Primary Audience: Novice K-12 Teachers 

Note: Appropriate for educators of any experience level, including administrators, coaches, cooperating teachers, and mentors who work with beginning and novice teachers.

Actors and teachers share many skills; creativity, the ability to use their voices and bodies to engage an audience, and empathetically connecting with others are just a few. In this workshop, Teach like an Actor and Act like a Teacher, we will explore techniques actors use to communicate clearly in different situations. Participants will participate in theatre games to build confidence, engage in physical/vocal activities to help express ideas clearly, and learn theatrical tactics to engage a classroom. Come prepared to play! You will leave the workshop with exercises and techniques you can use personally and share with your students.

Dr. Brook Davis joined the Wake Forest University Department of Theatre and Dance in 1997 and regularly teaches Introduction to Theatre, Dramatic Literature, Acting, and Theatre in Education. She also directs for WFU and professionally. Brook’s research interests include theatre pedagogy; 20th and 21st Century American dramatic literature; and practitioner, educator and playwright, Constance D’Arcy Mackay. In 2000, Brook developed the Theatre in Education class that partners Theatre and Education students and places them in public school classrooms to assist teachers with theatrical, curriculum-based lesson design and instruction. Partnering with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Brook has also taught Theatre for Youth (around the development of the Paisley Drama Program) and Education for Social Change (working with the teachings of Augusto Boal to combat bullying in the schools). Brook regularly volunteers with Freedom School and in local elementary schools to lead creative drama workshops. 

Instructor: Dr. Adam Dovico, Academic Director for Educational Leadership and Academic Operations, Wake Forest School of Professional Studies

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Time: 8:00 am to 10:30 am

Instructional Contact Hours: 2.5

Location: Jefferson Elementary School

Primary Audience: K-5 teachers

Note: Appropriate for any educators, instructional facilitators, administrators, or coaches who are looking for new instructional strategies to promote discourse and engagement.

Join this live classroom demonstration to witness the power of a participatory approach to math instruction. In Talking Math … With Students … In a Classroom, you will observe how to facilitate meaningful student discourse that deepens mathematical literacy and engagement. Following the demonstration, we will debrief together to analyze the techniques used and discuss practical strategies you can immediately implement in your own K-5 classroom.

Dr. Adam Dovico is an accomplished teacher, curriculum facilitator, principal, professor, speaker, and author. For over two decades, he has taught students of all ages through his engaging and rigorous teaching style. He is known for his time at the Ron Clark Academy, Get Your Teach On, Elevate Your Classroom, Moore Elementary School, and Wake Forest University, along with hundreds of keynotes and workshops he has provided for educators worldwide. You can often find Adam standing on a table or chair dressed in one of his signature suits. Organizations such as the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund, Learning for Justice, and the Atlanta Falcons have recognized him for his leadership and teaching. He continues to work for greater equity in schools through his culturally responsive pedagogy. You can learn more about Adam’s teaching and leadership online at adamdovico.com, on social media @adamdovico, or in his books: Inside the Trenches, The Limitless School, and When Kids Lead.

Instructor: Colleen Foy, STEM Librarian, and Amanda Kaufman, Head of Instruction and Outreach, ZSR Library, Wake Forest University

Date: Friday, November 6, 2026

Time: 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: 168 Alumni Hall, Wake Forest University

Host: Wake Forest Department of Education and ZSR Library

Primary Audience: High school educators who teach research in their disciplines

Note: Appropriate for any teachers interested in developing student or personal research skills

Scholarly Research in the High School Classroom will focus on integrating research skills into the high school curriculum across content areas. This course is designed to help teachers guide students through the research process (e.g., topic development, developing a search strategy, source evaluation, plagiarism and citation) while navigating emerging challenges, particularly those presented by artificial intelligence tools.

Colleen Foy is the STEM Librarian at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. She teaches health literacy and biomedical critical appraisal courses. Colleen also supports faculty and students when conducting evidence synthesis-based research projects.

Amanda Kaufman is the Head of Instruction and Outreach at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. For the past 13 years, she has taught the library’s popular scholarly research course, LIB100: Academic Research and Information Issues. She also works with faculty and students conducting scholarly research in the Writing and Education programs .

