1. family and parenting
2. children

Give a child a great Head Start to light the fire within.
Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Promoting School Readiness
Friday, August 8, 2014
McCormick Place Chicago
WELCOME
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2014
7:45am–4:45pm
MCCORMICK PLACE
SOUTH LEVEL 4 & SOUTH LEVEL 5
2301 SOUTH LAKE SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO, IL 60616
The Ounce of Prevention Fund is committed to giving young children and families the
tools they need to have the futures they deserve. It’s no easy task, and we can’t do it
without you. That’s why we are equally committed to ensuring that you are equipped
with the tools you need to help us make it happen.
The Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference is a one-day conference
that offers an array of workshops designed to prepare you for success both in and
outside of your Early Head Start and Head Start programs.
The Ounce will be live tweeting the conference! Join the conversation using #preservice14
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Registration, Networking, Resource Fair and Breakfast ____________________ 7:45-8:45am
Full Day Session ___________________________________________________________ 8:45am-4:45pm
Full Morning Session_________________________________________________________8:45am-12pm
Morning Session 1 ___________________________________________________________ 8:45-10:15am
Morning Session 2 _________________________________________________________ 10:30am-12pm
Keynote and Luncheon ______________________________________________________ 12:15-1:15pm
Full Afternoon Session________________________________________________________ 1:30-4:45pm
Afternoon Session 1 _____________________________________________________________ 1:30-3pm
Afternoon Session 2 __________________________________________________________ 3:15-4:45pm
New this year, participants will have opportunities to purchase materials at the resource fair.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Keynote and Luncheon12:15-1:15pm
J. Michael Hall, M. Ed.
The Foundation for Building Strong Kids
Head Start and Early Head Start programs
are focused on preparing kids to be ready
for school and even more prepared for the
life ahead of them. What role do fathers and
families play in preparing kids for a brighter
future within the efforts of strong Early Head
Start and Head Start programs? J. Michael Hall,
M.Ed., will talk about how to provide the best
foundation for kids by strengthening fathers
and families in the year to come. J. Michael is the father of two sons in college
and the husband to a beautiful middle school
reading teacher. He has been a special
education teacher, a teacher of the gifted and
talented, and an intermediate and middle
school principal. After realizing that he was
spending more time raising other people’s
children than his own he left the principalship
and soon became an advocate for stronger
parent and father involvement in public
education. As an educator, speaker and
founder of Strong Fathers-Strong Families, he
has presented to more than 140,000 fathers
and parents at local schools, Head Starts, and
regional and national conferences.
J. Michael has worked with over 200 schools
in Texas and in over 30 states with Head
Starts. He is a consistent presenter with the
Texas Association of School Boards, Texas
PTA, the National PTA, the National Head
Start Association, the National Association for
Relationship and Marriage Education, and the
National Zero to Three Institute.
He is also a contributing author to the book
on fathering entitled Why Fathers Count, and
is considered one of the country’s foremost
experts on working with fathers in schools and
Head Starts. For his pioneering work over the
past ten years in education he was recently
honored as a 2012 White House Champion
of Change for his work in the fatherhood field
around the nation.
#preservice143
SESSIONS AT A GLANCE
Full Day Session ______________________________________________________________________ 7
Science, Math, and Literacy Foundations for Infant/Toddler School Readiness ________________________7
Full Morning Session ________________________________________________________________________________________ 7
From Family Style Eating to Understanding Hidden Reasons behind Food Cravings __________________7
Medication Administration in Early Education and Child Care Settings ________________________________8
Supporting Reflective Practice through Job-Embedded Routines of Professional Development ______8
Taking the Bite Out of Challenging Behaviors in Young Children ______________________________________9
Using Collaborative Art to Promote Community Among Children, Staff, and Families _________________9
Using Neurobiologically Informed Playful Interventions with Children Affected by
Trauma and Chaos ____________________________________________________________________________________9
Who, What, Where, When and… Why Me? From the Perspective of the Child _______________________ 10
Morning Session 1 ___________________________________________________________________ 10
Creating Safe Environments for Children ___________________________________________________________ 10
Getting “Unstuck”: Responding to Intense Emotions in the Classroom _____________________________ 11
Illinois Department of Human Services Child Care Assistance Program Updates ___________________ 11
Introduction to Theraplay®: Helping Parents and Children Build Better Relationships Through
Attachment-Based Play _____________________________________________________________________________ 11
Kindergarten Readiness: Unpacking the Illinois Early Learning Development Math
and English Language Arts _________________________________________________________________________ 12
Self-Regulation: Supporting Program Staff, Children and Parents in Health, Social
and Emotional Development ________________________________________________________________________ 12
So Much to Do, Not Enough Time: Time-Management Tools That Work for Home Visitors __________ 12
Strengthening Health Outcomes for Children by Fortifying Interprofessional Connections _________ 13
Take A Seat: How We Can Keep All of Our Kids Safe in Transit _______________________________________ 13
