Regional Events and Workshops by John R. Sowash

Awesome professional development that won’t break the bank!

Interested in providing your teachers with a great professional learning experience, but don’t have the budget to make it happen? 

My regional workshop model makes it possible to host a high-quality event at your school for a fraction of the cost of bringing in a national speaker. 

It’s a simple process: 

1. Pick a topic
2. Select a date
3. Confirm logistics
4. Help promote the event

I handle registration, coordinate marketing, and plan all of the logistics for the day. 

This event framework give you a risk-free opportunity to schedule to visit your school without breaking your professional development budget. 

Step 1: Pick a topic: 

I can offer a variety of 1 and 2-day workshops. Here is a current course list (click for description and details): 

• Google Certification Academy (2-day)
• Google Admin bootcamp
• Teach with Chrome
• Classroom Kickstart
• Google Forms for Educators

Step 2: Pick a date

We need to identify the optimal time to schedule this session to maximize the availability of teachers in your area. 

Try to stay away from national holidays (everyone needs a break) and regional professional development events. 

It’s not a bad idea to reach out to some of your neighboring districts and ask if your proposed date works for them. 

Regional workshops must be scheduled a minimum of 3 months in advance to provide adequate time to promote the event. 

Send me a few different date options so that I can check my availability as well. 

Step 3: Confirm logistics

After we find a good date I will confirm some details about your facilities and apply for continuing education credit. 

I handle all of the registration details and communication with the participants. 

At this time you will be able to pre-register your teachers for the event! As a thank you for hosting, you will receive between 1-7 free registration. 

The number of free registrations you receive is based on the type of event and final registration count.  

Step 4: Promote the event!

Now that we have all of the logistics figured out it’s time to share the event information with your neighboring school districts! 

I recommend emailing districts administrators in your area, sharing the workshop information on social media, and contacting regional educational organizations who can share the event information.

Registration for my events ranges between $199 and $299 / person. I handle registration and all of the financial details. 

Each event has a minimum attendance that must be met in order for the event to move forward.  

Past Event Hosts

I have hosted events with many different state and regional organizations. 

• Western Reserve Public Media (Kent, Ohio)
• The Lutheran Schools Partnership (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
• Grand Valley State University (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools (Lansing, Michigan)
• Texas Woman’s University (Denton, Texas)
• Wayne County Community College (Detroit, Michigan)