Instructor: Dr. Alan Brown, Professor, Department of Education, Wake Forest University

Date: TBA

Time: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 4

Location: Manchester Athletic Center, Wake Forest University

Host: Wake Forest Athletics

Primary Audience: Middle and high school teachers

Note: Appropriate for core, elective, CTE, and physical education teachers. Upper elementary teachers may also find relevance.

Love them or loathe them, the prominence of sports in schools and society is undeniable. Developing Contemporary Literacies through Sports is an interactive course that will explore sports as an extra-curricular topic worthy of study across content areas and consider its impact on literacy, education, culture, and society. Drawing on fiction, informational texts, and popular culture, this course will support educators who hope to turn sports into a pedagogical ally. Educators will leave with practical ideas and resources they can implement in their classrooms immediately.

Dr. Alan Brown is Professor of English Education at Wake Forest University. A former high school English teacher and basketball coach, he is the inaugural director for the Wake Forest Center for Literacy Education, director of graduate education in the Department of Education, director of the Skip Prosser Literacy Program, and co-PI for Winston-Salem TEACH. Dr. Brown teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on topics including action research, adolescent literacy, arts integration, educational leadership, English methods, secondary education, and young adult literature. His scholarly interests include critically examining the culture of sports in schools and society while connecting contemporary literacies to students’ extra-curricular interests. He is the co-author of Reading the World through Sports and Young Adult Literature (NCTE, 2024), co-editor of Developing Contemporary Literacies through Sports (NCTE, 2016), and has published in numerous English language arts, education, and sport journals.

Instructor:

Dr. Joan Mitchell, Visiting Assistant Professor of English Education, Department of Education, Wake Forest University

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Time: 9:30 am to 12:30 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Art Studio

Beyond AI: Reclaiming Voice and Authenticity in Disciplinary Writing is a workshop focused on motivating our students as capable writers and thinkers when AI offers to do that work for them. Why is “human” writing superior to AI writing? What are the consequences of outsourcing the cognitive benefits of writing to a machine? How have the norms of “academic writing” contributed to students’ perceptions that writing is a burdensome task to be avoided? How can we design writing instruction across all disciplines that is meaningful and purposeful beyond the classroom? During this course, we will attempt to answer these pressing questions through the lenses of current writing research, theory, and practice. The instructor’s experience teaching at the high school and college level over the past two decades have affirmed that the majority of students view writing purely as a means (i.e., painful, formulaic) to an end (i.e., the grade). By exploring and naming the crucial cognitive benefits of writing in each of our disciplines, we will reveal what AI lacks: human insight, authentic voice, and critical thinking skills. Then we are positioned to explore approaches to writing instruction that prioritize those essential “human” qualities and motivate students to see writing as a valuable tool for thinking and communication in the real world.

We will ground and extend our workshop experience in the current Reynolda House exhibit Layered Looking: Making Sense of Art at no additional cost to participants. This immersive exploration encourages participants to interact with art in sensory, personal, and multimodal ways. Exhibition Curator and Director of Teaching & Learning Julia Tanner will open our workshop with an introduction to the exhibit, especially as it relates to writing opportunities across disciplines. These ideas will be a springboard for our collaborative learning during the workshop, and, upon its completion, participants are invited to explore the exhibit to gain even more inspiration for purposeful and innovative writing instruction.

Dr. Joan Mitchell is Visiting Assistant Professor in English Education at Wake Forest University. She is a proud alumnus of Wake Forest where she received her BA in English and her MAEd in English education before earning her doctorate at the University of Alabama. Dr. Mitchell is a former high school English teacher who now serves as the secondary education director and English education coordinator in the Department of Education. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing pedagogy and English methods and supervises secondary student teachers during their internships. Her research focus is the pedagogy of revision and its impact on student writing. She is the co-author of the English education textbook Bridging English (6th ed.) and has published articles in various education journals and texts. As a regular presenter at both national and state conferences, Dr. Mitchell’s sessions have examined topics such as examining inequities in students’ opportunity to learn, embracing young adult literature, revitalizing nonfiction in the classroom, teaching effective revision strategies, and developing students’ writing identities.

