March 18, 2024

Nationally known teaching seminar coming to Newton

‘Capturing Kids’ Hearts’ set for June 23-25

School districts have long wrestled with the costs of sending educators out of town or across the country for professional development. At least one organization is cutting out the educators’ travel costs by coming to Newton.

At its April 13 regular meeting, Newton Community School District board of education voted unanimously to have more than 60 educators attend a “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” professional development seminar, offered by The Flippen Group, June 23-25 in the Newton area.

The actual cost to NCSD wasn’t mentioned at Monday’s meeting, but the cost of $47,100 — including travel — was mentioned on the Flippen Group’s proposal included in the board packet. Each district is charged $1,800 for every trainer who must travel, and a second trainer will be added for groups of 50 or more, such as Newton.

“Typically, they require districts to come to them,” Superintendent Bob Callaghan said. “This is saving us a great deal of money by having them come here.”

The exact site was not yet determined, but Callaghan said the Des Moines Area Community College Newton Campus is a possibility. Callaghan said the 60-plus Newton educators who have expressed interest in the seminar are evenly spread across the district’s campuses.

Berg Elementary had 17 staff members express interest in attending, as of last week. “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” is a program that works off of the concept that if a teacher wins the heart of a student, educational concepts flow through the classroom process much more smoothly.

The superintendent, through three surveys and other communication with staff, found the June 23-25 dates worked best. Callaghan said CKH and the Flippen Group are both nationally renowned.

“It’s a very organized process,” Callaghan said, in describing the training. “The goal would be to have another 60 teachers go through it next summer, and then start sending smaller groups to catch up.”

In the CKH model, each class puts together a social contract about how the teacher and students want to be treated, and how each agrees to conduct themselves. The Flippen Group’s website describes CKH as a “dynamic, skill-driven, participatory experience.”

The main driving concept is that staff must model the skills and the behavior they want to see in students.

Some of the stated goals of the program are:

• Improving classroom attendance.

• More students taking responsibility for their actions and performance.

• Decreased disruptive outbursts and violent acts.

• Improved student empathy for diverse cultures and backgrounds.

There is a 90-day window wherein Newton Schools cannot cancel, and the April 13 meeting fell within that window.

All six board members voted to bring the Flippen Group to Newton. Board member Donna Cook didn’t attend the meeting.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com