Registration for the 2016 As a Teacher Grows Conference is now open!  

The AaTG conference is an annual event put on by the Pierce County Association for the Education of Young Children.  This event aims to provide continual professional development to people working in the field of early childhood education. This year, we will be offering a wide variety of workshops in the following tracks: Strengthening Self, Strengthening Families, and Strengthening Children.

This year's conference will include three workshops and a keynote speaker session featuring, the Director of the Department of Early Learning, Ross Hunter, who will be speaking about, "Leading the Charge on Improving Outcomes for All Children, While Eliminating Race and Family Income as a Predictor of Success for Young Learners."  A continental breakfast and boxed lunch are included with your registration and you might have a chance to win some incredible door prizes from local businesses associated with the arts, personal wellness, and education! You will also earn 6 STARs credit hours.

Before you register, please read the descriptions of the Workshops below so that you will know which three you would like to register for.

Some of the descriptions for a few of the workshops have not been submitted, so they will continue to be added until February 12, 2016.  

Once you have read through and chosen from the list of workshops that you would like to attend, please click the Register Now! link at the bottom of the page to complete registration form and pay the conference fee.  Fees are subject to PCAEYC membership/student status; non-member $65 PCAECY member $55 Student $35.

ATTENTION Current Students, you will recieve a discount code for registration upon your student email verification. Email Kelly or Sydney for the code.  Make sure you get the discount code BEFORE you register.

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact us! 

Thank you for registering! We look forward to learning, growing, and connecting with you!

 

Sincerely, 

Kelly Watson and Sydney Pearce 

AaTG Conference Co-Chairs

Pierce County AECY

 

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS (Pick One From Each Category)

Strengthening Self

1. Simple Ways to De-stress for Busy People - Diana Bagley. 

2. The Two-Minute Transformation - Deanna Davis, Ph.D.  In this workshop, Deanna will show you how to use incremental changes to detour around the fear and stress that can undermine your best intentions. By taking small steps, you can harness the momentum to take you from where you are now to where you want to be.  Deanna Davis has a Ph. D in Leadership and a Masters in Public Health she is an accomplished professional speaker, author, coach, and consultant. More on Deanna at deannadavis.net

3.  Your BEST for Their BEST - Barbara L. Frye.  

4. Eating for You - Maryann Gunderson. No one likes a HANGRY person! This fun class will delve into the different sub-categories of food and how you can eat on a daily basis for energy, better sleep, stress reduction, and overall health. She will discuss fun and easy ways to improve your eating and snacking habits that will help improve your overall self! Come explore all the fun possibilities of meal and snack prepping and yes there is eating involved! Maryann is a Head Chef/Meal Planner in an early education setting.  She received her AA in Culinary Arts from Clover Park Technical College and has 16 credits in Early Care and Education from Clover Park.  

5. Nourish the Whole Person - Vicki Lunghofer.  Your wellbeing depends on the integration of all aspects of yourself and life. Come to this workshop and explore your areas of strength and weakness. Develop a game plan to enhance your wellbeing for a healthier you.  Vicki is a registered nurse who has completed board certification for integrative nurse coaching.  She is also the owner of Nourish the Whole Person/Nourish the Whole Child.

6. Movement and Mindfulness: An Introducation to Yoga Calm - Lyndsay Morris. In this workshop, you will learn how to teach essential life skills through movement and mindfulness. Yoga calm is an award winning, research-supported curriculum that combines breathing techniques that reduce stress through simple poses that develop confidence, social/emotional activities, story-telling, and positive affirmations to teach the "whole child".  Lyndsay is the founder of Generation Wellness and is a National Yoga Calm Trainer/Teacher and a registered yoga teacher who has a passion for teaching brain-based learning, mind/body techniques and social/emotional skills. 

7. The Professional Impact of Working with Trauma and Children: Impact and Solutions - Phoebe Mulligan.  The goals of this workshop are to help participants identify and decrease the impacts of secondary trauma. Phoebe is a mental health professional and children's mental health specialist. She specializes in working with survivor of traumatic events, anxiety disorders, and behavioral issues in children. 

8. Building Your Own Resilience Through Mental Health and Mindfulness Strategies - Michelle Duhon-Gross.  We will focus on methods of mindfulness- to stay connected and grounded so you can choose your intention in each moment. 

