🌍🔎 Welcome to the 2025 Academic Innovation Conference! 🔎🌍
“Where in the World...?”
Welcome, education trailblazers, to a conference unlike any other—where we set out on a high-stakes global mission to transform our classrooms into communities for the future! 🌎✨
Just like the legendary Carmen Sandiego, our students are on an adventure—but instead of searching for stolen treasures, they are discovering knowledge, cultures, digital tools, and opportunities that prepare them to be true global citizens. The question is: How do we equip them with the tools to navigate and thrive in an ever-changing world? That’s where YOU come in!
Over the course of this conference, we’ll decode the mysteries of innovation, track down best practices from around the globe, and unlock the strategies that will empower our students to think critically, collaborate across cultures, and make meaningful contributions—no matter where their journey takes them.
So, grab your thinking caps and passports, because together, we are about to embark on an educational expedition that ensures our students do not just ask where in the world they belong—but boldly go out and shape it through citizenship.
Wes is the Assistant Director of College Access Services for App State GEAR UP. Prior to joining App State, Wes worked as the senior counselor in a GEAR UP high school in western North Carolina. Wes has 22 years of experience in public education, both in the classroom and as a counselor. The majority of his teaching and counseling experience was in urban Title 1 schools, with an emphasis on School Turnaround processes. He has worked every grade from kindergarten to 12th in some capacity, and was an MTSS specialist for two years as well. Wes is published in the area of peer mediation and has presentations about MTSS, peer mediation, and mitigating the impact of trauma on postsecondary access to his credit.