PBLWorks Opens Registration for Professional Development Conference

PBLWorks recently opened registration for PBL World 2023, a professional development conference focused on Project Based Learning, scheduled from June 26–29, 2023, in Napa Valley, Calif. The event’s intended audience is teachers, school administrators, and district leaders looking to start or expand their knowledge of gold standard Project Based Learning, as well as how to implement it in their classrooms, schools, and districts, according to a news release.

“Project Based Learning is a powerful way to inspire students—and engage them more deeply in their learning,” said PBLWorks CEO Bob Lenz. “The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Sharing Stories: Changing the Narrative through Gold Standard PBL’ to highlight the impact that high-quality project-based learning can have on transforming the lives of all students, especially Black and Brown students. PBL World is a great opportunity for district and school leaders, and teachers, to get targeted professional development focused on high-quality PBL so they can help support this information and empower all students, and especially Black and Brown students, to succeed.”

The keynote address will come from Jason E. Glass, Ed.D., Commissioner & Chief Learner from the Kentucky Department of Education. “In making the necessary shifts in student experience to bring about genuine deeper learning, quality problem and project-based approaches illuminate the ‘how’ of bringing these learning transformations to life,” said Dr. Glass. “PBLWorks is helping us bring this change to scale in Kentucky, supporting our educators with practical action steps and practices so they can implement deeper learning with students. I’m so grateful to be part of the PBL World event, telling Kentucky’s story as an example of a global movement toward more meaningful learning and a better future.”

The conference will also feature a panel of students sharing their experiences with PBL, as well as the announcements of 2023 PBLWorks award winners. Nominations for the PBL Champion Award and the John Larmer “JL” Lifelong Learner Award are open until March 3, 2023.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • Phoenix School District Breaks Ground on New Prep Academy

    The Creighton Elementary School District near Phoenix, Ariz., recently broke ground on a campus replacement for Biltmore Preparatory Academy, according to a news release. The new space will allow the school to expand its enrollment by 50 percent for K–8 students and accommodate modern, collaborative learning styles.