Morning Session 2 ___________________________________________________________________ 14
Advocacy for Children with Special Needs: Ensuring Successful Identification,
Evaluation and Instruction _________________________________________________________________________ 14
Attendance Matters!: How Can We Work to Improve It? ____________________________________________ 14
Curious Questions: Expanding Children’s Minds ____________________________________________________ 14
Developing Genuine Alliances in Community Partnerships _________________________________________ 15
I Have an IFSP, Now What?: Deconstructing and Making Effective Use of the Early Intervention
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) Within the Child-Care Environment _______________________ 16
Playing is Learning: Learning Through Play __________________________________________________________ 16
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
SESSIONS AT A GLANCE
Preguntas Curiosas: Ampliando el Aprendizaje de los Niños ________________________________________ 17
Purposeful Engagement: Supporting Young Learners With Meaningful
Interactions and Intentionality ______________________________________________________________________ 17
Remembering with Purpose: Using Reflective Practice in Early Care & Education ___________________ 17
Full Afternoon Session _______________________________________________________________ 18
Cooking Matters for Childcare Professionals ________________________________________________________ 18
Educare Chicago Alumni Network on Partnering for Impact ________________________________________ 19
Evolving Teaching Practices _________________________________________________________________________ 19
Infant and Toddler Emotional/Social Wellness in the Classroom ____________________________________ 19
More than “Good Job” and “Wow”: Building Mindsets of Learning ___________________________________ 20
Moving From Managing Children’s Behavior to Fostering Social Competence _______________________ 20
Why Won’t They Cooperate? Looking at Family Engagement Through a Reflective Lens_____________ 20
Afternoon Session 1 __________________________________________________________________ 21
The Five Choices In Managing Time and Productivity _______________________________________________ 21
Books Build Better Brains: Addressing Inequalities By Supporting Children
Who Are at Risk for Poor Educational Outcomes ___________________________________________________ 21
Bringing Direct Mental-Health Services Into Early Childhood Settings:
An Approach Integrating These Services Through Community Partnerships ________________________ 22
Connecting Communities to Coverage: How Family Engagement Professionals Can
Help Families Access New Health Insurance Coverage Options under the Affordable Care Act _____ 22
#preservice14
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SESSIONS AT A GLANCE
Examining an Innovative Community-Based Home Visitation Model That
Successfully Identifies, Recruits, and Retains High-risk Families_____________________________________ 23
Let’s Create!: Using Natural and Recycled Materials with Young Children to Create Art _____________ 23
Making Learning Visible: It’s More Than What’s on the Wall ________________________________________ 23
None of My Strategies Work With This Child: Recognizing the Signs of Trauma,
and Techniques for Helping Children Feel Safe and Secure in the Classroom _______________________ 24
On the Move: Dealing with High Activity Levels and ADD/ADHD in Young Children _________________ 24
Afternoon Session 2 __________________________________________________________________ 25
Active Transportation Safety for Young Children ____________________________________________________ 25
Building Strong Kids by Strengthening Fathers and Families ________________________________________ 25
Home Visits and Oral Health: Strategies for Success ________________________________________________ 25
Managing Conflict: Best Practices __________________________________________________________________ 26
Stomping Around and Making Faces: Aiding Emotional Development through
Modeling and Cooperative Play _____________________________________________________________________ 26
Tapping into the Power of Grammy: Intergenerational Engagement that
Promotes School Readiness ________________________________________________________________________ 26
Using Story Books in the Teaching of Math __________________________________________________________ 27
When Your Child Has a Fever…. _____________________________________________________________________ 27
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
FULL DAY SESSION/FULL MORNING SESSION
Full Day Session
8:45am-4:45pm
Science, Math, and Literacy Foundations for
Infant/Toddler School Readiness
School readiness for infants and toddlers does NOT
mean push-down curriculum and activities. Infants
and toddlers deserve intentional planning and
interactions in their own right. Join us for a handson, interactive exploration of the math, science and
literacy concepts for infants and toddlers and how
best to play the way to deep learning.
Presenter: Kelly Matthews joyfully explores
engaged learning with people of all ages. Her
passion is bringing relevant, thought-provoking
professional development to educators and
caregivers around the country. She is much more
interested in “learning with” educators and not
“telling to.” Brought back by popular demand in
several locations, it is clear that Kelly’s strength lies
in creating engaging professional development
that invites educators to fully bring their voices and
experiences to the learning.
Full Morning Session
8:45am-12pm
From Family Style Eating to Understanding
Hidden Reasons behind Food Cravings
Family meal-style eating should be implemented
in the Head Start classrooms and enable mealtime
service to be efficient and in control, particularly
with regard to food safety, with staff in good control
of the mealtime environment. Tips to implement
this will be reviewed. However, as we age, we seem
to not recognize why we eat as we do or should,
what may be affecting our behavior and choices,
and what we might be able to do to control our
decisions. We will look at reasons behind food
cravings and some steps to end them naturally.
