Educators Who Inspire, Learners Who Thrive!
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
We are excited to welcome local educators to our upcoming Area-Wide Professional Learning Day on November 4, 2026! This year, our focus is on honoring local expertise and providing dedicated time for educators to connect, dive deep into content or grade-level specific learning, and build meaningful networks across our region. To facilitate these collaborative experiences, workshops will be hosted at several of our local partner sites.
Not sure what to register for? Check out our FAQ’s or email Erin Luckhardt, luckhardte@charemisd.org.
REGISTRATION LINK
Registration opens on September 25, and closes on October 23, 2026.
Workshop Options listed below.
Early Childhood Adventures in Learning: Smooth Sailing through Strategic Design
Audience: Early Childhood Educators
Description: Prepare to set sail on an extraordinary educational voyage with our captivating workshop!
Delve into the art of crafting a sensory-smart classroom while harnessing the power of universal design. Through this collaborative experience, you’ll uncover strategies to promote behavioral regulation while nurturing social and emotional growth in children of all abilities. Get ready to navigate the seas of strategic design and create an early learning classroom environment where every child can flourish.
Presenter/Facilitator: Amy Nelson, LCSW, LSCSW, RPT-S
Location: Castle Farms, Charlevoix
Elementary Educators
Audience: K-5 Educators, Elementary Paraeducators/Aides/Title Support, Elementary Principals
Description: This day of learning provides K–5 educators with an actionable overview of structured literacy—an evidence-based approach essential for preventing reading failure, empowering all learners, and supporting students who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia. Fulfilling some of the professional learning requirements for Michigan’s PA-146 Literacy and Dyslexia Law, this session bridges foundational theory with daily classroom instruction. Participants will build practical skills across essential domains—including phonemic awareness, phonics, foundational writing, sentence-level comprehension, vocabulary, and morphology—while learning to identify and leverage elements of structured literacy within their existing curricular materials. Guided by practical peer insights, teachers will leave with high-impact, teacher-tested practices and routines they can implement in their classrooms the very next day to foster lifelong readers.
Presenters/Facilitators: Kim St. Martin & Ann Anderson, MiMTSS TA Center; Jennifer Jess, Char-Em ISD MTSS Coordinator; Jennifer Barst, Alison Gross, Kari Maki, Katie Reinhardt, and Sarah Schaef, Char-Em ISD Literacy Coaches; Local Educators
Location: Petoskey High School
Secondary ELA
Audience: 4-12 ELA Educators, 5-12 Administrators
Description: Join secondary ELA educators and administrators for an engaging day of professional learning focused on actionable, evidence-based practices that inspire learners and elevate instruction. Featuring an opening keynote from Kim St. Martin (MiMTSS TA Center), this workshop covers key topics including active participation strategies, explicit vocabulary instruction as well as other practices to support adolescent literacy. Participants will engage in peer networking, educator breakout sharing, and a dedicated structured implementation block so that they leave with ready-to-use resources and actionable plans for immediate classroom impact.
Presenter/Facilitator: Kim St. Martin & Johanna Toth, MiMTSS TA Center; Local Educators
Location: Petoskey High School
Secondary Math
Audience: 5-12 Math Educators
Description: Join regional 5–12 math educators for an interactive day of learning designed around collaborative networking and local expertise. This participant-driven day offers small breakout sessions highlighting local teachers, practical strategies, and key insights into essential elements of disciplinary literacy in mathematics. Beyond meaningful connection with peers across districts, the schedule features a dedicated hands-on implementation block to ensure you walk away with actionable resources for immediate classroom use that support students in making sense of mathematical ideas and communicating their reasoning.