Instructor:

Dr. Sydney G. Carroll, Adjunct Professor, Department of Education, Wake Forest University

Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Time: 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Kaleideum (Think Tank Room)

Literacy in Motion: Multimodal Strategies for Student Voice and Meaning-Making invites K–12 educators to explore advanced multimodal literacy practices that support student voice, comprehension, and critical thinking across grade levels and content areas. Grounded in the understanding that students communicate meaning in multiple ways beyond traditional writing, the session centers movement-based learning, visual and spatial representation, oral storytelling, and digital/multimodal composition as rigorous forms of literacy. Participants will engage in hands-on learning experiences that model how embodied response, visual mapping, collaborative storytelling, and multimodal design can deepen understanding without reliance on specific texts or scripted curricula. By the end of the session, participants will leave with ready-to-use multimodal instructional strategies, adaptable protocols, and a clear framework for designing literacy experiences that honor how students already communicate and make meaning in their everyday lives.

Dr. Sydney G. Carroll, NCC, LCMHC, LCAS A, is a scholar-practitioner, instructional coach, and curriculum developer focused on P-20 educator development. Her work centers on educator well-being, instructional sustainability, and identity-affirming professional learning, with particular attention to urban education contexts. Drawing on her background as a former English Language Arts teacher and clinical mental health counselor, Dr. Carroll has supported school districts, state departments of education, and higher education programs through instructional coaching, implementation of High Quality Instructional Materials, and professional learning design. She has served as a lead researcher on National Science Foundation-funded initiatives examining how professional learning supports elementary teachers in cultivating STEM identity among Black girls. Dr. Carroll’s scholarship spans peer-reviewed publications, applied research, and community-engaged work across domestic and international contexts, including a critical autoethnography examining belonging and resilience among Black women in graduate education. She earned her doctorate in Curriculum Design and Instruction from UNC Charlotte, holds a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from North Carolina A&T State University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina Central University.

Instructor: Dr. Adam Dovico, Professor of Practice & Academic Director of Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Leadership, Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies

Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Worrell Professional Center (room 1109), Wake Forest University

An exciting session centered around data? It can’t be! But it’s possible when Adam shows you that data is not a boring or scary word. In this engaging and interactive session titled Building a Data-Informed School Culture, you’ll discover how to make data literacy accessible, meaningful, and even fun for both teachers and students. Join Adam Dovico as he explores ways to facilitate conversations, instructional improvements, and student-led activities grounded in data — from classroom-level practices to whole-school trends. Learn how to help students and teachers interpret, visualize, and communicate data to strengthen their critical thinking and reconsider mundane routines.

Dr. Adam Dovico is an accomplished teacher, curriculum facilitator, principal, professor, speaker, and author. For over two decades, he has taught students of all ages through his engaging and rigorous teaching style. He is known for his time at the Ron Clark Academy, Get Your Teach On, Elevate Your Classroom, and Wake Forest University, along with hundreds of keynotes and workshops he has provided for educators from around the world. You can often find Adam standing on a table or chair dressed in one of his signature suits. He has been recognized by organizations such as the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund, Learning for Justice, and the Atlanta Falcons for his leadership and teaching, and he continues to work for greater equity in schools through his culturally responsive pedagogy. You can learn more about Adam’s teaching and leadership online at adamdovico.com, on social media @adamdovico, or in his books: Inside the Trenches, The Limitless School, and When Kids Lead.

Instructor: Janie Bass, Coordinator of Early Childhood Education, Reynolda House and Gardens

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Reynolda Gardens, Brown Family Conservatory Welcome Center

In Bringing Books to Life: Literacy at the Core of STEAM Learning, this experiential learning session at Reynolda Gardens will explore how children’s literature can anchor inquiry-based outdoor learning in the early grades. Using The Tale of Peter Rabbit as a model text, participants will walk through a StoryWalk® and engage in hands-on STEAM stations that demonstrate how young learners develop scientific understanding through observation, play, and narrative. Together, we will examine the interdisciplinary nature of literacy—how reading, science, art, and mathematics intersect in meaningful ways for K–2 students. We will also explore how narrative-based inquiry helps children make sense of scientific ideas by giving them a storyline to connect evidence, patterns, and cause-and-effect relationships—an approach that mirrors how scientists build explanations from observations. We will consider how StoryWalk®–style experiences support language development, curiosity, and foundational scientific thinking, and how these practices can be adapted for school gardens, schoolyards, and classroom settings. Educators will leave with a starter nature collection, standards-aligned lesson ideas, and a deeper understanding of how literacy can serve as the core of STEAM learning in elementary education.

