Below you will find our day one conference agenda.  Log into Zoom to follow along.
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Thursday, March 11
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9:00 am  Opening

Our National Anthem
Owatonna High School Concert Choir
Directed by Chris Harris

Welcome
Deb Henton, Executive Director, MASA
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Awards
Superintendent of the Year
Sponsored by ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers
Wayne Kazmierczak, Superintendent of the White Bear Lake Area Schools

Special Education Administrator of the Year
Cherie Johnson, Executive Director, Goodhue County Education District

MASE Distinguished Service Award
Jan Ostrom, Partner and Licensed Psychologist, Brih Design
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10 - 10:45 Break/Exhibits

Don’t miss the Virtual Exhibit Fair, where you can learn about the latest products and services of value to our members. This conference, in addition to videos, handouts, and other information, our exhibitors are invited to provide a link to their virtual booths, in which they can answer your questions and provide further information.  (Some virtual booths may have door prizes!)

Visit the Exhibit Hall

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​10:45 am  General Session

Yong Zhao HANDOUT

The Changes we Need: Education post COVID-19
presented by Yong Zhao
Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas
Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both unprecedented disruptions and massive changes to education. However, as schools return, these changes may disappear. Moreover, not all of the changes are necessarily the changes we want in education. The pandemic has created a unique opportunity for educational changes that have been proposed before COVID-19 but were never fully realized. Join this session and learn about three big changes that education should make post COVID: curriculum that is developmental, personalized, and evolving; pedagogy that is student-centered, inquiry-based, authentic, and purposeful; and delivery of instruction that capitalizes on the strengths of both synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education. Dr. Zhao has received numerous awards including the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, Outstanding Public Educator from Horace Mann League of USA, and Distinguished Achievement Award in Professional Development from the Association of Education Publishers. He has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars.  He has published over 100 articles and 30 books, many of which are on our own shelves here in Minnesota. 

Recent Books:  
Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners (ASCD, 2020),  An Education Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success (Teachers College Press, 2019), What Works Can Hurt: Side Effects in Education (Teachers College Press, 2018). Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Children (Corwin, 2018), Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes (Solution Tree, 2016), Never Send a Human to Do a Machine's Job: Correcting Top 5 EdTech Mistakes (Corwin, 2015), Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Best (and worst) Education in the World (Jossey-Bass, 2014), World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (Corwin, 2012).
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12 - 1 Break/Exhibits

Don’t miss the Virtual Exhibit Fair, where you can learn about the latest products and services of value to our members. This conference, in addition to videos, handouts, and other information, our exhibitors are invited to provide a link to their virtual booths, in which they can answer your questions and provide further information.  (Some virtual booths may have door prizes!)

Visit the Exhibit Hall

1 - 2  General Session

Jillian Peterson Handout

The Presence of Armed School Officials During School Shootings in the United States
presented by Jillian Peterson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Hamline University
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After deadly school shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland, many states mandated School Resource Officers or provided funding for districts to hire them.  Lawmakers also considered arming teachers. Florida now requires a law enforcement officer or trained school guardian in every school.  By examining every recorded incident where one or more people was intentionally shot in a school building during the school day, or where a perpetrator came to school heavily armed with the intent of firing indiscriminately, Dr. Peterson and her colleagues examined the association between the presence of an armed officer on scene and the severity of shootings in K-12 schools.  Join this session and learn about this recently published research.

Jillian Peterson is an associate professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University. She is also president and co-founder of The Violence Project, a nonprofit research center dedicated to reducing societal violence using research and analysis. Dr. Peterson has a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Peterson worked as a special investigator in New York City, researching the life histories of men facing the death penalty for their sentencing hearings. Dr. Peterson was the principal investigator on a three year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice focused on understanding the life histories of mass shooters. Her areas of expertise include forensic psychology, mental illness in the justice system, violence prevention, and data-driven public policy.

2 - 2:30 Break/Exhibits

Don’t miss the Virtual Exhibit Fair, where you can learn about the latest products and services of value to our members. This conference, in addition to videos, handouts, and other information, our exhibitors are invited to provide a link to their virtual booths, in which they can answer your questions and provide further information.  (Some virtual booths may have door prizes!)

Visit the Exhibit Hall

​2:30 - 3:30  General Session

Breaking the Laws of Leadership
presented by
Karith Foster
Diversity Engagement Specialist

It is widely known and accepted that leaders must be smart, strong and capable. Yet, the most telling sign of true leadership is humility, grace and heart. This program addresses head-on the most simplistic but effective method to gain discipline and have a practice of excellence in leadership.

Karith is a Diversity Engagement Specialist whose signature programs are impacting lives at academic institutions, organizations and corporations across America in a time when humor, understanding, acceptance and respect are so desperately needed. For over two decades Karith Foster has taken her passion for entertaining and critical thinking nationwide- from the airwaves to organizations; from universities to corporations creating a seismic shift in mindsets and revolutionizing the way we address issues of diversity and leadership.

The former co-host of controversial radio personality Don Imus and former Fortune 500 human resources executive administrator brings the perfect blend of humor, knowledge and experience when conveying the ever-present need to address diversity & inclusion, effective communication, leadership and self-care. Karith leaves her audiences feeling engaged, connected, inspired and encouraged to commit to the journey of mutual respect, acceptance and a greater sense of belonging.

“If you can laugh at it you can get through it,” is not only her motto, but the invaluable lesson she seeks to instill in others. As a speaker, humorist, TV & radio personality, author, entrepreneur, wife, and mother Karith's sense of duty, service, along with her riotous sense of humor, have made her a positive force of change. The words “no” and “impossible” are not in her vocabulary as evidenced by her career path, life challenges, chosen adventures and desire to help others. She is a featured comedian in two hit documentary films, “Can We Take a Joke?” and "No Safe Spaces" which have garnered accolades in The Washington Post and TIME Magazine, as has her TEDx Talk “The Art of Defying Stereotypes: Learning to be True to Your Voice” from TEDx Lincoln Square Risk Takers and Change Makers in New York City.
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Thank you for participating today.  Tomorrow, be sure to click on "Day 2" button at the top of this page.