In these changing times, we must come together to enhance our professional learning, support one another on our professional journey and expand our educational community. Join us for this powerful conference.

KEYNOTES

• Dr. Gholdy Muhammad – Culturally and Historically Responsive Education for Equity and Excellence
• Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo – Organizing Our Classrooms & Communities for Racial Literacy 
• Michael Eric Dyson – In Caricature: Racial Profiling and Its Impact on Students of Color 

SCHEDULE

8:30 A.M. – 9:00 A.M. | Virtual Platform Opens

9:00 AM | Keynote & Debrief

10:30 AM | Keynote & Debrief

11:45 AM | Lunch and Entertainment

12:45 PM | Afternoon Focus Sessions (Select One)

2:15 PM | Keynote & Closing

AFTERNOON FOCUS SESSION OPTIONS

• The Power of Student Voice Guiding Our Growth – Shan Byrd (she/her) – How can student voice help teach us to become more self-aware, self-reflection and inclusive practitioners in the classroom and school buildings? In this session, we will be lifting up students voices to share youth perspectives on issues of equity and inclusion in the classroom. We will explore strategies for professional growth through self-reflection. Join us for this special conversation.

• STEAM Teacher Leaders for Racial Literacy – Kristin Nakaishi (she/her) ;Jim Hall (he/him); Ikechukwu Onyema (he/him) – What is Racial Literacy and why is it urgent for STEM Educators to embrace it? In August 2020, a group of STEM teachers came together with the ambition of using our content areas to contribute to the broader movement for Black Lives. Since then, we’ve co-designed a space of peer learning, self-organizing, and collaboration for STEM teachers to advance racial justice. Come and learn what we do and how we do it.

• AMHOTINO Curriculum Implementation (Spotlight on K-6) – Tamar LaSure-Owens – The AMHOTINO (Amistad, Holocaust, Latino) curriculum implementation allows educators to offer students an extension, expansion, and enlightenment into American History that is inclusive, accurate, and unbiased. Throughout this session, participants will focus a lens on learning progressions that will identify areas of understanding from which to build on.

• Asbury Park Healing Together with KYDS – Alisha De Lorenzo (she/her); Rodney Salomon (he/him/they) – In 2015 a movement began to center healing and transformational experiences for youth and adults who work with youth in Asbury Park.  We believed that all members of a community have access to grow and thrive when we engage minds, bodies and souls in the process of healing. Hear from Asbury Park’s “Konscious Youth Leaders” about what it takes to create a self-healing community.

• The Role of Collective Efficacy to Address Inequity – Dr. Stefani Arzonetti Hite (she/her) – It is essential for educators to assume responsibility for fostering beliefs and understandings about equitable learning processes with their colleagues. When school leaders — both formal and informal — work to flatten hierarchies long present in schools, the resulting empowerment of educators develops cadres of equity champions, motivated to ensure ongoing collaboration to meet the needs of students who might be marginalized or disadvantaged in some way. In this session we learn how two schools successfully closed opportunity gaps for their students with an intentional focus on building collective efficacy. These powerful examples provide guidance for those who seek to work toward equity in their schools.

• Healing Justice & The Impact of Incarceration and the Carceral State on Muslim Youth in the Classroom – Reda A. Taleb, JD (she/her/hers) – Detroit-based entrepreneur and criminal justice reform advocate – What does healing justice look like when educators are informed about the impact of incarceration and the carceral state on Muslim youth in the classroom? Research demonstrates that addressing the root of the trauma will substantially change the trajectory of a person’s life. Join me in learning about trauma-informed care for educators seeking to help Muslim youth transition from trauma to transformation in the classroom and beyond.

• Healing Centered Schools – Linsey McMurrin & Stacy Bender-Fayette – We know that students do best when they feel safe and connected.  This session will discuss how understanding NEAR Science can help transform schools to meet the needs of students and their families.

The conference is free for NJEA members and provides five hours of professional learning credit. Participants must attend the entire session to receive a certificate.