2025 Student Power Summit

The 2025 Student Power Summit is a two-day, in-person event designed to deepen understanding of the conditions, benefits, and challenges of developing greater agency in our students.

This year you may notice a growing emphasis on the importance of culture for developing agency in our kids (and adults, too!). Culture is what makes an individual and community feel safe to take risks in their beliefs, desires, and actions to develop themselves. Agency and Self-determined learning grows more strongly in a culture of belonging, inclusion, risk-taking, authenticity, and psychological safety.

Schedule at a Glance

Saturday, March 8, 2025
Explore Ohio’s Largest Outdoor K-12 Education Facility

Start your Student Power Summit Experience a day early by joining this walk-and-learn through The Granville Land Lab – over 90 acres of regenerated natural lands that are now home to: 

  • 140+ Species of Birds 

  • Turtles, Snakes, Frogs, and Other Amphibians and Reptiles 

  • Numerous Wild Mammals – Including Deer, Mink, Beavers, Bats, and More 

  • Native Wildflowers and Other Plants 

  • A Bee Apiary 

  • Mallard Boxes 

  • Robust Wetlands 

  • Goat-and-Fruit-Tree Symbiotic Environment 

This unique learning environment – created to contribute to conservation by restoring the undeveloped land in front of the Granville Intermediate School – functions as part of the Granville Schools Sustainability Project and is being used by U.S. Fish and Wildlife as a model to inspire similar projects across the state and nation. 

This outdoor classroom provides experiential learning opportunities for students of the Granville Exempted School District, Denison University, and surrounding school districts. 

Your experience will be led by Natural Intelligence advocate Leen Gorrisen, Granville science teacher Jim Reding, Brent Sodergren of US Fish and Wildlife, and a handful of Granville students. 

Conversations will include the history and evolution of the program, the critical roles that students have played in developing this one-of-a-kind natural learning environment, and discussion of how the Land Lab inspires lessons on science, math, language arts, art, music, and life. 

If you’re interested, please indicate so when registering for the Student Power Summit ’25. More details about the Land Lab tour will be available after January 1. 

Learn more about the Land Lab by visiting the student-created website or watching the student-produced documentary. thelandlab.wordpress.com
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DfERzvmHI2Q 

Time Activity
11:15AM – 12:00PM Registration & Lunch
12:00PM – 12:15PM Welcome & Opening Remarks
12:15PM – 12:30PM Transition
12:30PM – 1:45PM Workshop Block 1
1:45PM – 2:00PM Transition
2:00PM – 3:15PM Workshop Block 2
3:15PM – 3:30PM Transition
3:30PM – 4:45PM Workshop Block 3
4:45PM – 5:00PM Transition
5:00PM – 6:15PM Workshop Block 4
6:15PM – 6:30PM Transition
6:30PM – 7:30PM Dinner & Entertainment

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Time Activity
8:00AM – 8:30AM Registration & Coffee
8:30AM – 9:00AM Transition
9:00AM – 10:15AM Workshop Block 1 / School Visits
10:15AM – 10:45AM Transition
10:45AM – 12:00PM Workshop Block 2 / School Visits
12:00PM – 1:30PM Transition
1:30PM – 2:45PM Workshop Block 3 / School Visits
2:45PM – 3:15PM Transition
3:15PM – 4:30PM Workshop Block 4
4:30PM – 5:45PM Transition Refreshments & Networking
5:45PM – 6:15PM Dinner
6:15PM – 8:00PM Keynote "The Nature of Learning & Learning from Nature" with Belgian Biologist Leen Gorissen

Monday, March 10, 2024

*Schedule subject to change.

Register by March 1

Early Conference Pricing (Nov 13 – Dec 31):
$450 per Individual
$2,000 per Team of 5

Regular Conference Pricing (Jan 1 – March 1):
$499 per Individual
Includes two days of 30+ agency workshops, agency in action school visits with transportation, lunch and dinner on both days, International keynote, networking, etc.

Highlights from the 2024 Summit

  • “The Summit was an excellent opportunity to connect with other folks from around the country who all had a similar interest and like minds when it comes to self-determined learning.”

    Dr. Corey Grubbs, Region 2 Superintendent, Columbus City Schools

  • “I wanted to be involved in the Summit because I see value of giving kids control of their learning.”

    Dr. Jim Angelo, Asst. Superintendent of Instruction, Frederick County Schools

  • “Being part of a community that believes in the same goal and the same purpose was invigorating and life giving to me. I can’t stop talking about it.”

    Trese Rieves, Education Equity Specialist, Westerville City Schools

  • “This group has been instrumental in helping us shape our vision for the future.”

    Jeff Brown, Superintendent, Granville Exempted Village Schools

  • “I wanted to be part of the Summit because I believe it’s part of a changing paradigm in public education.”

    2022 Summit Attendee

Questions?

Contact Mike Nicholson at mnicholson@learninspired.org.