Janie Bass is an educator with more than twenty years of experience in K–6 teaching, program development, and interdisciplinary learning design. She taught in North Carolina public schools for over eight years before establishing a learning resource program at a private school in Winston-Salem. She later moved into museum and garden education, designing experiential and inquiry-based learning experiences for Reynolda House Museum of American Art & Gardens. At Reynolda, her work centers on creating programs that connect students with art, history, and the natural environment. She developed the Reynolda Gardens K–6 field trip curriculum aligned with the North Carolina Science Standards and contributes to expanding garden- and nature-based learning across the site. Through funding from the North Carolina Science Museums Grant, she supports Reynolda Gardens’ efforts to offer free, standards-aligned field trips for Title I schools. Janie holds a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Concord University and a Master of Education from Salem College.

Instructor: Paul Whitener, Associate Director of Digital Fabrication and Maker Education, Wake Forest University

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026

Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 5

Location: WakerSpace, Wake Forest University

Making in the K-12 Classroom will take place at WakerSpace on the campus of Wake Forest University and will introduce simple hands-on projects to help teachers encourage students’ critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and creativity. It will highlight the value of “making” as it pertains to wellbeing both in and out of the classroom. The workshop is open to all K-12 educators and will include a broad range of topics and tools, such as 3D printing, podcasting, crafting, Makey Makey, and the Marshmallow Challenge to encourage and foster hands-on experiential learning.

Paul Whitener is Associate Director of Digital Fabrication and Maker Education at Wake Forest University. As an Information Systems staff member assigned to the Wake Forest makerspace, the WakerSpace, Paul is involved in technology and making, which is used to teach students in and out of the classroom. With a bachelor’s Degree in Communications with a Television Production Concentration and an Associate’s Degree in Electronic Engineering, Paul brings over 30 years of experience, all based in technology, to the program. In his current role, Paul works with students on a daily basis helping them to utilize various “maker” technologies in their coursework. He has also co-facilitated the Computer Science STEM Robotics course as well as led many “pop-up” labs geared towards extracurricular learning for the WFU community. These labs include Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Makey Makey, laser cutting, and 3D printing technologies. In the spirit of Pro Humanitate, Paul is also involved in many technology outreaches to middle and high school students.

Instructors:

Amanda Kaufman, Learning and Instructional Services Librarian, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University

Colleen Foy, Research and Instruction Librarian, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University

Date: September 12, 2025

Time: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 5

Location: Wake Downtown

Teaching Information Literacy in Secondary Schools will focus on integrating research skills into the high school curriculum across content areas. This course is intended to help teachers navigate the continued need for traditional research instruction (e.g., topic development, developing a search strategy, source evaluation, plagiarism and citation) with modern developments and challenges such as artificial intelligence tools, personal algorithms, and social media-based pseudoscience. This teacher professional learning course will focus on preparing students for research after high school, whether that involves college-level writing, research in the workforce, or personal inquiry in their daily lives.

Amanda Kaufman is the Learning and Instructional Services Librarian at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. Amanda graduated from Kansas State University in 2009 with a BA in English. She received a master’s degree in library science from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2012 and a master’s degree in Educational Studies from Wake Forest University in 2023.

Colleen Foy is the Research and Instruction Librarian for the Sciences at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. Colleen graduated from Auburn University with a BS in Health & Exercise Science in 1999. She received a master’s degree in library and information studies from UNC-Greensboro in 2021.

Instructor: Cristofer Wiley, Civics Teacher, RJ Reynolds High School, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools 2025 Teacher of the Year

Dates: Postponed

Time: —

Instructional Contact Hours: 5

Location: MUSE Winston-Salem

Civil Discourse in Civic Literacy stems from the instructor’s career experience in introducing high school students to the civic discourse. This course is intended to offer something of a compass by which to navigate our turbulent political times. A focus on the nation’s fundamental principles and, ideally, our shared values can pave the common ground for meaningful dialogue. It will also serve as a model for accomplishing the same ends in a classroom setting across a range of content areas and grade levels. Appropriate supporting texts — articles, speeches, documents, and the like — will provide context for collective evaluation and consensus; comprehension will be aided by articulating the shifting perspectives of ourselves and others.

