2025 GOCSD Innovation Summit

The GOWellness Network is an opportunity for educators, administrators, and wellness champions to come together and build a supportive community focused on staff well-being. This session will foster collaboration, allowing participants to share best practices, explore innovative wellness strategies, and walk away with practical tools to enhance wellness initiatives in their schools and districts.

As educators, we dedicate ourselves to student success, but sustainable impact begins with our own well-being. Research shows that foundational wellness—including movement, proper nutrition and hydration, and quality sleep—directly affects cognitive function, emotional resilience, and overall job performance. This session will equip educators with evidence-based strategies to build and maintain wellness habits, fostering a more energized, focused, and resilient school year.

Struggling to make RTI work at the secondary level? This session will provide practical, time-saving strategies to support all learners without overwhelming teachers. We’ll break down effective tiered interventions, explore data-driven decision-making, and discuss ways to engage students in meaningful progress. Learn how to implement RTI in a way that fits your classroom while fostering student growth. Whether you’re new to RTI or looking to refine your approach, this session offers realistic solutions you can use immediately. By the end of this session, participants will be able to implement targeted RTI strategies that drive student success at the secondary level.

As educators, we know our students are showing an increase in behavioral issues and struggle with emotional regulation. A survey done by Education Week shows that students’ problematic behaviors have increased, and teachers’ morale has decreased. The need for social and emotional learning (SEL) in the school setting cannot be denied. So how do we as teachers put that into action in our classrooms among all the other important lessons we are trying to teach our students? At the end of this session, you will be able to implement SEL and actionable coping strategies in your day-to-day lesson plans.

This session explores how embedded professional development (PD), follow-up coaching, and targeted training create systemic change in education by supporting and retaining new teachers. Participants will learn strategies to integrate ongoing mentorship and instructional coaching, ensuring teachers feel equipped and confident in their roles. By focusing on sustainable support systems, we can bridge the gap between training and practice, ultimately improving teacher retention and student outcomes. Join us to discover how investing in educators through meaningful, job-embedded PD leads to long-term success in schools.

Picture this: A high school where students thrive as mental health ambassadors, breaking stigmas and transforming their school’s culture. That's exactly what's happening at Branson High School, Missouri's leader in mental wellness classes. In this eye-opening session, dive into the journey of how they’ve turned traditional mental health support on its head by putting students in the driver's seat through partnerships with Burrell Behavioral Health and Sources of Strength. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to communicate the benefits and barriers to such programs and create a plan to launch within their own campuses.