Over 200 teachers, administrators and counselors from Holdenville, Maud, Okemah, Seminole and Wetumka attended a professional development workshop on Tuesday, August 7 sponsored by the GEAR UP program on the Seminole State College campus.  The event started with a motivational team building exercise presented by The Drum Cafe.  While playing individual drums, each participant was encouraged to understand the importance of his or her role in something much larger. 

After the team building drum session, participants received a presentation from Patti Albright who discussed Ruby Payne’s “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” The event provided those in attendance with in-depth information to understanding class differences and 10 actions that can be implemented in the classroom to achieve impact.