The POWER Framework
Keynote · Half-Day · Full-Day
Give your staff the same five-pillar system that cut suspensions 34% districtwide. They leave with a shared language for behavior — not just for one classroom, for the whole building.
School & District Professional Development
Your Staff Is Losing Instructional Time to Behavior. Here's the Fix That Already Worked.
The POWER Framework cut suspensions 34% districtwide — 54% among middle schoolers — inside a real Detroit building, under real conditions. It's already running in districts from the Upper Peninsula to Flint. It can run in yours.
34%
Overall Suspension Reduction
54%
Middle School Suspension Reduction
↑
M-STEP ELA & Math Growth, Year Over Year
Record
Highest 8th-Grade PSAT Average in School History
Achieved as Principal, Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences (DAAS)
Now booking a limited number of district partnerships for the 2026–27 school year.
Sound Familiar?
Every District Has the Same Conversation
Suspensions climbing while instructional minutes disappear.
Teachers burning out because every hallway runs on a different set of rules.
A PD calendar full of one-day trainings that everyone forgets by Monday.
POWER was built to end that cycle — not with another workshop, but with a system a building can actually run.
The Framework
Five Pillars, One System
Not a philosophy. Not a poster on the wall. A sequence your staff can start using this week — built and tested by someone who still runs a building every day.
P
Procedures
Systems that eliminate guesswork. Clear routines for entry, transitions, and dismissal — taught like content, not assumed.
O
Ownership
Students take responsibility for their learning and behavior. Shared accountability, anchored in "our classroom," not "my classroom."
W
Warm / Strict
High expectations paired with genuine care. No negotiating on standards — consistency is what builds trust.
E
Environment
Every inch of the room is intentional. The physical space communicates expectations before a teacher says a word.
R
Response, Not Reaction
Calm, consistent behavior responses that de-escalate instead of matching a student's energy. Address the behavior, not the child.
Where POWER Is Already Running
Adopted Without Cory in the Room
Sault Ste. Marie Area Public Schools
Upper Peninsula
Flint Cultural Center Academy
Flint region
EmpowerEd Weekend
Statewide, Teach Michigan
POWER has spread to districts with no direct relationship to Cory beyond the framework itself — and it earned the highest participant evaluation scores at Teach Michigan's statewide EmpowerEd Weekend conference. This isn't one leader's charisma. It's a system that holds up when he's not the one delivering it.
"If it works without him in the room, imagine what it does with him in yours."
"Our staff left with a shared language and a clear system they could use the next day."
"The framework gave us a way to reset culture mid-year without starting from scratch."
"It was the first PD where teachers asked when we could bring the trainer back."
Signature Sessions
Built to Fit the Room You Have
Culture Before Curriculum
Keynote · Staff Opening Day
Start the year the way high-performing buildings start it: with culture set before day one, so instruction doesn't fight an uphill battle all year.
The 5-Day POWER Reset
Half-Day Implementation Workshop
For buildings that lost their footing mid-year. A five-day protocol that gets a struggling room back on track — fast, without waiting for next semester.
POWER for Principals
Administrator Cohort · New & Aspiring Principals
Give your newest building leaders the decision-making framework that took Cory years to earn — compressed into a cohort they can start using in their first ninety days.
Ways to Work Together
Engagement Formats
Half / Full-Day PD
3–6 hours. Single building or whole-staff, with implementation planning built in.
Ask about this format →Annual Partnership
3–5 touchpoints across the school year, plus ongoing leadership coaching calls.
Ask about this format →Certified Trainer License
District-owned delivery. Internal coaches trained and certified against the POWER standard.
Ask about this format →Every format starts the same way: a conversation about what your building actually needs.
About Cory
Cory J. Chavis
Most people teaching classroom management stopped running a classroom years ago. Cory hasn't. He's a sitting principal, still accountable for the same suspension numbers, attendance data, and staff morale he's asking your team to improve.
Cory J. Chavis is Principal at Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences, where his leadership produced a 34% reduction in student suspensions — 54% among middle schoolers — alongside year-over-year academic growth and the school's highest-ever 8th-grade PSAT average. He has spent 16 years in education, including as a secondary mathematics teacher, and was named Teacher of the Year (2022–23) and Administrator of the Year (2024–25).
Cory holds an MBA, an M.A. in Teaching, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Detroit Mercy, where he was named Engineering Student of the Year. He is a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow. Beyond the classroom, he has spent over a decade in community safety work, supporting Ceasefire Detroit and organizing community PeaceWalks, and serves as a Detroit Police Chaplain and Senior Pastor of Victory Community Church.
Published Work
The Power of Classroom Management
The blueprint behind the POWER Framework.
The Vocabulary of Success
26 words that take you from ordinary to extraordinary.
Winning Before the Wedding
Real relationship coaching that works.
The Process
From Inquiry to Implementation
- 1
Submit Your Inquiry
Two-minute form. No commitment, no pressure.
- 2
Needs Call
A short conversation to align the session to your building's actual challenges.
- 3
Proposal & Date Confirmed
A clear scope and price, locked to your calendar.
- 4
POWER Comes to Your Building
Staff leave with a system, not just a memory of a good speaker.
District FAQ
Questions Schools Ask Before Booking
Answers about formats, scheduling, customization, and what to expect after submitting your inquiry.
Cory delivers keynotes, half-day and full-day workshops, multi-touch annual partnerships, and certified-trainer licenses for internal district coaches. Each format is built around the same five pillars and can be scaled to a single building or a whole district.
Keynotes run 60–75 minutes. Half-day workshops are three hours, and full-day workshops run six hours. A 5-Day POWER Reset is offered as a half-day implementation workshop. Annual partnerships are spaced across the year with 3–5 touchpoints and ongoing coaching calls.
Yes. Every engagement begins with a brief needs call so Cory can align the examples, role-play scenarios, and implementation planning to your building's current challenges and culture goals.
Both. Teachers receive the classroom-level system; administrators receive the leadership moves that support it. Separate sessions can be run for each group, or a combined session can build a shared language across the whole staff.
Within two business days, you'll receive an email to confirm availability, discuss your preferred format and timeframe, and outline next steps. If a date is a good fit, you'll get a short proposal and a follow-up call to finalize details.
Annual partnerships include ongoing leadership coaching calls. For one-day events, districts can add a 60- or 90-minute virtual follow-up to review implementation and answer questions.
Yes. Keynotes and opening-day sessions are available for state, regional, and district conferences. The booking process is the same: submit the inquiry form and include the event date and audience size.
Still have questions?
Send your inquiry and Cory's team will respond within two business days.
Start the ConversationLet's Talk
Your Staff Deserves a System That Actually Holds Up
Fill out the form below. Cory's team responds within two business days — and if the timing's right, your staff could be running POWER before the semester's over.