March 19, 2021

The Penobscot River Educational Partnership (PREP) is hosting a professional development day, March 19th, for approximately 1,400 area educators.  PREP is a collaborative partnership organization focused on improving student learning by providing high quality professional development for educators. Members include 23 school districts in the Greater Bangor/Eastern Maine area and 4 higher education partners. 

The sessions are focused on professional development on social, emotional, and equity learning including student and staff wellness.  These topics have been a priority for PREP over the last several years and have become even more important over the last year while educating and caring for students during COVID. There are 117 different presentation sessions throughout the day for educators to choose from.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Greta Peay, founder and CEO of Diversity Matters, LLC. Dr. Peay has dedicated more than 39 years of service to the education profession. Her career is best described as a change agent and an advocate for social justice and equitable opportunities. Dr. Peay is nationally known for her professional development skills to educate others about best practices in the areas of literacy, language acquisition, cultural responsiveness, equity, diversity, and inclusion.  She retired from the Clark County School District as the Chief Instructional Services Officer.

For March 19th she has designed two sessions for all educators. The first session is Equity Matters:  The Why. This is a prerecorded panel discussion hosted by Dr. Peay. The panel includes noted thought leaders and educators, who have been doing equity work in their school districts.  During the second session educators will join Dr. Peay in a synchronous ‘live’ presentation entitled, Educating for a Changing World:  The Importance of an Equity Mindset. 

We are all looking forward to a great day of learning from many outstanding presenters.