Join us in Evenson Building, (School of Education) Room 120 to hear from:

• Dr Morgan Chitiyo, SOE Dean
•  Dr. Craig Peck, ELC Department Chair & Associate Professor  
• Dr Leila Villaverde, ELC Professor & Dean’s Fellow on Climate & Culture & Editor of the International Journal of Critical Pedagogy (IJCP)  
• Dr Ye (Jane) He, Helena Gabriel Houston Distinguished Professor for Elementary Education

There are TWO (2) concurrent sessions. Please choose one of the following sessions.

1. Building AI Literacy, Brian A. Whitson | Evenson Building (School of Education), Room 204
   • With the proliferation and integration of AI tools into our daily lives, the need for AI literacy is paramount for our students and ourselves. Experience activities incorporating AI literacy that teach AI fundamentals, ethical implications, and practical applications while fostering critical thinking, creativity, and digital citizenship.
2. Cultivating Competence with Communities: Using Experiential Education for Meaningful Learning and Growth, Dr. Jessical McCall | Evenson Building (School of Education, Room 202
   • Many educators recognize the power and importance of community engagement, while concurrently being tasked with preparing students to face a world requiring competence in leadership, competence, and critical thinking. Let’s embrace the power of experiential education and use it as a vehicle to meet both needs. This session will engage participants in an overview of the opportunities and challenges embedded in community engagement and experiential education. Collaboratively, we will consider models and strategies to implement and enhance experiential education in current and future spaces.

Evenson Building, (School of Education) Rooms 102, 104, 110 | Virtual Attendees will receive links to view materials

1. UNCG Fulbright Teaching Excellence & Achievement Program Cultural Posters | Evenson Building (School of Education), Room 104 & 110
   • The FTEA program is a 6-week Fulbright teacher exchange program funded by the US government, supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State, and administered by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), a global nonprofit organization that designs and administers international education and development programs. The FTEA program at UNCG is managed by the Global Engagement Office (GEO) and the School of Education (SOE) since Fall 2022.
2. Teacher Professional Identity Self Portraits from TESOL MAT and NC Teach Candidates | Evenson Building (School of Education), Room 102
   • In partnership with NC school districts, the TESOL MAT and NC Teach program prepares preservice teachers to work with multilingual populations while earning their initial teaching license in K-12 ESL. Through their self-portraits, TESOL preservice teachers visually express how their life histories motivate their work with multilingual learners, and how they hope to express these motivations through their classroom practice.

There are TWO (2) concurrent sessions. Please choose one of the following sessions.

1. It Takes a Village: How to Go from Need to Network, Alyzia McAlmon & Krystle Lindsey | Evenson Building (School of Education), Room 204
   • We have all heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but no one really tells you how to build that village. When Clarke Elementary became a Community School, there was no shortage of needs, and we quickly realized we could not meet them alone. We needed an intentional approach to identifying the right community partners, building meaningful relationships, and connecting resources to the needs of our students, families, and staff.  
     
     In this session, we will share the process we used to move from identifying needs to building a strong network of community partners. Participants will leave with practical strategies for mapping community assets, approaching potential partners, and creating partnerships that are meaningful, sustainable, and responsive to their school’s unique needs. Whether participants are just beginning this work or looking to strengthen an existing network, they will leave with ideas and tools they can put into practice right away.
2. Aligning Teacher Evaluation with Experiential Education and School Philosophy, Dr. Beth Meyer | Evenson Building (School of Education, Room 202
   • What if teacher evaluation reflected not only how teachers teach, but also what we believe learning should look and feel like?
   • At The Experiential School of Greensboro (TESG), experiential education is at the heart of our philosophy. We believe students learn through curiosity, authentic experiences, relationships, reflection, inquiry, and meaningful connections to the world around them. Our evaluation instruments should reflect those same beliefs. In this session, participants will explore how to transform teacher evaluation from a compliance-driven process into a tool for supporting and strengthening experiential teaching practices. We will examine how to translate the principles of experiential education into clear, observable practices and meaningful indicators within teacher evaluation instruments. Participants will explore how to create evaluation tools that provide clarity and accountability while honoring teacher creativity, student-centered learning, authentic engagement, and the instructional practices that bring experiential education to life. They will leave with practical strategies for developing evaluation instruments that do more than measure teaching. These tools can make a school’s philosophy visible, reinforce what it believes about learning, and support teachers in bringing those beliefs into practice.

Evenson Building, (School of Education) Room 120

Place Matters: The World-Changing Power of Experiential Education in Community

Mallory McDuff, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental Studies & Outdoor Leadership Director of Environmental Education Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC

Mallory McDuff, Ph.D. teaches environmental education at Warren Wilson College where she integrates experiential education and community engagement into all of her courses.  

She is the author of five books, including Love Your Mother: 50 States, 50 Stories, and 50 Women United for Climate Justice and Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love.   Her essays and op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Narratively, WIRED, and more.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO DR. RANDY CARVER, DR. REBECCA CARVER’S FAMILY, and HELENA GABRIEL HOUSTON DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP

Thank you to all those that helped behind the scenes:

• Doris Kroiss, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, TESOL & Elementary Education, Teacher Education & Higher Education (TEHE) Department
• Karen Meier, Director of Teaching Resources Center (TRC), School of Education Dean’s Office; Instructor, Department of Information, Library, and Research Sciences (ILRS); EdD in Educational Leadership Candidate, ELC Department
• Carla Wilson, Academic Technology Specialist, School of Education Dean’s Office
• UNCG Global Engagement Office (GEO)
• University Communications (Photography Services)
• UNCG Information Technology Services (ITS)
• UNCG Parking Services (POCAM)
• UNCG Campus Police
• UNCG Housekeeping & Facility Services
• UNCG Catering Services
• …and all other volunteers!
• Cassandra Galvan-Ruiz, Federal Work Study Office Assistant, ELC Department
• VanderVeen Photographers, Inc.

Thank you from the PE3 2026 TEAM:

• Dr. Craig Peck, Department Chair & Associate Professor, ELC Department
• Dr. Ye (Jane) He, Helena Houston Gabriel Distinguished Professor, TEHE Department
• Dr. Leila Villaverde, Professor & Dean’s Fellow (Climate and Culture), ELC Department; Editor, International Journal of Critical Pedagogy (IJCP); Co-Founder and Board President, The Experiential School of Greensboro (TESG)
• Nor Othman-LeSaux, Office Manager, ELC Department