Presenter: Joyce Meyers is a licensed and
registered dietitian who has been practicing
public health nutrition across Chicago for over
30 years. She worked in the Woman, Infants, and
Children (WIC) Program for five years, Head Start
at the Chicago Public Schools for 23 years, and
as a consultant for the Ounce of Prevention Fund
for four years, in addition to a variety of other
independent consultant activities.
#preservice147
FULL MORNING SESSION
Supporting Reflective Practice through
Job-Embedded Routines of Professional
Development
Medication Administration in Early Education
and Child Care Settings
Medications are commonly given in child-care
settings, whether to prevent illness, relieve
symptoms or control or cure a health problem.
This overview training, developed by the American
Academy of Pediatrics, will provide background
on medication administration and preparation
and storage of medications, and tips on how to
administer medication. Participants will learn
how to identify different types of medication, why
medication is given and how it is given, and will
improve their knowledge of medication storage,
preparation and administration techniques.
Presenter: Marealita Pierce, M.D., F.A.A.P., a
general pediatrician in private practice in Chicago,
is the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of
Pediatrics’ (ICAAP) child-care contact and chair of
the ICAAP’s Committee on Child Care. Dr. Pierce
graduated from the University of Illinois College
of Medicine and completed her residency at the
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. She served as
attending physician in general pediatrics at the
University of Chicago for seven years and provided
pediatric care at the Friend Family Health Center.
8 Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
The presenters will define program- and jobembedded professional development (JEPD),
contrast JEPD with traditional approaches to
professional development, and share their
experiences with supporting four communitybased birth-to-five centers in Chicago to install one
JEPD routine: Reflective Practice Groups. Using
video observation and discussion, the benefits of
JEPD and Reflective Practice Groups in particular
will be highlighted, including improvements to
professionalism and professional community,
collaboration to examine and improve teaching
practice, developing a shared responsibility for
continuous learning and improvement of children
outcomes. Participants will observe video and
experience elements of a Reflective Practice Group
in action and discuss instructional leadership
supports that aid in working with staff to install
and begin using job-embedded professional
development routines in their centers to promote
continuous learning and improvement.
Presenters: Eve Townsend is an early education
specialist with a deep commitment to developing
and supporting high-quality, publicly funded, early
childhood education programs. Prior to joining the
Ounce of Prevention Fund as a PDI manager in
2012, Eve worked as an early childhood researcher,
Head Start education director and teacher in the
New York City Public Schools. Eve holds an M.S.Ed.
from Bank Street College of Education and an
M.P.A. from New York University.
Liliam Perez, birth-to-three PDI manager at the
Ounce of Prevention Fund, is a former Head Start
director, mentor, professional growth advisor, QRS
state assessor and adjunct online faculty member
for the University of Cincinnati and Morton
Community College. Liliam holds an M.A. in Early
Childhood Administration and a Doctorate in Adult
Education from National Louis University.
FULL MORNING SESSION
Using Collaborative Art to Promote Community
Among Children, Staff, and Families
Roll up your sleeves and get ready to make a
mess! Participants will spend time creating several
collaborative art pieces as they explore new art
tools and processes that are appropriate for
infants-through-preschool-age children. We will
then learn how to facilitate these projects as a
piece of building community and collaboration
among children, families and staff.
Taking the Bite Out of Challenging Behaviors in
Young Children
Did you know that most behavior plans fail
because they do not take into account the reason
or function behind a challenging behavior? This
workshop will focus on functional behavioral
assessment and using that as a guide to create
an effective behavior plan. It will outline the
Pyramid Model for Promoting the Social Emotional
Competence of Children, which provides a system
for organizing activities along the mental-health
continuum. In this workshop, participants will learn
how to prevent challenging behaviors, how to use
self-reflection and how professionals can teach
children replacement skills.
Presenter: Angela Searcy, M.S., is a diversifying
higher education in Illinois fellow at Argosy
University in the Doctor of Education Program, the
owner and founder of Simple Solutions Educational
Services and a PD provider for Teaching Strategies
LLC, Lakeshore Learning and the Erikson Institute.
Angela is also an adjunct professor at the Erikson
Institute, a PDI preschool coach with the Ounce of
Prevention Fund and the host of Angela Searcy’s
Simple Solutions Internet Show 11am CST on
globalnewsforum.com.
Presenter: Megan Sexton, M.S. in Child
Development, is the studio art teacher and 2-yearold teacher at Winnetka Public School Nursery, a
Reggio-inspired preschool. She also works at the
Chicago Children’s Museum as an early learning
facilitator and at the New Schools Project at the
Erikson Institute as a program coordinator. Megan
is an advocate for teachers’ connecting with social
media; follow her on Twitter @teachermeg.
