Middle School is a unique time in a child's life, and with the addition of social media and external pressures, our teens are experiencing mental health challenges at rates that we have never seen before! In this session, we will explore the struggles that this generation of early teens is facing and how we can support them. How can we ensure our youth find their identity in Christ instead of falling for what the world offers? How can we help teens find freedom and healing in Christ?

Making the Science of Reading come alive through knowledge of the English language, as well

as multisensory learning to support student needs. We will address tier 3 interventions of

MTSS, as well as executing appropriate practices in the classroom to establish when pull-out

intervention is necessary. The intervention entails a deeper knowledge of the brain science for

executing such practices.

In today’s classrooms, educators face the profound task of supporting students who may have experienced trauma. This session will explore the critical intersection of trauma, community, and education, highlighting the importance of understanding and addressing trauma in the classroom.

The title speaks for itself! Forming faith and discipling the young and growing in The Kingdom of God has always been God’s desire. Even before teaching content, churches, and schools transmit Spirit-led culture into a world where there is increasing despair, apathy, and lack of joy. This session explores how living and serving in a church and school setting is an inheritance that we are privileged to steward for the time we have, so we might as well make

it as joyful as possible!

Do you find yourself navigating the financial maze of early childhood centers with a furrowed brow and calculator in hand? Managing budgets may not be every early childhood educator’s favorite activity, but fear not! This session will provide you with a budget forecasting template spreadsheet, specifically created for early childhood centers, and practical tips and tricks to make budgeting an enjoyable and less stressful experience.

Don't forget to bring your laptop to this session so you can download the spreadsheet, allowing us to work together during the presentation. Leave with increased confidence in your budgeting abilities and knowledge that you are truly managing the resources entrusted to you, just as good stewards would.

This session will include ideas of how we learn to read based on decades of evidence-

based best practices and what this means for the classroom. We will explore the big

ideas within the science and research from the past 10 years for educators on the

Science of Reading and how this science impacts our curriculum and instruction for

early readers and beyond.

We live in a fallen world, and crises happen all around us inside and outside of our schools. Our Christian schools are not immune to crisis, so how can we be prepared? This interactive session will discuss how to prevent crises on your campus as well as how to manage them when they inevitably arise. Learn from Heather's successes and failures as a school counselor in crisis management. You will take away specific ideas for your campus for immediate implementation.

Want some high-interest low-cost science lesson examples that are easy to do? This rapid-fire session will be high interest and high reward even if teaching science isn’t “your thing”. Come join us to try a bunch of simple hands-on/minds-on demonstrations that are easy enough that you can do them on Monday when you get back to school.

Do you have a passion for teaching littles? Do you love art & artists? Do you want to learn some fun-developmentally appropriate ways to teach your littles to love art & artists too? Then this is the sectional for you. I will share how I teach our youngest learners about art and artists and share ideas that I have created, or found (Pinterest/Instagram) and modified to work in my classroom. I'm hoping that I can inspire you with one or two ideas that you will be able to implement into the school year.

By taking a cue from the camping world, explore what experiential learning looks like for faith formation. Learn initiatives, tools, and theories for effectively implementing experiential learning in the faith classroom. This session will include both teaching time and practice time - working through an initiative and seeing how the lessons learned can be translated to your walk with the Lord.

For the past two years, I have been on a personal journey to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services connect with education goals. Join me as we analyze what I’ve learned about AI's impact on learning and the classroom. We will look at both the challenges and opportunities AI brings for students, teachers, and schools, and share a glimpse of what the future of education in the AI era might hold.

What’s your congregation’s Team-Ministry Mindset? Does your congregation view its school as an integral part of its outreach – or as an expensive add-on to maintain?

Your church and your school can work in harmony to serve as a great outreach to your community! For many years, the team of Rev Kris Whitby and Principal Jennifer Heinze served together with joy, leading the organization in vision and focus, to the Glory of God!

Whether your Church & School is small or large, come join the conversation to enhance your Team-Ministry Mindset!

Can you imagine having junior high students sprinting to get to chapel because they do not want to miss what’s happening? Join Rev. Kris as he takes participants on a journey from “single-week” chapel lessons that may only engage students superficially to multi-week chapels designed to bring faith lessons to a deeper level for students while having fun doing it!

Does saying NO fill you with dread and leave you with guilt? If your servant’s heart leads you to say YES without considering the option of NO, then this interactive workshop is for you. Explore tools to evaluate demands on your time, energy, and focus. Discuss techniques to mitigate conflicts resulting from NO, and gain confidence in setting boundaries that allow you to joyfully say YES

Reading a novel together as a class is essential in intermediate and middle school classrooms. In order to help prepare our students for high school and beyond, it’s imperative that we teach them how to analyze and walk through an entire book, while also keeping them engaged and interested in the material. In this sectional, we’ll go through some of the best practices for selecting the perfect novels for each grade level, and then planning and implementing whole

class novel studies, step by step. You’ll receive practical tips and resources you can walk away with and use right away in your classroom!

Based upon Colossians 1:16-17, this session will explore how we can encounter God in Creation through both STEM activities and artistic activities. Learn how to whimsically weave the threads of Gospel truth into your activities while enjoying the great outdoors. Ideas for STEM activities, art-based activities, and faith-growth activities will be shared and practiced!

The session will explore the topic of PjBL. This will offer an opportunity to share research and best practices about the model of project-based teaching and learning and how it can create a more student-friendly and student-driven curriculum. This model focuses on more open-ended tasks in the classroom based on an end product or project led by student inquiry and independence. The use of longer units based on a central problem to solve incorporates an authentic application of 21st-century skills and content.

How do teachers support trauma-informed practices within our Lutheran schools? Learn about the effects of trauma in the classroom, brain science, and identify red flags for students and teachers. See how trauma-informed practices can improve the classroom and school environments.