Ingrid Spence’s history with Summer Institute stretches all the way back to a new business item at an Idaho Education Association Delegate Assembly years ago, when members approved the formation of a professional development committee.  

“We had this idea of doing the professional development that we knew teachers needed, and that it would come from the idea that we, as teachers, know how to teach right,” she says. 

Decades later, Spence is the board chair of the Center for Teaching and Learning, a non-profit organization created by members of the Idaho Education Association to provide high-quality professional development and mentorship for educators.  IEA’s Summer Institute is one of CTL’s most cherished and anticipated annual events.  

From July 24-27, over 200 IEA members from around the state will travel to Lewiston to learn from their peers, share their experiences, and earn up to four continuing education credits from Idaho State University. And it’s all free for IEA members. 

“Summer Institute means opportunity for renewal,” says Carmi Scheller, a member of the West Ada Education Association, an IEA board member and teacher at Star Elementary. “This can be as straightforward as getting credits needed for certification or the kismet kind.” 

Unfortunately, this year’s Summer Institute is already full, and this sneak peek of what members will experience is just a sampling of the classes on offer. If you feel like you’re missing out, mark your calendar now for next year.  

Instructor: Melyssa Ferro
Class: “Enhancing Teacher Productivity: Unleashing the Power of AI Apps” 

Ferro, a science teacher at Syringa Middle School, Caldwell Education Association member and IEA board member, has been exploring AI in her classroom for a couple of years. Last year, Ferro says, was all about figuring out what AI is, what it can do, and if it has staying power.  

“This year, it appears it’s not going anywhere, and it’s moving into our educational spaces,” she says. “So how do we start leveraging it to take things off of our own plates, but also to be more impactful in our instruction with students?” 

Her class, “Enhancing Teacher Productivity: Unleashing the Power of AI Apps,” will focus on just that.  

The technology is evolving so quickly that her original concept for her Summer Institute training, a sort of “tasting flight” of AI programs, involved at least one tool that is already obsolete. However, there are plenty of other programs, such as Magic School AI, that have quickly consumed a huge share of the education space. Harnessing these powerful tools can be a gamechanger for educators and students alike, Ferro says, especially if educators understand how to properly guide the experience.  

Instructor: Julie Underwood
Classes: “From Burning Out to Burning Passion: Rekindling Your Love of Education,” “Yoga for Every Body: A Primer for Powerful Practice” and “Yoga Relaxation to Send You On Your Way.” 

Underwood, a retired educator and a certified CTL trainer, understands that teachers are different than other professionals because they feel called to the classroom. That passion can be a double-edged sword, though: “You feel like it’s super meaningful and serves a bigger purpose, and it helps justify working until eight o’clock at night and taking your papers home.”  

Underwood developed her classes with those realities in mind. Her “From Burning Out to Burning Passion” class “is about how to shift your mindset so that you can rediscover your passion and why you love teaching,” she says. A lot of the lessons she teaches are ones she had to learn the hard way when she was in the classroom.  

Underwood will also teach two yoga classes. “I wanted to share yoga with teachers because I feel like it’s a good way to approach anything physical with your body,” she says. “Yoga takes the approach of meeting your body where it is, and to think of it in terms of nourishing it and listening to it.” 

Instructor: Cyndi Faircloth
Classes: “Building Relationships: Adventures in Connecting with Students,” “Oh, Behave! An Adventure in Classroom Management” and “Guiding Their Journey: Mentoring 101” 

Faircloth’s classes are all about building and sustaining meaningful relationships, whether with students or with new teachers. Educators, Faircloth says, often try to reach students without realizing the ways adverse childhood relationships and trauma can manifest in the classroom.  

“Sometimes we have biases we don’t necessarily pay attention to, so we’re going to try and do some reflection and help people think about those things,” says Faircloth, a teacher at Moscow Middle School,  co-president of the Moscow Education Association and a newly-elected member of the IEA Board of Directors. 

Strong relationships with students can also mitigate common classroom behavioral issues, she says, a topic she will cover in “Oh, Behave!” 

“We’ll work on ideas about expectations and how to convey them to kids,” she says. “Sometimes I think we forget; we want something to be one way, but we really need to teach it to them.” 

The real-life lessons she’ll share extend to her mentoring class, especially as someone who did not have a pleasant student teaching experience or an easy first year in the classroom. During the class, she’ll share insights from her district’s mentoring program.  

“I really want to see people have a different experience than I did, so maybe they’ll stay in the classroom,” she says. 

You can browse the full Summer Institute schedule here.

Even More SI Events

Sonia Galaviz, a member of both the Boise Education Association and the Idaho House of Representatives, will deliver a lunchtime keynote address on Wednesday, July 24. Galaviz is a Title 1 interventionist and educator in Boise who has taught for 20 years in Title 1 schools. She received her doctorate in the spring of 2020 from Boise State University, focusing on STEM education for underserved populations. In 2022, she was elected to serve in the Idaho Legislature, House of Representatives, for District 16.

Members who have not yet converted to IEA AutoPay may do so at Summer Institute, where IEA staff will be on hand to assist with any questions and walk members through the process.

The PACE auction at Summer Institute will feature a variety of auction items from member-made crafts and art to extravagant gift baskets donated by IEA members from across the state. If you’d like to contribute an item to the PACE auction, please bring the item to the check-in desk at Summer Institute between 8-9 a.m. Wednesday, July 24.

Attendees can learn more about the benefits available to them by visiting vendors on hand, including California Casualty, IEA Member Benefits and National Education Association Member Benefits.

IEA Board candidates Alicia Purdy and Lindsey Smith, both of whom are running to serve as NEA director, will be available to answer questions about their candidacy.