Using Neurobiologically Informed Playful
Interventions with Children Affected by
Trauma and Chaos
This three-hour experiential training is designed
to weave together neurobiological research data
with usable playful interventions to help children
affected by trauma and chaos achieve schoolreadiness skills and become more successful in life.
Interventions will focus on helping children gain
affect-regulation skills while learning to be more
adaptable and flexible within a safe and predictable
environment. Staff self-care will also be addressed.
Presenter: Mary Alice Wentling is a former TCOC
Head Start program home visitor, administrator
and mental-health consultant. She currently is the
clinical supervisor/clinician with Lutheran Social
Services of Illinois, working with children involved
in the foster care system in Rockford, Illinois.
She specializes in providing therapy to children
with complex trauma and resulting attachment
problems. Mary Alice is the past president of the
Illinois Association for Play Therapy.
#preservice149
FULL MORNING SESSION/MORNING SESSION 1
Morning Session 1
8:45-10:15am
Creating Safe Environments for Children
Who, What, Where, When and… Why Me?
From the Perspective of the Child
“Who, What, Where, When and… Why Me? From
the Perspective of the Child” focuses on techniques
that parents and teachers can use to encourage
and facilitate communication across all domains.
It will look at the importance of routine activities
and how to turn them into learning experiences,
as well as how to turn everyday items into
educational tools. Finally, the workshop will look
at environmental factors and other issues that
can impact speech and language development in
children.
Presenter: Erin Stevenson, A.A.S.-S.L.P.A., works
for First Words Therapy providing direct therapy
services for the Early Intervention program in
the greater Chicagoland area. Erin has provided
thousands of hours of direct therapy service,
working with children with a variety of medical
diagnoses, including global developmental delays,
Down syndrome, sensory processing disorder,
autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and WolfHirschhorn syndrome.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
You might believe that buying a popular brand
name product, using a hand-me-down product
that has already been “kid-tested” or buying an
expensive product means it will be safe. But not all
toys and nursery products are tested adequately
for safety, and some products can pose hidden
hazards. This session will give an overview of
specific product hazards and give parents and
caregivers of young children potentially lifesaving
information. Participants will leave with three steps
to safety and important tools to keep children safe
from dangerous products.
Presenter: Laura Nikolovska has been with
KID since September 2012. Previously, she was
an education adviser for the US Peace Corps in
Macedonia. From 2007 to 2009, she was a social
studies teacher at Latino Youth High School in
Chicago. She graduated cum laude with a degree
in secondary education from the University
of Missouri. She is currently working toward a
master’s degree in nonprofit administration from
the University of Notre Dame.
MORNING SESSION 1
Getting “Unstuck”: Responding to Intense
Emotions in the Classroom
Teachers provide daily support and aid as children
develop social skills and cope with big feelings.
They regularly help children work through
emotionally charged circumstances. The intensity
of feeling, reaction and/or pattern of coping differs
greatly from child to child. This presentation offers
support, strategies and effective approaches
that promote regulation and a better sense of
understanding when teachers feel “stuck” in their
work with a child’s intense emotional reactions in
the classroom. We will help teachers deepen selfawareness, collaborate and manage stress to be
able to get children unstuck and back to playing
and learning more quickly.
Presenters: Jennie Busker, L.P.C., and Wendy
Guyer, L.C.S.W., are clinicians at the Jewish Child &
Family Services’ Virginia Frank Child Development
Center. They have been providing family, individual
and group therapy to young families, and
mental-health consultation to preschool sites,
for a combined thirteen years. They have been
trained in child-parent psychotherapy, which
addresses trauma, attachment and early childhood
development.
Illinois Department of Human Services Child
Care Assistance Program Updates
Illinois Department of Human Services staff will
provide updates on the Child Care Assistance
Program (CCAP), which helps low-income families
pay for child-care so parents can work or attend
training and education. Recent policy changes and
Child Care Management updates will be presented,
and there will be a look at what lies ahead for the
CCAP program. Open question-and-answer time
will be available.
Presenter: Michael Garner-Jones has worked in
the IDHS Bureau of Child Care and Development
for the past 21 years. Over the years he has
performed almost every function within the
program. He is currently the Child Care Assistance
Program training supervisor. Since July 2013, Mike
has also been serving as the acting bureau chief.
Mike lives in the East Rogers Park neighborhood
with his wife, Gemini, and their four-legged
children.
Introduction to Theraplay®: Helping Parents
and Children Build Better Relationships
Through Attachment-Based Play
Theraplay® is a playful, engaging, adult-directed
treatment for facilitating attachment, first
developed in the Head Start classrooms in
Chicago in 1967. It uses the structured, attuned
and nurturing interactions that form the basis of
attachment to help parents make a connection
with their children, which is the foundation for
later learning. Participants will learn techniques
that expand their repertoire with families. Video
examples of different ages will be included.
