Published: October 03, 2008 08:36 pm            

Education conference slated for October

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Educators administrators and school staff throughout Southern Illinois are gearing up for the 29th Annual Mt. Vernon Conference, slated for Oct. 30 and 31 on the Mt. Vernon Township High School campus.

The conference is a joint venture between Bryan Cross, Regional Superintendent of Hamilton-Jefferson counties; Keri Garrett, Regional Superintendent of Clinton, Marion and Washington counties; Larry Fillingim, Regional Superintendent of Edwards, Gallatin, Hardin, Pope, Saline, Wayne, White and Wabash counties; and Matt Donkin, Regional Superintendent of Franklin and Williamson Counties.

The theme for the conference this year is “Featuring Excellence in Education.”

The keynote speakers for the conference are Louis Martinez and Kendra Smiley. Both have made appearances in the county in the past, but this is the first time either have been keynote speakers at the conference.

Martinez, a school reformer and executive director for secondary education in Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas and senior consultant for Leadership in Education, presented information on how to engage students and families in education in December.

His ideas and accomplishments have been featured on the ABC Evening News and CBS This Morning. Martinez will be the keynote speaker for the opening day of the conference on Thursday.

Smiley was the keynote speaker last year at the Kids, Courts, Schools — What Works conference, where she presented her recipe for a positive attitude. She was also a presented last year at the conference.

Her message during the Friday keynote address at the Mt. Vernon Conference is to live life intentionally. She was selected as the Illinois Mother of the Year in 2001, a Tri-Delta Woman of Achievement in 2002, and is a member of the 2003 class of Leadership in Illinois.

Other presenters will be:

Susie Bishop, discussing Climate for Success: Sometimes it’s a Jungle Out There. She is an educational consultant and author of the Eenie Meanie Me children’s book series.

Dr. Clarice Boswell, discussing Story of Pre-Civil War Quilts and Their Significance to Freedom of Slaves via Underground Railroad. She is a retired administrator and teacher from Joliet Township High School and the University of St. Francis.

James Burgett, discussing Teach to Make a Difference: How to do it successfully. A two-time Administrator of the Year in Illinois, he is a presenter and author who has been recognized nationally for his ability to lead, motivate, inspire and teach.

Dr. Brad Colwell, discussing Top 10 School Law Issues for Teachers and Open Meetings Act: The Public’s Need to Know. He is a professor of education law and associate dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Southern Illinois University.

Ruth Cormier, discussing Introducing the Beginnings of Scientific Research in Kindergarten and Let’s Talk About Family, Friends, School and Neighborhood...A Social Studies Unit for Pre-School and Kindergarten Children. Cormier presents throughout the Midwest to numerous early childhood organizations, colleges and school districts and has been a consultant to World Book Publications.

Sabra Culp, discussing I Sat, You Sat, We All Sat for ISAT and Topsy Turvy Math. She has been an educator for 30 years in central Illinois and was awarded the regional Education is the Key Award.

Don Garrett, discussing Strategies to Differentiate Classroom Instruction, Classroom Management: Strategies to Connect with Your Students; Increase On Task Time Using Games and Activities; and Reading Strategies to Increase Test Scores. Garret has trained more than 4,000 teachers in PLS master’s level courses.

Lillian Polus Gerstner, discussing From Generation to Generation: My Parents and the Holocaust and Teaching the Holocaust and Genocide: Classroom Resources. She is the daughter of Holocaust survives and from 1991 through last year, she oversaw operations and programming for the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois in its Main Street facility in Skokie.

Chris Irwin, discussing Horse Sense for Human Potential. Irwin is an internationally renown horseman and best selling author who is at the forefront of the emerging industry of horses used in counseling and personal coaching programs.

Gary Lemmon, discussing Student Success, Teacher Survival and SEL. Lemmon is the owner and director of Gary L. Lemmon and Associates, a private outpatient mental health agency in Norris City. This year, Lemmon was named Social Worker of the Year by the Southern Illinois District of the National Association of Social Workers.

Butch Lockley, discussing Climate for Success: Sometimes It’s A Jungle Out There. Lockley has 33 years of experience in education and coaching.

John Lynn, discussing Main Street Illinois and Life on Lewis and Clark’s River. The Peoria man has hiked, biked and canoed over 20,000 miles of historic and scenic routes in Illinois, America and Britain.

Dr. Marla Mallette, discussing Beyond the Big Five, Integrating phonics, spelling and vocabulary within an RtI Framework. She is a professor of literacy education at SIU-C and her articles have appeared in several publications.

