Last weekend, over 700 people gathered in San Diego at the sold out Linked Learning Convention for a chance for to come together to expand high quality Linked Learning opportunities for more young people. The conference welcomed elected officials, business and industry leaders, community-based organizations, post-secondary institutions, and K-12 educators and administrators invested in integrating rigorous academics with career-based learning and real world workplace experiences. The San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP) was honored to be one of more than 30 co-hosts supporting the event.
Thursday’s opening plenary session included remarks from Mayor Kevin Faulconer and San Diego School Unified District (SDUSD) Superintendent Cindy Marten, who spoke about SDUSD’s efforts to build career pathways into K-12 curriculum, which includes close work with SDWP. The conference offered a variety of sessions from hands-on Linked Learning labs to case study workshops to site visits at locations like Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab and Del Lago Academy: Campus of Applied Science and more.
There are many partners working together to build and advance the Linked Learning approach in California, including the Linked Learning Alliance Board of Directors. SDWP CEO Peter Callstrom has been appointed to the board alongside others representing state and public agencies, education, business, community, philanthropy and research as well as parent and student representatives.