Presenter: Dafna Lender is a licensed clinical
social worker and a Certified Theraplay Therapist
and trainer. She also is a certified Dyadic
Developmental Psychotherapist®. Dafna coauthored two chapters in the third edition of
the book Theraplay: Building Better Relationships
Through Attachment-Based Play. Dafna’s main area
of expertise is children with serious psychological
problems caused by histories of abuse, neglect,
trauma and/or multiple placements. Dafna’s focus
is on developing a child’s secure attachment with
his or her caregivers while resolving issues in the
child’s traumatic history.
#preservice1411
MORNING SESSION 1
Kindergarten Readiness: Unpacking the Illinois
Early Learning Development Math and English
Language Arts
Self-Regulation: Supporting Program Staff,
Children and Parents in Health, Social and
Emotional Development
This workshop will include an overview of the math
and English language arts portion of the Illinois
Early Learning and Development Standards (IELDS),
as well as a brief overview of the correlation
between the Kindergarten Common Core State
Standards and IELDS. Ideas will be shared on how
to identify and document learning benchmarks
through observation of students and portfolio
compilation. Participants will be prepared for
collaboration and articulation about student
growth and development.
Building self-regulation in young children requires
communities and caregivers to provide and
support experiences that promote emotional,
social, cognitive and physical development broadly,
including a range of strategies that reduce stress,
foster social connections, incorporate vigorous
physical exercise, increase the complexity and
include repeated practice skills.
Presenter: Cheryl Caesar has been an educator
of children and adults for over 25 years. She is
currently an assistant principal of a pre-k through
2nd grade school in northern Illinois. As a past
Head Start student and teacher, Cheryl is excited
to be presenting here. Cheryl recently received her
Superintendency Endorsement and is completing
her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Concordia
University in Chicago.
Presenter: Neelofer Kanji has been a master
teacher at Christopher House Belmont Cragin
since 2012. She started her teaching career in her
hometown in Pakistan and received her bachelor’s
degree in education and her teaching certification
from Karachi University of Pakistan. She is working
on her bachelor’s degree in early childhood
education from Kendall College. She is also a birthto-three trainer for her community-based early
childhood development program.
So Much to Do, Not Enough Time: TimeManagement Tools That Work for Home Visitors
Time management for home visitors is complicated.
When it comes to time, home visitors face unique
challenges as they provide comprehensive Head
Start services to families. This session will highlight
the importance of using the time you have available
as productively as possible and how to develop
tools to help you organize, prioritize and succeed
as a home visitor. Come join me!
Presenter: Diana Valenzuela McClarien, M.Ed., is
the manager of the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s
Healthy Parents and Babies Program. She is
responsible for developing and implementing
an Early Head Start home visiting program for
pregnant women, parents and infants that meets
Early Head Start performance standards. Diana
started her career in early childhood education
as a home visitor. Over the past 15 years, she has
established and supported appropriate practices to
support early childhood programs, including Head
Start home-based programs.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
MORNING SESSION 1
Strengthening Health Outcomes for Children by
Fortifying Interprofessional Connections
Vulnerable families are often ill equipped to
provide the best possible health outcomes. Learn
how effective care coordination can provide
social supports, education and improvement in
developmental, health and safety outcomes.
Presenter: Elise Groenewegen joined the Illinois
Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics as
the coordinator of early childhood development
initiatives in May 2012. In that role, she serves as
a liaison between medical homes; the Maternal,
Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting
program; and other early education and childcare organizations in order to build relationships
between primary-care and community-service
providers. She also manages the Reach Out and
Read program across 130 program sites, including
consistent monitoring of program implementation
and quality.
Presenter: Craig Sjogerman is a certified
elementary school teacher and has a graduate
certificate from the University of Chicago in creative
writing. He has worked with children in hospital
settings for 15 years. He is a certified childpassenger-safety technician, with special training
in working with kids with special needs. His is one
of only three instructors of child passenger safety
for children with special needs in Illinois. Craig is
the community outreach coordinator at La Rabida
Children’s Hospital and manages the special-needs
satellite program of the Children’s Hospital of
Illinois.
Take A Seat: How We Can Keep All of Our Kids
Safe in Transit
Even though car crashes are the number one
cause of death and serious injury in young
children, four out of five car seats in the state
of Illinois are incorrectly installed. Using humor,
animated graphics, video and hands-on audience
interaction, ace child-passenger-safety technician
Craig Sjogerman of La Rabida Children’s Hospital
will teach you the principles of child safety in
automobiles, how to know which car seat to use,
how to correctly fit children in their car seats and
when to change the kind of seats the children in
your care use. He will also focus on specialized
seats for children with special needs and
disabilities, and help you inform parents where to
get these seats. Be there or be a rectangle.
