CSETI: Consortium Participants Collaborate on Showcase
Collaboration is at the core of what the Western New York Regional Information Center (WNYRIC) does. When the opportunity arose to bring multiple districts together to empower students with leadership and 21st century technology skills, Technology Integrator Melanie Kitchen began working to create the Consortium for Student Empowerment Through Innovation (CSETI).
“The seed started with a presentation on Lewiston Porter’s Honors Project at Ed Camp. One district said ‘I want to do that’ and then there were a dozen more joining into this new consortium,” Kitchen explained.
CSETI’s mission is to build a community of educational professionals working together to collaborate on ideas, problem solve, share resources and support each other to expand the student empowerment movement.
“Because collaboration is such a big part of what we do as adults and as educators, it was really beneficial to see other districts and students doing the same thing,” Kitchen said.
Students who participate in their district's program work through a design thinking process and determine a driving question that is personal and meaningful to them. They then conduct research, create models or products, and share their failures and successes during a showcase at the end of the year.
"Our consortium vision is to create a setting that empowers students to cultivate leadership and 21st century skills in order to positively impact the world. This year we were fortunate to connect with Buffalo State University, who agreed to host all of the students and teachers in the program on their campus for a region-wide showcase,” Kitchen said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was transitioned to a virtual event, which included both an online showcase of projects and live panels with students and teachers.
“We decided to go forward with a virtual consortium because the benefits of showcasing students’ development of leadership skills, teamwork, research, public speaking, problem solving, persistence, and risk-taking still stand,” Kitchen explained.
The event was well received and there are plans in the works to continue in 2020-21. To see the CSETI Showcase, go to https://sites.google.com/e1b.org/virtualcseti/home?authuser=0.
If you have questions about CSETI or would like to join, please contact Melanie Kitchen at mkitchen@e1b.org.