9th Annual GDS Summit on Sexual Assault & Consent

Cohorts are mixed groups of educators, students, and community partners. Cohorts are moderated by GDS student organizers. If you are not already in a cohort, please add yourself to any open slot.

"Is Your Classroom Current?" is a professional development workshop designed to equip educators with the skills and activities necessary to keep their classrooms relevant and impactful for today’s learners. In a time where teens learn and connect digitally, this workshop meets students where they are—helping them understand topics like healthy relationships, boundaries, and consent beyond the textbook and through interactive, relatable methods. Participants will explore how to reach students in ways that resonate with their daily experiences, like social media and text threads, to foster respectful and informed perspectives. Through engaging activities, real-life scenarios, and practical tools, educators will gain resources to make these essential topics meaningful and modern in their classrooms.

"Is Your Classroom Current Part 2?" is a workshop designed to empower educators with the tools and activities they need to introduce foundational topics like consent, boundaries, and respect to students, with an emphasis on understanding and supporting marginalized communities. In this workshop, educators will learn how to create a classroom environment that recognizes and respects diverse perspectives, helps students empathize with survivors and marginalized voices, and encourages respectful, supportive discussions. Participants will gain hands-on experience with activities and strategies that foster empathy, inclusivity, and an understanding of complex topics such as survivor support and marginalized communities. This workshop provides educators with age-appropriate tools to help students recognize the importance of consent, understand the experiences of survivors and underrepresented groups, and engage meaningfully in creating a safer, more inclusive classroom culture.

Sexual choking is a disturbing trend amongst adolescents and young adults. Learn about the causes and risks of this behavior, best practices for skills-based consent education, and how to use this topic as a lens to have nuanced, important conversations about consent in the classroom. This workshop is geared toward adult educators but may be appropriate for student leaders who facilitate educational experiences and conversations in their communities.

Please join the Cohort Meeting with your school group. If you are a speaker, please join our Speaker Cohort group to get to know other speakers and community partners. For those students and educators attending without a school team, please join our Mixed Group Cohort group.