#preservice1413
MORNING SESSION 2
Morning Session 2
10:30am-12pm
Advocacy for Children with Special Needs:
Ensuring Successful Identification, Evaluation
and Instruction
This workshop will focus on increasing
understanding of the special-education instruction
and supports available to children birth-to-five and
the critical role that early childhood providers play
in helping children and families to be screened,
evaluated and provided these supports. The
workshop will also introduce providers to the
screening and inclusion requirements in the new
ExceleRate system and how providers can earn
the Award of Excellence for Children with Special
Needs.
Presenters: Karen Berman is assistant director
of Illinois policy at the Ounce of Prevention Fund.
Karen manages the Illinois early childhood systemsbuilding and advocacy work for the Ounce and
brings her expertise in special education to the
Illinois, Chicago and national efforts. Prior to
joining the Ounce, Karen worked at the Chicago
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, where she
represented children and families on education,
disability and juvenile-justice issues. Karen has a
B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of
Michigan and a J.D. from Northwestern University.
Amy Zimmerman has directed the Chicago MedicalLegal Partnership for Children since 2006. She
has spent her legal career focusing on children’s
health advocacy, program and policy analysis
and community-based partnerships. Amy is a
governor’s appointee on the Illinois Interagency
Council on Early Intervention. She previously served
as the children’s policy advisor to Illinois Attorney
General Lisa Madigan, as assistant director of the
Children’s Health and Education Project at the
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and as
a neighborhood and project attorney at the Legal
Assistance Foundation. In 2011, Amy received the
Loretta Lacey Maternal Child and Health Advocacy
Award.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Attendance Matters!: How Can We Work to
Improve It?
We recently have learned that program attendance
during preschool is very important for children’s
learning outcomes, both during preschool and in
later years. This session will begin by sharing these
findings with program staff, focusing on children
in Chicago. We will allow opportunities to reflect
on current program practices and provide time for
idea generation and team planning to encourage
better program attendance. This session will also
share materials that others around the country
are using to dispel existing beliefs and help boost
attendance by working with families.
Presenter: Stacy Ehrlich, Ph.D., is a senior research
analyst at the University of Chicago Consortium on
Chicago School Research. She is a developmental
psychologist who has focused much of her work on
early education research. The consortium works
closely with the Chicago Public Schools and other
local education agencies to understand problems
of practice and provide research to support policy
decisions.
Curious Questions: Expanding Children’s Minds
Learn the importance of asking children openended questions. Tips for instructing and
encouraging critical thinking and deepening
thoughts will be explored. Practice asking questions
with hands-on activities.
Presenters: Julianne Medel is an education
specialist at Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview,
Illinois. She recently earned her master’s degree in
art education from the School of the Art Institute
of Chicago, and she has a B.A. in Art History
from Augustana College. Julianne creates the
programming for the Kohl museum’s art studio.
She also teaches process art workshops for early
childhood educators. Julianne is a member of the
National Art Educators Association and the Illinois
Art Educators Association.
MORNING SESSION 2
Sarah Mack is an education specialist and
coordinator of the Early Childhood Connections
program at the Kohl Children’s Museum. While
earning a B.A. in elementary education and history
from Simmons College in Boston, Sarah found a
passion for museums and education. She worked
as the education coordinator at the Block Museum
of Art at Northwestern University. Sarah is currently
working with the Early Childhood Connections
professional development grant program.
Este plática también estará presentada en español a
la misma hora en otro salón.
Laurie Kabb, L.C.S.W., is training manager at
the Ounce of Prevention Fund working with the
Birth-to-Three Center-Based Prevention Initiative.
Laurie’s professional experience is in the practice
of clinical social work, supervision, training,
consultation, administration and teaching in the
public and private sectors. She has also served as
faculty at the Erikson Institute and the University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, School of Social
Work. She received her M.S.W. at the Smith College
School for Social Work and has a Type 73 School
Social Work Certificate in Illinois.
Developing Genuine Alliances in Community
Partnerships
Developing collaborative relationships begins
by building a team of allies among community
programs, early childhood professionals, families
and other stakeholders. Genuine alliances and
collaborative partnerships enable programs,
families and community entities to work
successfully with referral systems and resources
on behalf of young children and their families.
They also reveal ways that collaborative partners
can benefit from co-constructed partnership
agreements that ensure accountability and provide
a framework for mutual endeavors and reciprocal
efforts that strengthen the community and its
members, resulting in positive outcomes.
Presenters: Teresa Collado, M.Ed., is the training
and consultation specialist at the Ounce of
Prevention Fund working with the Birth-to-Three
Center-Based Prevention Initiative. Teresa has
a master’s degree from the Erikson Institute
and is a graduate of their infant mental health
program. She has directed and managed Head
Start programs, provided oversight to Early Head
Start programs and a program that addressed the
needs of homeless mothers and their children. She
served as a citywide education coordinator for the
city of Chicago and was a seminar instructor at the
Erikson Institute.
