Thursday, April 15
Town Hall Meeting
6:30pm-8:00pm

5:45 pm – 6:00 pm – Music / Ice Breaker Polls / Sponsor Promos

6:00 pm – 8:30 pm 

• Introduction/ Explanations
• Candidate Forum
• Resolutions
• Bylaws
• Budget
• Wrap-up

Thursday, April 22
Convention 2021 Opening
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

5:45 pm – 6:00 pm – Music / Ice Breaker Polls / Sponsor Promos

6:00 pm – 6:20 pm – Opening

6:30 pm – 7:15 pm – Workshop Session I (3 breakouts)

• Harnessing the Power of Positivity 
• The Toll of COVID 19 on the Mental Health of Students 
• Collaboration Doesn’t Need to be Rocket Science 

7:15 pm – 7:30 pm – Music / Interactive Activities

7:30 pm – 8:00 pm – General Session I

• Credential Report
• Adoption of Convention Program
• Consent Agenda
• Mini-Key Note: Erica Nelson, IL PTA Federal Legislation Consultant Presents The Power of “I”
• BDNC Report
• Election Process

8:15 pm – 9:00 pm – Workshop Session II (2 breakouts)

• Reimagining School Family Engagement & Partnerships in PTA 
• What’s Now?: Navigate Your PTA Forward

Election Polls Open (if applicable)
Thursday, April 22 @ 9:00 pm thru Friday, April 23 @ 5:00 pm

Saturday, April 24
Convention 2021
9:00 am – 1:00 pm

9:00 am – 9:15 am – Opening

9:30 am – 10:15 am – Workshop Session III (3 breakouts)

• The Power of a Pause 
• SEL and Trauma Informed Schools 
• The Right Stuff: A Conversation with Award Winning Illinois PTA Local Leaders

10:15 am – 10:30 am – Music / Interactive Activities

10:30 am – 11:45 am – General Session II

• Credential Report
• Mini-Key Note: Dagmar Kauffman, Founder & Director of On Balance Parenting and creator of the Heart Talks: Parenting Courageously!
• Bylaws
• Resolutions
• Awards
• Election Results (if necessary)
• Installation of 2021-2023 Officers
• Comments from President-Elect

12:00 pm – 12:45 pm – Workshop Session IV (2 breakouts)

• What’s the P.L.A.N.? Create a Membership Plan. 
• Community Funding – Grants, Sponsorships, and Partnerships 

12:45 pm – 1:00 pm – Wrap-Up

Check the Convention Page often for further updates and additional information.

Thursday, April 22, 6:30 pm – 7:15 pm –  Workshop Session I

Harnessing the Power of Positivity

The research around positive psychology has determined that our brain works significantly better at positive than at negative, neutral or stressed. A positive mindset increases productivity by 31 percent, makes us 10 times more engaged at work, helps ensure we live longer, get better grades, and much more. The impact of positivity is both personal and professional.  During the pandemic and post pandemic, we can harness positivity as a lever to support and develop us individually and together collectively.

Presenter: Andy DuRoss, Schaumburg District 54 Superintendent

The Toll of COVID 19 on the Mental Health of Students

Mental Health Opportunities and Risks is a practical primer to help adults help our young people through this trying time. Participants will gain tools and insights to help them:

• Identify and address signs of virtual learning ‘disconnect’ and other pandemic-driven stress on the everyday learning experience.
• Recognize risk and understanding the cues for mental health distress, ranging from age-inappropriate behavior to major crisis, including suicidal ideation.
• Finding support at school, in the community, and in cyberspace, including NAMI programs for students and families.

Presenter:  Andy Wade, NAMI Illinois Executive Director

Collaboration Doesn’t Need to be Rocket Science

Does your school have a current school improvement plan? Do you know what actions are included in your school improvement plan? PTA can help!

The past few months have been some of the most challenging in over 100 years for schools and families. It will take every school community working together to reboot the school environment. PTA has resources available to assist school teams in creating a successful school improvement plan to ensure every child has the chance to reach their potential!

Join this session and learn how your PTA can be involved in school improvement plan development/updates through sharing PTA programs and resources. Learn how to use this opportunity to attract volunteers to be involved in this important process.

