The Palmetto Education Summit 2026

South Carolina’s vision is clear: Every student graduates college-ready, career-ready, or military-ready. The Palmetto Education Summit’s focus on Career Readiness and CARE (Character, Resiliency, and Student Wellness) presents a powerful opportunity — not to launch another initiative, but to strengthen and scale what is already working across our state. For more than three years, iLead — a values-based K–12 leadership curriculum — has supported South Carolina schools in developing character, resiliency, and workforce-ready competencies through peer-to-peer facilitation and educator-guided reflection. South Carolina Impact to Date:225 schools implemented85 schools currently engaged Nearly 320,000 students served Almost 10,000 educators trained This interactive session (offered as a 1-hour breakout or expanded 2-hour working session) equips district and school teams with a unified CARE + Career Readiness framework aligned to SC Department of Education priorities, SC Ready indicators, and Lt. Governor Pamela Evette’s Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders Employment Initiative. Participants will leave with a practical blueprint that integrates student wellness, leadership development, and workforce readiness — without increasing assessment burden or instructional overload. Core Components Unified CARE + Career Readiness Framework for Post-Event Planning (Middle & High School)Developmentally sequenced progression from identity formation to applied workforce skills Leadership-infused instructional strategies strengthening resiliency and employability Advisory, CTE, mentoring, and afterschool integration model sample sides for Community and business partnership activation aligned to youth employment initiatives Implementation strategies that leverage existing structures and data Strategic Alignment South Carolina Department of Education This session supports SCDE’s commitment to: Preparing students to graduate college-, career-, or military-ready Promoting character, resiliency, and student wellness Strengthening educator capacity Driving measurable outcomes without increasing testing requirements SC Ready Research affirms that belonging, self-efficacy, and engagement drive academic achievement. iLead strengthens SC Ready outcomes by increasing student voice, goal-setting habits, collaboration, literacy-rich discussion, and applied problem-solving — all within existing instructional blocks. Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders Employment Initiative Lead strengthens South Carolina’s workforce pipeline by: Building employability skills before job placement Increasing career exploration and pathway awareness Developing professionalism, communication, and leadership Preparing students for internships, apprenticeships, and youth employment Workforce readiness begins with character and identity. iLead builds both. Key Benefits For Students Increased resiliency and confidence Stronger leadership identity Clearer career direction Workforce-ready durable skills For Educators Turnkey lesson structures Elevate Impact virtual PD support No additional assessments Increased engagement and classroom culture For District Leaders Proven statewide impact Scalable framework Alignment to state priorities Measurable outcomes using existing data systems