Schools set innovation gathering

The fifth annual Education Innovation Summit — featuring students and nationally recognized educators and other leaders — will be Monday and Tuesday at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The two-day event is sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s Office of Innovation for Education.

Keynote speakers are:

■ A.J. Juliani, the director of learning and innovation for the Centennial School District in Pennsylvania and a blogger, speaker and author of books on strategies for project-based learning and student-centered learning experiences.

■ Sonny Magana of Washington, also an educator and author of Disruptive Classroom Technologies, which is the culmination of four decades of research on use of technology in education.

■ Ronnie Brewer Jr., a former University of Arkansas Razorback and National Basketball Association player who is now a philanthropist and business entrepreneur.

The theme of the event is “Together We are Lighting a Fire to Transform Learning.” More than 100 students in third through 12th grades from Arkansas schools will lead concurrent sessions about transformations that have been made at their schools — including those in Clarendon, Jasper, Tyronza and Bryant — and how they have been affected.

Rounding out the program will be presentations from school leaders, teachers, national educational innovation consultants, state education officials and local innovation experts.

Registration for the summit closes Friday Sept. 20. More information is available on the Office for Innovation website: https://bit.ly/2mnI4nY