Events

Join retired administrator's Dr. Emma Cornelius and Melissa Rebman in this two-hour professional development leadership session.  Thanks to an SEL Grant this session is free for anyone to attend! Regardless of your role as a school administrator, you will explore effective strategies to cultivate an environment that supports both students and staff. This professional development course equips you with tools to build a collaborative and empowering learning community, leading to improved outcomes for everyone involved. During the session, you will gain a foundation to building consistency, connection, and community for a solid school culture to lead directly to instructional outcomes that you can immediately take back to your building. Registration will close 4-5 days prior to the session date.

Join Debi West in this free hands-on PD for art educators as she shares tried and true creative lesson ideas that are sure to inspire student engagement in the art classroom.  When students have the opportunity to explore a variety of media and add in creative prompts, their visual storytelling - aka ART - goes to the NEXT level!  The visual journal is the perfect way to get this started as student's use this teaching and learning tool to reflect on their art practice, pulling in social and emotional learning through their personal mark making. Participants will be grouped into grade level clusters and also share visual journaling ideas, choice-based learning tactics and create art individually and collaboratively! Registration closes 4-5 days prior to the event unless tickets are sold out.   Debi West will also be presenting on October 11 at the County Institute K-12 Art Educator Workshop (8:30am-1:00pm) at Joseph Arthur Middle School in O'Fallon (see website to register)

Thanks to an SEL Grant, this workshop is free for all to attend. Note - this event will be held at Joseph Arthur Middle School (Art Room) 160 St. Ellen Mine Rd. O'Fallon, IL 62269.  Join Debi West in this hands-on PD as she shares a plethora of creative teaching and learning tips including advocacy, assessment, choice-based ideas, STEAM-based ideas, SEL and Studio Habits of the Mind!  Are you looking for creative ways to start up a NAHS and/or art club? How about fun ways to incorporate art history and social justice issues? We will cover all of this and more as participants will work collaboratively sharing successes and creating a group mixed media quilt. Truly #togetherweARTbetter and when we do our students are the ultimate winners! Registration closes 4-5 days prior to the event unless tickets are sold out.

This free workshop will be hosted by Mascoutah # 19, Wingate Elementary.   “A Self-Inventory for Physical Education Educators: Wellness as a Foundation of Your Profession” uses current research to explore the purpose and necessity of placing wellness as a foundational component into the personal and professional lives of each educator. This session/workshop explores the impact of educator wellness on professional practice and student learning outcomes, identifies actionable practices for participants to self-reflect on their current realities and individual needs, and shares practical routines directly related to the dimensions of physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness. Speaker Overview Dan Phelps serves as the principal of Winnebago Middle School in Winnebago, IL. He brings a wealth of experience to his role, having served as a health education and physical education teacher, where he taught personal training and strength and conditioning. He has also worked as an assistant principal and federal grant coordinator. Throughout his career, Dan has been deeply involved in promoting health and wellness within schools and districts, partnering with them to make it a central focus of the educational process. In his current position as principal, Dan is actively involved in implementing initiatives such as the PLC at Work® process and the RTI at WorkTM process. Additionally, he is working on establishing a comprehensive educator wellness framework for his school. Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education teacher education and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Illinois State University. He furthered his education by earning a master’s degree in educational administration from Northern Illinois University, and he is currently pursuing his doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies at the same institution, focusing his research on educator wellness and collective teacher efficacy.

Effective communication is a cornerstone of effective leadership.  This session led by retired OTHS # 203 Principal Rich Bickel will focus on helping administrators, and other leaders, create an effective, productive, and positive framework for engaging in difficult conversations.  Whether it be in person, on the phone, or through email, specific strategies and real-life examples will be shared to help increase confidence and lower stress while most effectively engaging with colleagues, parents, students, and others.  These practical strategies have been proven to foster effective communication, promote a positive school climate, and best of all can be implemented immediately. Targeted audience: Administrators, Supervisors, Directors, Educators, Related Support Personnel

Registration closes 4-5 days prior to the event date unless tickets are sold out.