During this three series session, participants will learn, via narrative, about the “River Jim” project and the lessons learned over the course of a 15 year experiment and study undertaken by Bill Shively, Teacher, Willows Unified. Bill will share his inspiring and extraordinary dedication, passion and success with taking “at-promise” students out canoeing and camping. Driven by the results he witnessed, Bill pursued a Master’s degree to further develop the unconventional pedagogy to the science of learning and well-being. Specifics to this project will be shared, then generalized applications discussed. Bill has distilled key principles, backed by brain science, that he believes will support students thriving in any context. Dr. William Rich, Professor Emeritus, will extend the conversation to conditions and actions leaders can take to support innovative teachers and projects like River Jim. Sandra Azevedo, Coordinator, Butte County Office of Education, will connect the principles to core social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and link to teacher and leader resources.