Presenters: Peggy Staehlin, Illinois PTA National Legislative Consultant and Rhonda Jenkins, Illinois PTA Vice-President Program Services

Thursday, April 22, 8:15 pm – 9:00 pm – Workshop Session II

Reimagining School Family Engagement & Partnerships in PTA

National PTA shares a vision that “All family engagement should transform the lives of every child in America.” This vision is active in local PTA’s across Illinois in small and big ways making a meaningful difference to children and families. This school year has transformed our way of thinking about how personal relationships and connections are integrated into children’s lives. This session is an interactive conversation using the four pillars of National PTA’s Family Engagement Initiative: Inclusive, Individualized, Integrated and Impactful to offer ideas and next steps and to reinforce the value of “all family” engagement in our school communities.

Presenter: Erica Nelson, Illinois PTA Federal Legislation Consultant

What’s Now?: Navigate Your PTA Forward 

Presenters:Kristin Kramer, Illinois PTA President; Carolyn McCarty, Illinois PTA President-Elect; and Darvel Stinson, Illinois PTA Leadership Development Director     

Saturday, April 24, 9:30 am – 10:15 am – Workshop Session III

The Power of a Pause

An invitation to pause and consider new beginnings for the health and well-being of our children, parents, caregivers, and educators.

A world-wide pandemic turned our lives upside down. “Regular” living, working, learning has been challenging, stressful and often overwhelming. We had to make big changes and adjust in short periods of time. As the 2020-21 school year draws to a close, we will consider the state of our children’s and student’s mental health and invite reflections on new beginnings.  The upcoming new school year is an ideal time to become still, look inward and ask ourselves how we might parent, learn and teach going forward.

Presenter: Dagmar Kauffman, Founder & Director of On Balance Parenting and creator of the Heart Talks: Parenting Courageously!

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Trauma Informed Schools

Creating a culture of trauma awareness in schools is a journey, not a destination.  It takes an entire community committed to the work and willing to grow together.  In this session you will learn from one community’s journey with five pilot schools the successes and lessons learned on their way to becoming trauma informed.

Presenter:Jill Reedy, Assistant Regional Superintendent of Macon/Piatt Regional Office of Education # 39.

The Right Stuff: A Conversation with Award Winning Illinois PTA Local Leaders.

National PTA offers awards/grants to honor local PTA units. We sit down with Spring 2021 Healthy Hydration Grant Recipients Danyelle Nygard and Ronnie Turner-Winston to reflect on their experience and vision.

Presenters: Danyelle Nygard, TWIN ECHO PTA President 2020-2021; Ronnie Turner-Winston, Urbana Middle School PTSA Treasurer 2020-2021; and Olesya Malloy, Illinois PTA Treasurer 2019-2021

Saturday, April 24, 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm – Workshop Session IV

What’s the P.L.A.N.? Create a Membership Plan.

In this workshop participants will learn the steps of National PTA’s Membership P.L.A.N., how to apply the P.L.A.N. to your PTA and share different ways to ask non-members to join your PTA. This workshop will help jumpstart your board’s membership campaign conversation for fall 2021.

Presenter: Kristin Klis, Illinois PTA Membership Program Director

Community Funding – Grants, Sponsorships, and Partnerships

Find alternative funding methods/programs for your PTA.  During this workshop, we discuss the basics of a grant application, sponsorship request, and partnership arrangement.  You will learn how to maximize your results through simple steps that can be applied to most funding projects.  Participants will leave this workshop with tools they can use to find alternative funding resource for your next PTA project or event.

Presenter:Carolyn McCarty, Illinois PTA President-Elect

Check the Convention Page often for further updates and additional information.

Andy DuRoss
Schaumburg District 54 Superintendent. Mr. DuRoss will host “Harnessing the Power of Positivity” during Workshop Session I on Thursday, April 22.

Mr. DuRoss has served as the Supt. of the largest elementary school district in Illinois since 2013. He believes a positive culture is another key to the success of students and staff. In 2017, he brought the positive psychology principles outlined by Harvard Researcher Shaw Achor to District 54. This training demonstrates how happiness and optimism fuels performance and leads to success. When he talks about student success, he is not just speaking about academic success but social and emotional success as well.

Dagmar Kauffman

Founder & Director of On Balance Parenting and creator of the Heart Talks: Parenting Courageously! will host a workshop “The Power of A Pause” on Saturday morning. Following the workshop, Ms. Kauffman will be General Session II mini-keynote speaker on Saturday.

