At the 2008 Create West Virginia conference a speaker said, "Almost everyone wants schools to be better, but almost no one wants them to be different." But different they must be, and difference requires an "ecology of innovation."

The West Virginia School Innovation Zone Act, designed to encourage pilot projects at schools around the state, passed in June 2009. It gives the state board and the Department of Education (WVDE) the option to waive certain rules and policies to give teachers and principals greater local control over the curriculum, schedule and staffing in their schools.

Giving teachers the opportunity to make changes in their schools is an important step to implementing research-backed 21st century teaching and learning, an essential component of the agency's 21st century improvement plan called "Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it."

At the 2009 Create West Virginia conference, the agency will discuss the application process and criteria for being designated a School Innovation Zone. Creative communities should begin to discuss with their schools how they can participate in this initiative. To learn more about this opportunity to help meet the needs of your diverse student population, bring your teachers and principals to the 2009 Create WV conference.

McClung created the Education Track for the Create West Virginia Conference in 2008 and 2009. He has been an IBM systems engineer, founded and directed the University of Charleston's Entrepreneurship Center, worked at the State Development Office and currently focuses on science and technology enterprises for Wells Fargo Insurance in Charleston.