When it began in 2013, the Educator in Residence (EIR) program placed seven educators in six schools with the goals of working deeper with local communities, retaining quality staff through the winter months, and broadening the impact of KWE programming. In collaboration with the school, an individualized Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was developed for each educator based upon the needs of the school community, the goals of the administration and the strengths of the educator. The educators participated in weekly professional development at Kieve, lived together in housing they found in local communities, and were immersed daily in their schools for six weeks.
This winter we have 26 EIRs. We’re partnering with new schools and using the Wavus Campus as a home space for many of our new educators. Whether coordinating Winter Kids festivities, directing a school theater production, tutoring high school biology students, proactively providing a weekly class in social-emotional skills, or many other small tasks that accumulate into bigger impacts, our EIRs have just begun a 10 week investment into local communities. During the upcoming weeks, they’ll each tell their stories of how they are infusing the KWE values of kindness and respect into their daily work and how they are guiding as inspirational role models. As part of the KWE team, they are all working to improve school climates and build more inclusive, welcoming school cultures.
