Los Angeles-based educational company Subject hosted the Subject Impact Awards Gala to recognize innovative leaders and schools for "their courage, commitment, and dedication in their use of educational technology." Throughout the evening, the company celebrated seven different educational figures and high schools by honoring their accomplishments.
"The Impact Awards Gala celebrated school leaders and districts that have embraced the transformative power of educational technology to impact students' success. The pandemic caused schools to face a "hard reset" as they thought of ways to challenge the status quo upon returning to in-classroom instruction. The awardees that evening were a testament to how leaders and schools can leverage technology to usher in a new era of innovation in the classroom," Sylvia Jauregui, senior manager of public policy at Subject, told Coachella Valley Times.
According to its company website, Subject.com is an online learning platform proven to boost student engagement and learning. Founded by Felix Ruano and Michael Vilardo in 2020, Subject offers students and teachers short form video content that can be integrated into classroom lessons. With a course library that includes more than 65 highly engaging and accredited courses, schools that offer Subject to their students give them the opportunity to be highly engaged by cinematic-quality instruction, designed to be as engaging as the streaming content students are accustomed to today.
Among the seven honorees recognized by Subject was Dr. Eric J. Mooney, director of secondary education at Colton Joint Unified School District; Trivium Charter School of Lompoc, Calif.; Jonine Treviño, director of special projects at Brawley Union High School District; Learn 4 Life Innovation High Schools; Dr. Melissa Moore, superintendent of El Segundo Unified School District; Marisa Janicek, assistant superintendent of El Segundo Unified School District; and Greg Gazanian, director of innovation at Aracadia School District.
Before the Gala, Subject Studios hosted a panel discussion on the impact of A.I. models, such as Chat GPT, on education and learning. Erik Burmeister, founder and principal of Solutionary Advisors and retired superintendent of Menlo Park City School District, was present to give his perspective on the impact of emerging technologies on student achievement and engagement.
Also on the panel was Jasmine Pachnanda, the senior vice president at CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County (CLAOC), and she took to Linkedln to show her appreciation for the conversation: "Enjoyed the convo at Subject on how educators are responding to Al developments like Chat GPT. Some are all in, some are 'cautiously curious,' and some slow as to avoid potential harms to our young people, looking at social media as an example of unintended consequences."
Subject is an approved vendor in a number of California school districts, according to Coachella Valley Time. Beginning next school year, Subject will be available for all LAUSD schools, meaning students in any of the district high schools will have access to Subject's tools and resources.