Presenter/Facilitator: Heather Kowalski, Tech Integration & Math Consultant; Local Educators
Location: Petoskey Middle School
Secondary Science
Audience: 6-12 Science Educators
Description: Join regional 6–12 science educators for a full day of connection, collaboration, and practical learning centered on Disciplinary Literacy within our very own Science and Engineering Practices. Hear from local teachers, explore a variety of breakout sessions, experience instruction from a student perspective, and collect strategies, resources, and tools to take directly back to your classroom. This is more than a day of professional learning—it’s an opportunity to learn from what’s happening in science classrooms across our region and build connections with educators who are asking the same questions you are. After this wonderful day of learning, you’ll be invited to join the Char-Em ISD Science Network for collaboration and discover an ongoing community for sharing ideas, tackling challenges, and growing science instruction together.
Presenter/Facilitator: Linnea Gibson, K-12 Science Consultant; Local Educators
Location: Boyne Falls Public Schools
Secondary Social Studies
Audience: 5-12 Social Studies Educators
Description: Designed around community and real-world application, the secondary social studies session invites educators to a day of peer-driven collaboration focused on integrating disciplinary literacy. Guided by Dave Johnson, the agenda puts local expertise front and center through facilitator supported and teacher-hosted breakout blocks. Between valuable networking breaks, you will engage in structured implementation time to construct takeaway materials for immediate instructional use!
Presenter/Facilitator: Dave Johnson, Instructional Consultant for Social Studies; Local Educators
Location: Charlevoix Middle/High School
Counselors
Audience: Counselors, Student Support Specialists
Description: K-12 school counselors and student support specialists across the ISD will come together for a dedicated day of learning designed around collaborative networking and local expertise. Counselors will connect to share best practices and dive into practical topics like enhancing comprehensive school counseling programs, supporting student mental health and behavioral needs, navigating academic and postsecondary planning, and leveraging AI to streamline administrative tasks and student interventions.
Presenter/Facilitator: Tory Thrush, Char-Em ISD Consultant
Location: Charlevoix Public Library Community Room
CTE Connect
Audience: CTE Educators, Woodshop & Career Exploration Educators
Description: This hands-on professional community brings together Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers across the ISD to collaborate and strengthen their skillset in the classroom. Educators will dive into practical topics like increasing student engagement, managing classroom behaviors, implementing self-paced and mastery-based learning and using AI as a teaching tool.
Presenter/Facilitator: Michele Deming, CTE Instructional Mentor & Consultant; Hannah Sanderson, CTE Consultant
Location: Char-Em Charlevoix Office
Literacy in Stereo: How Music Instruction Strengthens Reading, Language and Learning
Audience: K-12 Music, Band and Choir Teachers
Description: Music educators already teach the brain skills that make strong readers—this session shows you how to leverage what you’re already doing to meet literacy goals without sacrificing musicianship.Instead of treating literacy as an “extra,” we’ll show how the core processes of music—rhythm reading, phrasing, audiation, pattern recognition, breath control, and text interpretation—already build the same cognitive and linguistic skills students need to become strong readers.
This session is designed specifically for music educators who want to protect their instructional time while still meeting Michigan’s PA‑146 requirements in a way that actually makes sense for their discipline. Together, we’ll explore how musical training supports phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—and how ensemble routines naturally reinforce structured literacy practices without changing what you already do. No extra worksheets. No abandoning your curriculum. No pretending to be a reading teacher. Just practical, musician‑friendly connections that help you advocate for your program, deepen student learning, and show administrators why music is essential—not supplemental—to literacy development.
You’ll leave with usable strategies, stronger language for advocating your program, and a renewed sense of how your work in music education directly supports lifelong reading success.
Presenter/Facilitator: Holly Cowdery, Music and Band Educator
Location: Petoskey Middle School
Make, Share, Teach (Art)
Audience: K-12 Art Teachers
Description: Join fellow K–12 art educators for a day of creative collaboration, professional learning, and hands-on exploration. The day opens with a keynote from Tan-A Hoffman, Executive Director of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, followed by a curriculum share with Amy Pobanz, MI Creative Potential Director of Regional Arts Networks, Michigan Assessment Consortium. After lunch, two hands-on breakout sessions will invite educators to explore new materials and creative techniques, experience projects from a student’s perspective, and reflect on ways to adapt ideas for their own classrooms. Participants will also have time to network, explore resources, and develop practical strategies to bring back to their students.
