Transformation ▫ strategic planning and overall impact

Heather’s reputation for ingenuity, forward-thinking, and execution is consistent in each role she performs. I have watched in awe as her effort’s breathe new life into stagnate educational practices. She is motivated, resourceful, and impeccably organized. Heather Duellmann school board member, counselor

Lyke has directly impacted:

Over 10 school districts
Over 45 public/private schools
Over 45 committees and councils
Over 65 agencies/businesses/universities
Over 70 instructional coaches
Over 115 school administrators/leaders
Over 440 paraprofessionals/support staff
Over 4,400 student learners
Over 12,000 teachers

visualize her impact with this infographic

Examples ▫ strategic planning and overall impact

In the midst of the pandemic, our Dover-Eyota leadership team was feeling more isolated than ever, especially when it came to collaborating on anything aside from Covid-19 protocols. Therefore, leaning on the If You Build It They Will Come adage, we created a think-tank of sorts: inviting some of our favorite educational leaders rooted in SEMN to come together virtually and troubleshoot, problem-solve, and inspire. Not wanting to limit ourselves to only gaining insight and ideas from local leaders in the field of education, we leaned into technology--creating a podcast and an online magazine that enabled us to learn from experts far outside of Minnesota.

"…every single thing Heather did—a culmination of so many skills, including marketing, technology, interviewing, working with publicists, researching, communicating with important people—pulled together into beautiful products. I’m not sure how she managed to pull it off, again and again." Jean Prokott poet, editor, educator

Some of the creatives, thinkers, and leaders who've collaborated with Third Eye:

Myron Dueck ▫ Dr. Victoria Gillis ▫ Mark Barden ▫ Wiley Blevins ▫ Natalia Benjamin ▫ Dessa ▫ Taylor Mali ▫ Ian Levy ▫ Sarah Zerwin ▫ Kim Marshall ▫ Lazerbeak▫ Amit Sood ▫ Terry O'Reilly ▫ Joy Scott Ressler ▫ Tan Huynh ▫ Sebastian Whiterspoon ▫ Arij Mikati ▫ Anna Tavis ▫ Craig Kemp

Dig deeper into Third Eye Education and its impact here.

Literacy Practices in SE Minnesota

The Hiawatha Valley Education District (HVED), which serves 13 school districts in Southeastern Minnesota, approached Gina Meinertz from Spring Grove and me in the fall of 2021; asking us to guide leaders from each of the 13 school districts through a process that would increase awareness of literacy skills and shift teaching practices as needed. We then developed, shared, and modeled how districts could:

evaluate their current literacy practices by working with teaching teams
learn the pros/cons of current reading practices using data and research
identify areas where adjuments of reading practices would benefit students
explore tools and strategies that would help close reading gaps for students
use Gina and me as coaches to support their ongoing work

"Heather knows how to build people’s ideas up all while asking the right questions to clarify and add depth to the experience. By always respecting my ideas, and by not only listening but adding to them, we’ve created results that have had greater depth and action." Gina Meinertz lead learner, assistant superintendent

Shifting Credit Recovery

The way Heather transformed our credit recovery program was a breathtaking show of how one person wanting to fix a broken system can. She is a brilliant mind, a strategic thinker, an action taker: Heather is the innovator you need to get any job done. Nick Truxal L&D lead, influencer, visionary

Statistical Impact:

Summer 2021 ▫ 32 D-E students served, 52 credits earned

Fall 2021 ▫ trained 12 districts on how to start their own

Spring 2022 ▫ followed up with support for the 12 districts

Summer 2022 ▫ 30 D-E students served, 48 credits earned

98% of participants earned credit in at least 1 course

In Dover-Eyota (D-E), the summer credit recovery program had been done online through collaboration with Hiawatha Valley Education District (HVED), which used eLearning software that did not align with our D-E Essential Learning Outcomes. With a software change looming for HVED's program, students having been online most of 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and extra funding from the state designated for pandemic-related learning loss at the ready, we revamped our summer credit recovery programming to an Inquiry/Project-Based Learning approach.

The Student Perspective:

Additional Examples & Artifacts

Improved EL Systems & Structures; EL Taskforce, Rochester Public Schools

Co-led a district-wide shift of 6-12 EL programming from pull-out and isolate to co-teach, providing more equitable course offerings, and increasing students' ability to graduate rather than age out of the program

Grading For Learning; Curriculum & Instruction team, Rochester Public Schools

- Co-facilitated district-wide development, K-12, of Prioritized Learning developments
- Guided 6-12 staff in a district-wide shift to Grading for Learning

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging; Diversity Council, Dover-Eyota Public Schools

Launched and co-facilitated the 3 branches of Dover-Eyota’s Diversity Councils: our (1) community branch, (2) student branch, and (3) staff branch
Co-presented at a MASA conference on prioritizing equity and belonging in rural schools

"Lyke was an integral part of the organization and productivity of our EL Task Force, one of the most well organized and productive committees I have ever served on. She is one of the most hard-working educators with whom I have worked. She has an extraordinary work ethic and always handles herself in a highly professional manner." Steve Akin registrar, assistant principal

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