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While Warsaw Community Schools Director of Special Services Amy Hobbs is in Tampa, Fla., next month at the National Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Conference, she’s going to need to learn how to put on a national conference.
As next year’s president of the Indiana Chapter of the CEC, she will have the responsibility of assisting the national chapter in organizing the national conference in Indianapolis for 2019.
The cost for Hobbs and special services staffer Jennifer Stafford to attend the conference in Florida Feb. 7-10 is $2,085, but Human Resources Director Jeanine Corson told the Warsaw School Board Monday that the Indiana chapter may might foot the bill. Stafford is going with Hobbs also to learn how to put on a national conference.
Corson said the national conference “always offers formative assessments, behavior management, social-emotional” learning “to the students that her and her team are committed to working with every day.”
Hobbs said the national CEC president will connect Stafford to his administrative staff. “She’s going to be working those three days, observing how they put together a national conference and what Indiana’s responsibilities are going to be because we did not know that we’d be sponsoring a national conference when I accepted the nomination for president. Jen does have some pretty big responsibilities coming up and she’s going to be working with the national staff to get ready for that.”
Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said the national conference to the CEC was like the Super Bowl to football.
“This is a very, very big responsibility,” he said, but was honored they chose Hobbs to coordinate it.
Hobbs said the Indiana chapter will have to find about 100 volunteers to commit so many hours in preparation for and during the Indianapolis conference.
“It will be a huge undertaking next year,” she said.
Board member Randy Polston recommended Grace College students could serve as volunteers. Hobbs said they were already on her radar as Grace has the largest CEC chapter in Indiana.
The school board also reviewed two other out-of-state travel requests, all of which will be voted on at the board’s Jan. 22 regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Athletic Director Dave Anson attended the National Athletic Directors Conference/NIAA annual meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 8-12. Corson said the conference provides leadership opportunities to improve current practices and learn new practices. Estimated cost was $2,085, but because Anson took some personal time off during the conference dates, the final cost will be less. Money for it will come out of two extracurricular accounts.
Edgewood Middle School STEM and robotics teacher Abbi Richcreek will attend the ITEEA International Conference in Atlanta, Ga., April 12-14, which is all related to engineering and STEM, Corson said.
“Abbi is also being recognized for a middle school teacher of excellence during the conference,” Corson said.
Part of the cost of $1,672 will be covered by the state association, she said.