Richard McGuire, discussing The Benefits of Humor in Education and Beyond and A Winning Pair in Education: Goodness and Humor. McGuire has entertained more than 30,000 people during his motivational and humorous presentations. He is the author of Winning Strategies for Stressful Times.

Phil Morrison, discussing NCLB — Working to Survive. Morrison is the principal for Unity High School in Tolono, and has developed and expanded student and teacher improvement programs resulting the school meeting NCLB standards for six consecutive years.

n Paul Niemann, discussing Invention Guru — Making Science Fun. He is an author, syndicated newspaper columnist and former instructor at Quincy University.

Meg Ormiston, discussing Multimedia in the Differentiated Classroom; Technology Resources to Support the Struggling Reader; Bringing the World to Your Classroom Using Web 2.0 Technology Tools; and Power Googling for Educators. She is passionate about transforming teaching and learning through the power of digital tools.

Dr. Nick Osborne, discussing Managing Change at the Building Level and Role of the Administrator in Change Process. The retired superintendent for District 80 Schools is an active consultant working with schools and organizations throughout the U.S. who has won numerous awards and works to help school administrators understand and deal with school improvement and change.

Cliff Petrak, discussing Don’t Slow Me Down with that Calculator with breakout sessions on addition and subtraction; fractions; squaring; and multiplication. He has been giving presentations and workshops in speed math for the last 12 years at schools, libraries and math conferences throughout the U.S.

Joey Rhodes and Tiffany Rhodes Hails, discussing Instant Spanish for Motivation and Fun, Fun, Fun; Mega Memory Training II with Fractions Made EZ; IEP’s 504 Plans, and Now the Regular; and Teach the Guitar and in Three Weeks. The father/daughter team have been working with ROEs and school districts to help resolve challenging discipline problems.

Nancy Riggin, discussing A Common Sense Guide to Legally Compliant IEPs, Emphasis on Present Levels and Goals and Objectives. Riggin’s professional experience has provided her with a concentration in development of legally compliant IEPs with an emphasis on accurate identification of students’ present levels and appropriate goals and objectives.

n Judge Stephen Sawyer, discussing Juvenile Court — Procedures, New Directions and Hot Topics. The 2nd Judicial Circuit judge is vitally interested in juvenile delinquency and child welfare issues, and is a member of the Wabash County Juvenile Justice Council and the board of Cra-Wa-La Volunteers in Probation. He is the founder of the Wabash County Serious Habitual Offender Community Action Plan.

Roberta Sejnost, discussing The Adolescent Brain: How it Works and How it Learns; Critical Reading and Writing in Content Area; Content Area Vocabulary: The Key to good Comprehension; and Accountability Testing: How can We Help Students Succeed. Sejnost is a nationally recognized staff developer who co-authored the text, Reading and Writing Across Content Areas and has two more books in press on learning strategies for adolescents.

Clyde Self, discussing What is it That Keeps You Grounded. The Mt. Vernon native, who teaches in Mattoon, has been a consultant for businesses and school districts and has given more than 1,000 lectures throughout the United States.

Judge Thomas Sutton, discussing Juvenile Court — Procedures, New Directions and Hot Topics. Sutton, during his 20 years as a circuit judge for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, has developed the primary interest of issues dealing with children. He and Judge George Timberlake were instrumental in initiating the Children First program. Sutton works to develop greater communication between the education system and the court system.

Dr. Gary Thomas, discussing Differentiated Diagnosis — Fallacies, Myths and Truths and Their Role with RtI. Thomas has experience as a special education teacher, clinician, school psychologist and administrator and has been instrumental in developing numerous innovative programs for children with disabilities.

Tom Wheeler, discussing One on One with Jim Muir; Football Roundtable; One on One with Rodney Watson; and Basketball Roundtable. The 34 year veteran of teaching and coaching Southern Illinois has shared his experiences at the Mt. Vernon Conference and at other conferences for more than 10 years.

Brandon White, discussing Understanding the Nuts and Bolts of Special Education Regulations and CSI: Mt. Vernon — Investigating Recent Cases in Special Education. White worked as an assistant at the ROE for Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski and Union Counties before becoming an associate at the firm of Miller, Tracy, Braun, Funk & Miller, Ltd.

The programs begin with information and registration in H Building at 8 a.m. on each day and the opening program begins at 8:30 a.m. in the MVTHS auditorium.

Registration to the conference is required. Additional information is available by contacting the office of Bryan Cross, Regional Superintendent of Schools at 244-8040.

        

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