Local educators credit Level Up with empowering, providing them with connections

The Hot Springs County School Board of Trustees heard from four presenters on Feb. 16 about the positive impacts of the “Level Up” program, starting with Lyle Wiley, Language Arts teacher for Hot Springs County High School.

According to Wiley, the Level Up program seeks to elevate Wyoming’s education professionals by providing leadership development to an annual cohort of Wyoming’s leading educators.

“We definitely have more folks at Hot Springs involved in the Level Up community than any other district in the state,” said Wiley, who noted that all four of the day’s presenters were members of the Level Up alumni program.

Wiley elaborated that the aforementioned cohort is made up of district teachers of the year, Milken Educator Award winners, and the Presidential Award winners for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, with principals and administrators who are afforded opportunities to join as well.

“This opportunity is extended to everyone in the state, every time you win an award like this,” Wiley said “It’s just really great that we have a big representation in this group.”

Wiley credited Level Up with offering advocacy training with state policymakers, leadership training with the Wyoming Military Department, and “continuous improvement” with the University of Wyoming College of Education.

In April, Level Up is slated to meet in Thermopolis, which facilitates what Wiley described tongue-in-cheek as one of the benefits of the program for the Hot Springs County School District, because “we steal ideas from other people (at Level Up), and bring them back to the district.”

In addition to Level Up’s educator retention and mentorship programs, Hot Springs County High School Principal Catelyn Deromedi touted its monthly meetings in Cheyenne and Casper, as well as its book study and connections with state legislators.

Ralph Witters Elementary Principal Nichole Ciz, whom Wiley deemed an “OG” among Level Up alumni, elaborated on the third legislative session that she and her fellow “OG,” Hot Springs County High School Physical Education, Health and Wellness teacher Shannon Hill, were able to attend, as well as their time at Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center this August.

“When Shannon, Amy and I went in February of 2020, right before the pandemic hit, it was our first year doing it, and there were probably around 20 people,” Ciz said. “Every year, it’s continued to grow since then. A few weeks ago, we were able to go with around 40 people. It’s also allowed our voices to grow.”

Ciz credited Level Up with allowing her to network with everyone from fellow teachers to state education leaders and legislators, “about the issues facing us, that we all know about and experience every single day.”

Hill acknowledged that Level Up represents “a bit of a time commitment,” with monthly meetings on top of the educators’ already hectic schedules, but she sees Level Up “creating connections that we don’t normally have the opportunity to have,” which leaves her feeling “refreshed as an educator, when you get to go talk to other educators across the state.”

Hill has been able to speak with the governor’s wife about nutrition, and share breakfasts with legislators, carrying on “crucial conversations” that have empowered her and other local educators to “be leaders” and “be more confident” as they’re heard and received responses from other education professionals.