New Engagement Opportunity: Reimagining Advisory at the Intersection of Passion, Purpose, and Future Pathways
Register Today! Join Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) for this NEW five-part learning and professional development series and help create advisory systems where every student feels seen, supported, and inspired.
CEI is excited to introduce this opportunity to support schools in unlocking the full potential of advisory to build school culture, deepen student-teacher and peer relationships, and strengthen engagement and connection to develop thriving students.
Advisory is a powerful structure for cultivating belonging and identity and making school more relevant through meaningful exploration of each student’s interests and passions, while also aligning to individual and school ICAP plans. When intentionally designed, advisory becomes a driver of connection, purpose, and long-term student success.
CEI invites staff members, including principals, assistant principals, counselors, and advisory leads, who are leading advisory development at their schools to join this series to strengthen and leverage advisory time.
Whether your advisory program utilizes a specific curriculum or not, this series will support you in reimagining existing structures, creating space for students to explore their interests and future pathways and building relationship-rich and hopeful environments..
Why Join this Series?
Over the past two years, CEI has worked to identify the essential components of advisory work. This series draws from that learning to support you to:
- Align advisory with Colorado’s evolving accountability framework and Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) goals.
- Establish shared expectations and accountability structures to ensure advisory is consistent, purposeful, and owned by the whole community.
- Design experiences that promote a sense of belonging, agency, and purpose.
- Develop tools to measure impact and sustain success.
In addition to attending the group sessions, participants will also engage in coaching sessions designed to help them to move their school’s advisory goals forward and will leave with tools and resources to implement with their teams.
Important Details:
- Full participation in all five sessions (listed in the drop down menu low) is requested to support shared learning and impact.
- Participants will receive PDU credit for completing the learning series.
- There is no cost to engage in this opportunity.
- All sessions will take place virtually on Zoom.
- *Please note: This opportunity is currently open to schools in the Denver Metro area. If you work outside this region and are interested in participating, we encourage you to register and CEI staff will follow up to confirm participation availability.
Session Descriptions and Schedule
Session 1: Grounding Advisory in Purpose and Accountability
Date: September 18, 2025 Time: 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Examine how advisory can serve as a bridge to your school’s unique goals and vision. This session will examine how advisory can support students in accessing the Big Three: college credit, in-demand credentials, and high-quality work-based learning experiences. Learn how to design intentional advisory experiences that help students explore their purpose, demonstrate readiness, and build future plans.
Session 2: Advisory Structures: Systems and Supports
Date: October 16, 2025 Time: 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Explore the process of building or improving your advisory program — from getting started to sustaining impact. This session will focus on developing essential components of strong advisory systems, assembling the right team, and avoiding common challenges and pitfalls. Learn how to implement empathy-building protocols to better understand student needs and how to use empathy building to inform and design your advisory space.
Session 3: Building a Culture of Connection
Date: November 6, 2025 Time: 9 – 10:30 a.m.
This session focuses on equipping staff with the mindsets and strategies needed to create safe, trusting, and engaging advisory spaces that are built from a culture of understanding. Participants will explore how strong student-teacher relationships, cultural responsiveness, and shared ownership of learning elevate student agency and foster growth for both students and adults.
Participants will also have the option to join an advanced Meaningful Career Conversation session designed for those interested in leading deeper career conversations with students who are feeling “stuck” or may have additional considerations to keep in mind in future-planning.
Session 4: Belonging and Identity in Action
Date: December 4, 2025 Time: 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Learn how advisory can support students’ social-emotional needs through three key drivers of agency and purpose: service learning, identity work, and future planning. Participants will explore how strong relationships, cultural responsiveness, and shared ownership of learning can elevate student voice and leadership. This session will share how students can take an active role in shaping and leading advisory, while building confidence and self-advocacy along the way.
Session 5: Measuring What Matters
Date: January 15, 2025 Time: 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Explore how to build a meaningful and sustainable approach to evaluating impact, building shared ownership, and aligning advisory to long-term goals. This session will share strategies for building a sustainable evaluation approach that informs decision-making, strengthens staff engagement, and continuously improves the student experience. From survey design to focus groups and data reflection protocols, participants will leave with practical tools to collect, analyze, and act on the data that matters most.
Questions:
Please contact Emily Takimoto at etakimoto@coloradoedinitiative.org.
This learning series is enabled through funding from the Rose Community Foundation.