Ms. Kauffman’s organization supports parents, caregivers, and communities in raising joyful, competent and resilient humans who lead whole-hearted and balanced lives. Ms. Kauffman is committed to creating space for reflection and conversation about our culture’s definition of success, its impact on parenting and the well-being of our children. Ms. Kauffman’s expertise includes parent education, social-emotional learning (SEL), teaching, higher education research & policy analysis and youth prevention. She serves on the Community Alliance for Prevention (Naperville, IL), DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team (Wheaton, IL) and on SXSW EDU Program Advisory Board (Austin, TX). Ms. Kauffman’s publications include OERI education research briefs and ERIC digests on the supervision of student teachers and minority teacher recruitment programs. She is the co-author of the Illinois State PTA Social Emotional Learning Resolution.

Erica Nelson

Illinois PTA Federal Legislation Consultant will present The Power of “I” as the mini-keynote speaker for General Session I on Thursday, April 22. Following General Session, Ms. Nelson will host a workshop called “Reimagining School Family Engagement & Partnerships in PTA.

“Ms. Nelson is a Business Leader Faculty™ member at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, Lake Forest, Illinois where she has been teaching in the Center for Leadership Division since 1997. Her teaching concentrates on executive communication, emotional intelligence, and negotiation and conflict management strategy. Erica is the recipient of the Contribution to Learning Excellence Award, the award for Faculty Engagement and LFGSM Champion. She was named Most Distinguished Business Management Faculty in 2003-2004. As a trained mediator, Erica designs coursework in communication strategy and negotiation and partners with leaders in organizations from all types of industries.       

Erica is proud to serve as the Federal Legislative Chair (FLC) for Illinois PTA and work with the members and staff of the Illinois Congressional Caucus to advocate on behalf of public education and our children and family engagement in their local school and community. 

Jill Reedy

Assistant Regional Superintendent of the Macon/Piatt Regional Office of Education # 39 will present “Social Emotional Learning and Trauma Informed Schools” in Workshop Session III on Saturday, April 24.

Ms. Reedy has been in education for 24 years and has experience as a teacher, administrator, curriculum director, and presenter.  She is passionate about bringing awareness to schools and communities, the impact trauma has on students’ brain development, learning, and behavior and the importance of providing supportive relationships to buffer toxic stress.

Jill earned her BA from Illinois State University, her MA from Southwest Baptist University, and her EdS from Eastern Illinois University. Jill Reedy formed the Trauma-Informed Partnership with the Education Coalition of Macon County, Illinois Education Association, and SIU School of Medicine. The partnership provided support to five pilot schools on their journey to becoming trauma informed, while conducting action research along the way. Jill provides professional development throughout Illinois on trauma-informed best practices for schools and communities, and most notably,  had the honor of speaking at the 2019 American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Andrew Wade

As the Executive Director of NAMI Illinois, Mr. Wade leads the way as NAMI Illinois influences public policies, provides up-to-date education and support programs, and increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness. He also serves as an Executive Consultant to the Instituto del Progreso Latino, leading their strategic initiatives and capacity building. He has also served in leadership roles at Metropolitan Family Services and BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development). Previously, Mr. Wade focused on the education sector with planning, strategy, and advocacy roles at CASEL (Collaborative for Academic/Social/Emotional Learning), the Illinois State Board of Education, the Office of the Governor, and the Chicago School Leadership Cooperative. He holds a B.A. in Education from Northeastern Illinois University and has done Doctoral studies in Education Policy & Leadership at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

ATTENTION
ADVERTISERS OF GROUND CONTROL
PREPARE TO LAUNCH YOUR RESOURCES!

ILLINOIS PTA 119TH ANNUAL CONVENTION
A VIRTUAL SHARING EXPERIENCE
April 22 & 24, 2021

Join us by becoming an Illinois PTA Convention Advertiser or Sponsor. As we virtually welcome our PTA members to explore a galaxy of topics “to make every child’s potential a reality,” we hope you can help us to provide cosmically valuable resources to our participants. Your materials will be launched out to our Convention Mission Specialists to give exposure to your unique opportunities. A Convention Ad insert can serve as a launch pad for your products and services. Give an extra boost to your resources through our Swag Pod Special.

After our convention, your company/organization will be featured on our website. It’s an opportunity to reach thousands of PTA members statewide!

Advertiser Form

Register for only $15 per person and you will receive a swag box by mail prior to convention.

Register Today!