Testimonials

The book Envisioning a Collaborative Response Model provides our school with several practical tools and ideas in furthering our systematic responses to intervention. Kurtis Hewson has provided our team with knowledgeable and personalized consultation. Moreover, he has linked us to a professional network of like-minded schools, and in doing so has facilitated practical, cost effective professional development.

Excellent day of learning that allowed for reflection on current practice and development of next steps to keep the model moving forward. Kurtis Hewson is an engaging speaker who tailors the content to his audience and is able to not only answer questions, but provide real school examples to support his suggestions. I appreciate how collaborative response and Jigsaw Learning itself continues to shift and respond to the needs and experiences of the schools/divisions it is serving ... modelling the responsiveness we need to embody in our own buildings.

What was very impressive during the review process was Kurtis heard our struggles and came back with concrete ideas to consider. He also commended where we are at as a school and staff, which was very affirming to hear. Whether the ideas will work or not was not really the issue. It was used to expand our thinking and move us ahead in a positive way.

Our school is very lucky to have Lorna Hewson coach us in our journey in building a Collaborative Response Model. Our entire staff met with Lorna at the beginning of the year and then our small CRM committee has met with her twice outside the school at the school division office. All of these meetings have served our school well and have been very useful, but nothing has been more productive then the coaching sessions we receive from Lorna when she comes to our school and meets with teachers and admin either one on one or in a small group. This is when the collaborative response model becomes very personal and gains momentum in our school. Lorna is very skilled in meeting our staff right where they are at, and then knowing what our next steps should be. Her coaching sessions keeps our forward momentum rolling, keeps us focused on the key understandings, and holds us accountable to our plans we put in place. I have found her coaching sessions to be the most productive sessions I have experienced due to her ... Read more

Kurtis Hewson came out last spring to assist us in creating timetables. Our goal was ultimately to ensure that each grade grouping had set collaborative meeting time throughout the week. After spending the morning with Kurtis we walked away with not only embedded time but set, consistent blocks dedicated to interventions, a completed music and physical education schedule, all before the month of June was over! Kurtis worked with us side by side, leading us through a very thorough scheduling process that made collaboration and intervention time possible. I would highly recommend having him work with your team. The time spent is highly valuable, not only for the creation of schedules but for the leadership/expertise he shares. We have scheduled more time with him this year and are excited about the possibilities.