Walnut Valley staff attends mini university

By Walnut Valley Unified

The first Walnut Valley Unified School District Mini University was held in April 18. More than 1,000 certificated and classified employees attended the conference held at Walnut High School.

“There’s a million people to thank – this has been a big team effort during the past several weeks,” said Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Matthew Witmer. “And here we are, I’m very happy to see everyone today!”

Staff members gathered in the gymnasium for the welcome and keynote address.

“I know today will be a great day,” said Superintendent Robert Taylor. “I hope you’re going to learn a lot. I hope you’re going to enjoy it.”

Taylor said the professional development day would also provide the opportunity for employees to reconnect with friends they don’t get a chance to see every day.  The morning kicked off with keynote speaker Dr. Greg Washington, Dean of the UC Irvine Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Over 75 breakout sessions followed with a wide-variety of offerings focusing on Common Core State Standards, technology, college and career readiness, and more.  A large percentage of the presenters were WVUSD staff members.

Employees around the District gave the professional development day a resounding “thumbs up.”

“It was great to be able to spend the day reconnecting with our colleagues from other schools and learning from our peers,” said Helen Papadopoulos, Suzanne Middle School Math and Drama Teacher.

“I thought it was a great day to learn so some new skills and tools to take back to my school.  It was extremely well organized and I thought the keynote speaker was very engaging,” said Peggy Laine, Maple Hill Elementary Library Media Technician.