The Maine Event: National Conference on Positive School Climate at Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland will be held on June 23-24. This locally-planned national conference provides training and information about key components to many successful school initiatives around building and sustaining a positive school climate, reducing bullying, and developing strategies to increase student engagement.
This conference supports many initiatives within the Maine Department of Education related to positive school culture/climate, brain-based practices for student engagement, and encouraging school-wide practices of inclusion for all students.
Various topics for this year’s conference include the following:
- Managing Title IX Requirements! (Prevention and Response) – everything you need to know to ensure safe, harassment-free schools and workplaces and a troubleshooting guide for steps to take when/if violations occur.
- Supporting LGBTQ Students and Staff – Ideas for creating a welcoming school climate that protects the rights, the dignity, and the social/emotional safety of diverse populations.
- Developing a customized “Mixed Methods” School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Plan – How to Leverage the Best Practices from a Variety of Programs and Approaches.
- Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Deconstructed: What You Need to Know about the New Federal Legislation No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is phasing out – Learn about the changes that will impact schools and districts as a result of the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and develop plans for maximizing the programming and funding opportunities on the horizon.
Keynote presenters include: Kirke Olson, author of “The Invisible Classroom: Relationships, Neuroscience, and Mindfulness in Schools;” Chip Brewer, The Smart Cube, Inc.; Karen Williams a writer developer of the brain-based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Model Program curriculum Protecting You/Protecting Me, and the “brain-friendly and trauma-informed” Positive Behavior in School and Society (PBSS); and Charity Bell who has been recognized as an “Everyday Hero” by Brian Williams of NBC and featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine for her work with more than 100 foster children in Massachusetts.
Register Now. A discount is available for teams of four or more from the same district (CEUs available through University of Southern Maine).
For more information about the National Conference on Positive School Climate, visit the Collaborative for Perpetual Innovation website here.
For questions related to the conference, contact USM’s Craig Haims at 400-6093 or chaims32@gmail.com or Maine Department of Education specialists Jacinda Goodwin at 624-6600, jacinda.goodwin@maine.gov and Sarah Ricker at 624-6600, or sarah.ricker@maine.gov.