#preservice1415
MORNING SESSION 2
I Have an IFSP, Now What?: Deconstructing and
Making Effective Use of the Early Intervention
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) Within
the Child-Care Environment
The Early Intervention (EI) Individualized Family
Service Plan (IFSP) can be a very useful tool in
supporting the developmental needs of infants
and toddlers. In this workshop, participants will
learn how an early intervention evaluation and
IFSP meeting is conducted as well as come to
understand targeted developmental outcomes for
children. Through guided activities, participants
will learn how to implement routines-based
intervention in a child-care center. Participants
will also explore ways to engage EI providers
and families in order to strengthen partnerships
between home and school.
Presenters: Kimberly Garner graduated from
Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of
Science degree in child development/ leadership.
She has since dedicated over 15 years of work to
the field of child development in various settings.
She has taught and cared for infants, toddlers
and preschoolers in day-care, Head Start and
Montessori classrooms. In 1998, she decided to
share her expertise with the University of Chicago’s
Early Intervention Program as a developmental
therapist and credentialed evaluator. She
continues to support young children with delays
and disabilities and their families as a service
coordinator at Child and Family Connections.
Carol R. Muhammad, M.Ed., is the program
manager for La Rabida Children’s Hospital’s Early
Intervention Program. She manages one of the 25
Child and Family Connections programs in Chicago.
She has over 25 years’ leadership experience
in a variety of settings, including child welfare,
early childhood and mental-health programs.
She is committed to closing the gap of poverty by
increasing a family’s access to quality education
and health care. She has a Masters degree in
School Guidance and Counseling from Chicago
State University.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Playing is Learning: Learning Through Play
Play is a powerful way that young children learn.
This workshop is intended for parents of young
children (infants through 3 years) who want to
share their ideas about play experiences and learn
more about the skills, knowledge and attitudes
young children learn by playing with adults.
Presenter: Marsha Shigeyo Hawley has been
working with the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s
Investing in Innovation Professional Development
Initiative since March 2012. She is the co-director
of implementation and works collaboratively
with birth-to-five coaches, teachers, leaders and
colleagues, creating embedded professional
development experiences that work in child-care
settings. Her past professional work includes
over 38 years of teaching experience with infants,
toddlers, preschoolers, K–3 teachers and families,
and more than 22 years of higher education
teaching experience. She received a Master of
Education degree from the Erikson Institute and is
a licensed teacher in Illinois and California.
MORNING SESSION 2
Preguntas Curiosas: Ampliando el Aprendizaje
de los Niños
Aprenda a facilitar preguntas abiertas para usar
con los niños. Se compartirán ideas para alentar la
profundización del pensamiento crítico.
Presentadora: Teresa Osorio es una especialista
educacional en el Kohl Children’s Museum en
Glenview, Illinois. Ella desarrolla y traduce los
programas en español, maneja programas de
integración para las familias y provee desarrollo
profesional. Antes de trabajar en Kohl’s, Teresa fue
un tutor de español y maestra pre-escolar para
niños de 2 a 5 años de edad. Ella es bilingüe y
está certificada para entrenar los participantes de
“Growing Up WILD.” Teresa tiene su bachillerato en
Educación Temprana de Concordia University. En
su tiempo libre, ella disfruta entrenando a su perro,
Leeroy y conviviendo con su familia.
Also presented in English during this session.
Purposeful Engagement: Supporting Young
Learners With Meaningful Interactions and
Intentionality
The physical and tangible aspects of the body and
brain and how they interconnect have been and
continue to be researched and studied. However,
it is emotional engagement that is critical to the
formation of mind and conceptual understanding.
When we are purposeful in our interactions—work
with intentionality with infants and toddlers—we
provide them with experiences, opportunities,
modeling, language and the nurturing that is vital in
preparing them for the school years and especially
their lives beyond.
Presenter: Keith L. Pentz, national early childhood
specialist for Kaplan Early Learning Co., has been
in the field of education for nearly 35 years.
Keith began his career by working in child care
with infants and toddlers, taught elementary
students as well as kindergarten, and then taught
prekindergarten. Keith moved on to teach at the
University of Central Florida and Gordon College
in Wenham, Massachusetts, before beginning his
career in consulting.
Remembering with Purpose: Using Reflective
Practice in Early Care & Education
Since this important work with young children
and families engages both the intellectual
and emotional sides of staff, establishing and
maintaining a culture of reflective practice provides
staff time to pause and reflect together. In this
session, participants will explore the definition,
principles and benefits behind reflective practice.
In addition, participants will learn strategies on
how to respond to the complex emotions that are
evoked by the work. This session will be interactive,
including small-group work and large-group
reflection.
