The workshop highlights the conditions under which students learn best, stressing the significance of relevant content, active engagement, prosocial collaboration, and healthy mindsets. By connecting classroom learning to real-world applications, educators can make content meaningful, thus increasing student motivation and academic performance. This relevance bridges the gap between school and community, reframing knowledge to include lived experiences and everyday activities. Using a case study from Girard College High School's partnership with Eastern State Penitentiary and the creation of a course on prisons and social justice, educators will learn how to build and measure the impact of these innovative programs. In the first program of its kind, Eastern State Penitentiary partnered with Girard to develop a yearlong curriculum on Social Justice and Mass Incarceration. Students debated issues of race and redemption while leading public discussions and participating in conferences regarding avenues for reform. From that demonstrated success, more partnerships were formed transforming the school culture.