Presenter/Facilitator: Crooked Tree Arts Center Staff; Local Artists; Tan-A Hoffman, Executive Director of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians; Amy Pobanz, MI Creative Potential Director of Regional Arts Networks, Michigan Assessment Consortium
Location: Crooked Tree Arts Center
PE Teachers
Audience: Elementary & Secondary PE Teachers
Description: Connect with physical education colleagues across the region for an engaging session centered on health-related fitness and lifelong movement. Driven by local expertise and peer-led conversations, this workshop provides a collaborative space to exchange ideas and share best practices. A dedicated implementation block will give you time to translate these concepts into ready-to-use lessons and routines designed to keep your students active and engaged.
Presenter/Facilitator: Lindsey Henley, Athletic Trainer Certified, M. Ed; Local Educators
Location: Petoskey High School
Special Ed Collaborative
Audience: Special Education Educators, Paraeducators, Administrators
Description: Join the ISD Special Education Administrative Team for a day of learning about developing and supporting specially designed instruction, learning quality practices in special education, and updated guidance from the field. The day will include mini sessions designed to promote collaboration, networking, and problem-solving. Districts are encouraged to send at least one representative to this collaborative.
Presenter/Facilitator: Lauren Ringle, Char-Em ISD Special Education Admin Team
Location: Castle Farms, Charlevoix
STEM Collaborative
Audience: STEM Teachers
Description: This hands-on professional community brings together Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers across the ISD to collaborate and elevate inquiry-based learning in the classroom. Educators will dive into practical topics like facilitating student-led engineering design challenges, managing lab behaviors and safety, and implementing self-paced mastery of complex technical concepts.
Presenter/Facilitator: Brandon Beltz, Char-Em ISD STEM Consultant
Location: Central Elementary, Petoskey
Ukeru Training
Audience: Special Education Educators, Paraeducators
Description: Ukeru is designed to equip educators, behavioral health professionals, and caregivers with trauma-informed, restraint-free strategies for de-escalation and crisis management. Rooted in compassion, safety, and respect, Ukeru shifts the focus from controlling behavior to understanding it — emphasizing communication, connection, and the creation of supportive environments.
This training helps participants recognize the impact trauma has on behavior and prioritizes strategies that promote emotional and physical safety for all. The program is committed to eliminating the use of physical restraints and seclusion, replacing them with proactive and respectful interventions. Ukeru teaches staff to prioritize comfort and emotional safety over compliance, cultivating trust and reducing fear-based responses. Ukeru can be used in conjunction with more restrictive techniques (CPI), if necessary.
Presenters/Facilitators: Mary Corder, SLP, Ukeru Certified Trainer, Eric Daniel, Behavioral Consultant, Ukeru Certified Trainer; Jessica Wright, Behavior Specialist (BCBA), Ukeru Certified Trainer
Location: Castle Farms, Charlevoix
World Languages
Audience: World Language Teachers
Description: K-12 Spanish and French teachers will come together for a hands-on day of collaboration and conversation in the target languages. We will share information about our programs and best practices and have opportunities to ask and answer questions to learn from each other. In the afternoon we will interact with the trilingual signage at Raven Hill Discovery Center, identify collection items from Latin America (or ones that could be used in a French classroom), experience a language-infused arts activity, and co-design an interactive field trip experience differentiated for all levels of learning to which we could bring students in the future or adapt for our classrooms.
Presenter/Facilitator: Angela Barrera, World Languages Educator
Location: Raven Hill Discovery Center
REGISTRATION LINK
Registration opens on September 25, and closes on October 23, 2026.