'25 MSAA Summer Institute

In an unpredictable time, joy is a necessity. When we tap into the genius of students and staff, we create schools where joy is unleashed and positive change extends beyond our walls into the communities we serve. This session will explore embracing a culture where students and educators lead together. Whether it's through student entrepreneurship, staff-led professional learning, advisory, whole school events that staff and students co-lead (and more!), we will demonstrate that when people dive into work with passion and purpose, schools thrive. We are thrilled to be joined by our keynote Beth Houf who will share insights on leading with joy, resilience, and authenticity. Walk away with actionable strategies and a vision for making joyful, genius-driven learning the heartbeat of your school. If you were here seven years ago, you may remember our first Unleashing Genius session. Come join us and help us take it to the next level!

The Tenacity Challenge is an academic competition for teams of African American and Latina/o high school students, and on a separate date, middle school students. Students prepare for several months to compete in four events on the culminating day: the history argument before a panel of judges, the literature analysis (with with written rationale and videotaped performance), the math quiz bowl and the art installation.  On another date, the middle school challenge includes a leadership competition, the literature analysis, a STEM challenge and the math quiz bowl.   With over 2000 students impacted to date, the preparation and the competition build academic risk taking, collaboration, deep learning and leadership skills, all of which contribute to a sense of belonging and the closing of achievement gaps at their home schools.