Cristofer Wiley has taught as an adjunct professor of education at Wake Forest. His courses include Educational Policy and Practice (EDU 201) and Social Justice Issues in Education (EDU 304). He is a Civics Literacy teacher at RJ Reynolds High School in Winston- Salem, North Carolina, and has served as a classroom teacher for two decades, dedicating his service to a full range of diverse students in the secondary setting, from sheltered English Language Learner classes to Advanced Placement courses.

Instructors:

Professors Chris Sheridan, Chris Zaluski, Peter Gilbert, and Cara Pilson

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2026

Time: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm (includes lunch hour)

Instructional Contact Hours: 4

Location: Wake Forest Graduate School Brookstown Campus (Third Floor)

Some of our best learning and teaching comes through the use of stories and storytelling. In Unlocking the Power of Storytelling, you will learn that the art and craft of storytelling is no longer just for writers and filmmakers – it’s a valuable skill increasingly needed across all industries, and one of the most effective ways to reach your students. In this half-day, interactive workshop, the professors in the Wake Forest University Documentary Film Program will show you what makes a good story, how to effectively use storytelling and documentaries in your teaching, and run you through a fun, interactive video project that you can do with your students to help with their media literacy and help them start to build their own voice. No video experience necessary–just come with a passion for storytelling and a curiosity for how to better leverage stories in your classroom.

Chris Sheridan teaches courses in documentary and sports storytelling, digital and social media, and the business of sports media. He also supervises student internships. Sheridan is an award winning, journalist, content creator and media executive who has built and led content teams at some of the biggest media companies including ESPN, CNBC, NBC and ABC.

Christopher Zaluski teaches courses in advanced production, visual storytelling, and public advocacy. Prior to higher education, he worked as a multimedia journalist for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Roanoke Times as well as the the Director of Video at Teach For America.

Peter Gilbert teaches courses in documentary storytelling, sports storytelling, cinematography and sound and entrepreneurship. Gilbert has had a distinguished career in producing, directing, and photographing documentaries, feature films, commercials, and music videos. He is one of the filmmakers who made Hoop Dreams, serving as a producer and director of Photography.

Cara Pilson teaches in the areas of documentary storytelling, research, clearance and fair use, ethics, and documentary history. She has worked as associate director, chief researcher and web producer on multiple award-winning films that were broadcast nationally and internationally, including, Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power and Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore.

Instructor:

Pamela Henderson, Director of Magnet Schools, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025

Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 6

Available Seats: 25

Location: Kaleideum, Think Tank (2nd Floor)

Address: 120 West 3rd Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Reading the Room: A Strategic Approach to Student Growth through Centering Literacies of Strength will consider the question, how do we teach literacy in a chemistry lab—or a dance studio, a visual arts critique, or a history classroom? In this highly interactive session, we’ll expand the definition of literacy to include the diverse ways students express, interpret, and construct meaning across content areas—what we call literacies of strength. By recognizing and leveraging these student assets across all content areas, participants will explore how to design learning experiences that foster deeper engagement, encourage presence, accelerate student growth, and meet content standards. Framed by the RISE Framework (Relevant, Integrated, Strength-Based, Empowering), this session offers practical, student-centered strategies to align rigorous instruction with the ways students most naturally learn and communicate. Educators will leave with tools and ideas for designing lessons, activities, and assessments that connect program themes and content goals to student identity, voice, and future opportunity.

Pamela Henderson currently serves as the Director of Magnet Schools for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and is a national presenter on equity-driven, student-centered instruction. With nearly two decades of classroom experience, she brings a deep understanding of teaching and learning to her leadership work. Pamela holds a Master’s in Transnational and Multicultural Literatures and is currently completing her doctoral research at Appalachian State University, focusing on literacies of strength, specialized theme integration, and liberatory instructional design. She also serves on the Research and Writing Workgroup for Magnet Schools of America, contributing to national efforts to advance the impact and innovation of magnet programs. Pamela leads district-wide initiatives to build inclusive, future-ready learning environments where all students can thrive.

