PCG staff recently attended one of the education industry’s premier events, SXSW EDU, in Austin, Texas from March 4-7, 2019. After months of hard work and planning, this proved to be our biggest year yet.

PCG kicked things off by hosting an exclusive dinner event on Monday, March 4th and sponsoring the official SXSW EDU Opening Party immediately after on the same evening. The event gathered over 100 educators, academics, practitioners, and innovators to engage on the critical topic of school safety. During the dinner, PCG’s Paul Wilson moderated a panel presentation on student threat assessment, featuring Rep. Shawn Thierry of the Texas House of Representatives, Dr. Antoine Hickman from Broward County Schools, Mario De La Rosa from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and Curt Lavarello from the School Safety Advocacy Council as panelists. The conversation highlighted the need for interagency communication, collaboration, and coordination across the various constituents to implement an effective, proactive approach to school safety.  

On Wednesday, March 6th, PCG led two sessions exploring ways to position students for success. PCG’s Ashley Quick gave a Future20 talk on the ideas of presumed competence and the "least dangerous assumption" when educating students with disabilities, especially those with significant disabilities. For an inside look at some of the main points covered in her presentation, check out her great blog post here. Special education and supporting students with disabilities continues to grow as a critical topic at SXSW EDU, and Ashley brought some key considerations to light.

Later that day, Paul moderated a My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Forum panel presentation submitted by Bruce Douglas of PCG that explored the difference between equality and equity in education, featuring panelists from three of the country’s biggest and most diverse school districts: Dr. Mark Bedell of Kansas City Public Schools, Dr. Paul Cruz of the Austin Independent School District, and Dr. Martha Salazar Zamora of the Tomball Independent School District, in metropolitan Houston’s Harris County. We were proud to see Dr. Cruz’s insights featured in media coverage of the panel published by the Austin American-Statesman. PCG has been bringing conversations focused on equity and diversity to SXSW EDU for four years now and we are very excited to see our efforts gain some local media coverage. You can also listen to a full recording of the panel discussion here (at 66 minutes, it’s a great option for interested commuters!).

We look forward to continuing to push innovative and critical conversations at SXSW EDU for years to come while representing how PCG works with our clients and stakeholders to positively impact change.

PCG’s Paul Wilson (middle) moderated the school safety panel during PCG’s dinner event on March 4th. (Panelists, L to R): Mario De La Rosa from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Dr. Antoine Hickman from Broward County Schools, Rep. Shawn Thierry of the Texas House of Representatives, and Curt Lavarello from the School Safety Advocacy Council.

Photo via @eworkerP

Cabral Thornton, Paul Wilson and Bruce Douglas proudly represented PCG at SXSW EDU 2019.

Photo via @UIPCGEducation 

Members of the MBK Forum PCG team – Rick Purcell, Bruce Douglas, and Alvin Crawford – were excited to be at SXSW EDU to engage in discussions around equity for ALL students.

Photo via @eworkerP 

Ashley Quick presented for the first time at SXSW EDU in a session titled “Think Big: We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know,” to discuss how educators can impact outcomes for students with significant cognitive disabilities simply by presuming competence.

Photo via @AOQuick 

Bruce Douglas (middle right) and Paul Wilson (far right) of PCG with the speakers of the MBK Forum panel calling for equity in education: Dr. Mark Bedell of Kansas City Public Schools (far left), Dr. Martha Salazar Zamora of the Tomball Independent School District (middle left), and Dr. Paul Cruz of the Austin Independent School District (middle).

Photo via @pvwjr 

Paul Wilson (far right) moderated the “Equality v Equity: What’s the difference?” panel on how district leaders can ensure every student has access to a quality education by focusing on equitable outcomes.

Photo via @AISDSupt