Strengthening Children

1.   Using Positive Guidance with Children with Challenging Behaviors and Special Needs - Linda Crisalli.  

2. Supporting Learners of All Abilities - Becky Deckert & Jackie Putnam.  

3.  Play to Grow: The Power of Play in Early Learning - Jane Hu and co presenter Amelia Bachleda. We will discuss how children use play to inform their understanding of the world. We will talk about the ways children play, how those change during childhood, and how it helps children learn. 

4.  Teaching Preschoolers the Basics of Yoga Calm - Vicki Lunghofer.  Yoga Calm teaches children the skills of self regulation, sharing, following directions, and other executive functioning skills while having fun. You will have the opportunity to practice some of these techniques. Vicki is a certified Yoga Calm instructor and registered nurse who has completed board certification for integrative nurse coaching.  She is also the owner of Nourish the Whole Person/Nourish the Whole Child.

5.  Sing Me a Story: Bridging Oral Language Development to Foundations for Print Literacy - Lorraine Maida. 

6. Little Friends Doing Big Work: Learning With Worms – Amanda Mintz and co-presenter Caroline Cook.  Worms can help kids learn empathy and respect for all living things. This interactive workshop will include hands on worm work and a worm bin tutorial, music, and a slide show featuring worms in action!  Amanda and Caroline co-plan and co-teach nature based preschool curriculum at Polliwog Preschool located at Mercer Slough Environmental Educational Center; they are both early childhood educators.  Amanda has degrees in Environmental Science and Teaching.  Caroline has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Environmental Education.

7.  Developing Executive Function Skills for Young Children to Build Resilience - Michelle Roberts. This will be about positive guidance through an executive function lens; understanding and responding to children’s needs. Teaching calming strategies and emotional support to help children identify, validate, and handle diffibult emotions. Michelle is a Manager of Professional Development at Childcare Resources in Tacoma and a PCAEYC board member. 

8.  Emotional Intelligence: A Priority of Cognition - Cynthia Swenson.  This workshop will physically involve each participant in creating their own emotional vocabulary chart and designing tools that facilitate developmentally appropriate activities that promote the management of emotions.  Cynthia has earned an advanced degree M.A. Ed. Teaching and Learning.  She has successfully completed foundational Early Achiever’s Training and coursework. She has two decades in practical experience teaching prekindergarten through post secondary.

9.  Environments that Honor Toddlers - Cassidy Walker co-presenter Swhanta Taylor.  How can we use environments as a 3rd teacher? Come engage in a dialogue about creating aesthetically pleasing, curriculum enriched and interaction filled classrooms that honor the developmental needs of toddlers. 

Strengthening Families

1.   Parent-Teacher Communication: Best Practices - Briana Bennitt. 

2.  What Do Young Children Learn When They Are “Just Playing?” - Linda Crisalli.                                      

3.  Strengthening Children and Families Experiencing Incarceration - Beatrice Giron. This presentation will focus on the challenges children and families have staying connected during incarceration and the reentry process. The participants will learn methods to collaborate with the Department of Corrections to support children of incarcerated parents. Beatrice is a Program Specialist 3 for Children of Incarcerated Parents at the Department of Corrections Family Services Unit.

4.  Building Relationships Through Food – Maryann Gunderson.  

5.   The Power of Appreciation – Betty Lochner, M. Ed. This workshop will explore the transformative value of using appreciation and gratitude to improve our relationships and your health. You will learn some easy techniques, tips and tools that will forever change how you communicate with students, parents, and all the people in your life. Betty Lochner has over 25 years of experience specializing in improving interpersonal skills, building and leading teams, practicing the power of appreciation and gratitude, and working with different communication skills and generations. 

6.   ACE’s and the Protective Factors – Vicki Lunghofer.  Adverse childhood experiences negatively impact the developing child. Examine the ACE’s, their commonality and their long-term effects. Then, assess what protective/promoting factors you can use to prevent and mitigate ACE’s which help families build resiliency.  Vicki has a BSN and a M.Ed. and an infant toddler health certification.  She is a long-term member of the Washington Strengthening Families Collective as well as a member of Washington APPI (ACE’s Public Private Innovative team.)  She is a registered nurse who has completed board certification for integrative nurse coaching.  She is also the owner of Nourish the Whole Person/Nourish the Whole Child

7.   Building Resilience with the Strengthening Family Factors - Jackie Reim. This class looks at how families can have protective factors so they can remain strong and healthy despite adverse experiences they may be faced with. Learn strategies to support families with these proctective factors. 

 

 

Register Now!