Summer Institute 2023

Ahead of the new school year, Center for Creative Education (CCE) and The Foundations School engaged in extensive professional development. Staff, teachers, and teaching artists all participated in activities that helped them connect with each other, rediscover their purpose, and understand their responsibilities to the organization and to the students they serve.

CCE’s teaching artists, who work in our C.A.D.R.E. program supported by Prime Time Palm Beach County and with our students at The Foundations School, took part in a three-day event called Summer Institute. Held every year before the start of the new school year, this professional development opportunity gives teaching artists the chance to come together, learn new techniques that can improve their lessons, and reconnect with their own understanding of themselves and why they do what they do. This year’s Summer Institute took place at Center for Creative Education’s West Palm Beach campus, with plenty of collaboration with teachers and assistant teachers from The Foundations School as well as administrative staff.

Across three days, teaching artists created their own art projects that reflected their unique styles and abilities. On the first morning, teaching artists, teachers, and staff all participated in an activity called “Finding Your Ikigai.” The project helped people explore their life’s purpose by answering a series of questions and seeing where their abilities and interests overlapped. When everyone completed their projects, the artwork decorated the walls of the cafeteria, where Summer Institute was held.

The Summer Institute reflects CCE’s commitment to professional development and respecting teachers as professionals. Thank you to the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation for supporting this endeavor. We will continue to share the creative projects that our teaching artists are facilitating in schools across Palm Beach County and at The Foundations School on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.