Instructor: Dr. Brook Davis, Professor, Department of Theatre & Dance, Wake Forest University

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Ring Theatre, Scales Fine Arts Center, Wake Forest University

It’s Greek to Me: Teaching Shakespeare to Fearful and Reluctant People is led by a teacher who was once fearful and reluctant herself. This course will give you background, tips, and activities for making Shakespeare more user friendly for students of all ages. Sessions will include information on Shakespeare’s life and times; some basic strategies for reading, watching, and performing Shakespeare; and a look at Shakespearean performance and interpretation throughout the ages. This is a perfect course for the Shakespeare beginner as well as the Bard enthusiast.

Dr. Brook Davis joined the Wake Forest University Department of Theatre and Dance in 1997 and regularly teaches Introduction to Theatre, Dramatic Literature, Acting One, and Theatre in Education. She also directs for WFU and professionally. Brook’s research interests include theatre pedagogy; 20th and 21st Century American dramatic literature; and practitioner, educator and playwright, Constance D’Arcy Mackay. In 2000, Brook developed the Theatre in Education class that partners Theatre and Education students and places them in public school classrooms to assist teachers with theatrical, curriculum-based lesson plans.

Instructor: Cristy Guleserian, Executive Director of Leadership and Character in the College, Wake Forest University

Dates: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Location: Davis House, Wake Forest University

The purpose of this course, Engaging Reflective and Relational Practices to Foster Character, Care and Community in K-12 Schools, is to engage teachers, and help them to engage students, in reflective and relational practices to foster character, care, and community in K-12 schools. Through the introduction of a shared language, tools, and strategies, educators will be equipped to model for their students the skills, mindsets, and dispositions necessary to build educational cultures grounded in leadership and character. Together, we will discover how to evolve as individuals, cultivate connection and trust, nurture responsibility and purpose, and engage communities of practice that lead to flourishing students and educators in K-12 learning environments.

Cristy Guleserian is the Executive Director in the College for the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, where she leads institutional efforts to integrate character formation across undergraduate student, faculty, and staff initiatives. Previously, she served as architect and Executive Director of Principled Innovation at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, where she co-led major grant initiatives to embed character into curricular, co-curricular, and cultural efforts across the university. She also directed social-emotional learning and character development programs with Casa Center for Positive Social Change and worked as an interpersonal communications consultant across education, health, nonprofit, and business sectors. Cristy holds a B.S. in Interpersonal Communication from Ohio University, an M.S. in Management from New England College, and an M.A. in Character Education from the University of Birmingham. She is an active leader in national networks of character education and contributes to publications and design frameworks in the field.

Instructor:

Laurie Schaefer, Chair, NC Council on the Holocaust; Instructional Assistant, Wake Forest Department of Education

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026

Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Instructional Contact Hours: 6

Location: DeTamble Auditorium (A110), Tribble Hall, Wake Forest University

In Unpacking Propaganda: Education and Indoctrination in the Third Reich, teachers in middle and high school are invited to participate in this detailed study of Nazi propaganda and the education system under the Third Reich, which employed propaganda to indoctrinate the youth of Germany. Using a lens of media literacy, teachers will learn how to lead students through lessons that analyze propaganda and how it was used to manipulate those most susceptible to it: the children of Nazi, Germany.

Laurie Schaefer, a retired North Carolina high school English Language Arts teacher with 29 years of experience, has devoted her career to Holocaust education. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Appalachian State University, is a National Board Certified teacher, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College. Laurie began teaching Elie Wiesel’s Night during her first year in the classroom and was trained at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Belfer Conference in 1996. In 2006, she was named a Museum Teacher Fellow and went on to present and mentor for eight years within the program. Appointed to the NC Council on the Holocaust in 2019, Laurie now serves as the Chair of the Council and leads the Council’s Program Planning Committee, which organizes workshops and webinars for educators across the state. She also manages the Council’s teacher website and was part of the six-member team that developed ELA curriculum resources and professional development for the Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act. In addition, Laurie serves as a facilitator for Echoes and Reflections and as an Education Consultant and Project Manager for Women of the Shoah in Greensboro. She has written and implemented a Holocaust elective course, led student and teacher tours to Holocaust sites in Europe, and continues her work as an independent contractor with several Holocaust education organizations.