Presenters: Anita Harvey-Dixon, Educare advisor,
has recently transitioned into the role of Educare
implementation advisor for the Educare Learning
Network. She was the site administrator/assistant
director for the Educare School in Chicago from
April 2004 to January 2014. She has worked with
the Ounce of Prevention Fund since September
2001 and has served as a program associate for
the Child and Family Support Services division, site
manager and site administrator. Anita received
her undergraduate degree from City College
of the City University of New York. She has one
Masters Degree in Literature from Yale University
and another from the Erikson Institute in child
development, with a focus on administration and
infants and toddlers.
#preservice14
17
MORNING SESSION 2/FULL AFTERNOON SESSION
Full Afternoon Session
1:30-4:45pm
Cooking Matters for Childcare
Professionals
Maribel G. Centeno, assistant director, Educare
Learning Network, has over 25 years of experience
in early childhood program development and
administration, including birth-preschool child care,
Early Head Start and Head Start. Prior to joining
the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s Educare Learning
Network team, she worked in early childhood
centers as a teacher and as an administrator in
urban and suburban communities. Maribel holds
a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Studies in Social
Work and Women’s Studies from Loyola University.
She also holds a Master of Science degree in
Curriculum and Instruction in Early Childhood
Education from Chicago State University and is a
certified Brazelton Touchpoints trainer/mentor.
Danielle Weaver, Educare adviser, has a master’s
degree in education and counseling from DePaul
University. She started her career in the early
childhood field working with families of infants and
toddlers with developmental delays as a service
coordinator with the Illinois Early Intervention
Program on the North Side of Chicago. She then
worked as the grantee disabilities coordinator
at the Ounce of Prevention Fund, where she
provided training and technical assistance to Early/
Head Start programs in the Chicago area. Danielle
then became early childhood special education
manager for the Chicago Public Schools. Most
recently she joined the Educare Learning Network
as implementation advisor, where she provides
training and support to Educare Schools across the
nation.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Cooking Matters is a program that provides
nutrition education using the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans and MyPlate as the foundation and then
builds upon these ideas using interactive lessons
to teach cooking, food safety and food budgeting.
Participants will learn how to select nutritious and
low-cost ingredients and prepare them in ways
that provide the best nourishment possible for the
children in their care. The workshop is applicable to
both home-based and center-based providers.
Presenter: Lolita Lopez obtained her M.P.H. from
the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2005 and has
worked in the field of public health for 14 years.
She is currently the manager of research and
special projects at EverThrive Illinois and has been
a Cooking Matters instructor and coordinator for
about a year. She recently received her certificate
in health coaching from the Institute for Integrative
Nutrition. Lolita is passionate about using nutrition
education as a means of improving health
outcomes.
Lilah Handler has been working in the public health
field for over nine years and is currently the Healthy
Lifestyles Initiative project coordinator at EverThrive
Illinois. She is responsible for hosting Cooking
Matters volunteer trainings and orientations,
coordinating six-week Cooking Matters classes,
leading shopping tours and participating in one-day
collaborative events. She received a B.A. in Fine
Arts from Columbia College and is pursuing her
M.S.W. at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Jane
Addams School of Social Work.
FULL AFTERNOON SESSION
Educare Chicago Alumni Network on
Partnering for Impact
Parents of the Educare Chicago Alumni Network
(ECAN) will reflect on how the family-engagement
practices they experienced at Educare increased
their confidence as advocates, connected them to
valuable community resources and ultimately led
them to create an alumni network. ECAN parents
will engage participants in a discussion about
how to maintain parent involvement as children
transition into elementary schools. Parents and
providers alike will find this interactive workshop
engaging.
Presenters: Keesha Hall is an Educare alumni
parent who has been active in the formation
of ECAN. She has noted that her experience at
Educare has helped her to be a better advocate for
the needs of her son as he entered the elementary
school system.
Keisha Keith is currently pursuing a master’s degree
at the University of Chicago School of Social Service
Administration. She has been an active member of
ECAN and is eager to see it develop into a robust
source of resources and supports for current and
alumni parents.
Kenya Conley is one of the founding members of
ECAN. She continues to participate in planning for
ECAN activities and events.
Angela Hubbard is the manager of ECAN. She is a
National Board certified early childhood teacher
and has instructed teachers through Northern
Illinois University. Angela holds an M.A.T. from
National Louis University and a B.S.B.A. from
Washington University in St. Louis. Angela guides
the implementation of the alumni network as
envisioned by ECAN parents. She actively seeks
partnerships with organizations and opportunities
that serve to increase the social capital of ECAN
families.
Evolving Teaching Practices
Teaching is an evolving journey. Through the eyes
of two teachers and an administrator, we will
discuss transformative teaching practices and give
hands-on experiences that will generate discussion
and ideas for the classroom.
Presenters: Claudia Cattage is an Early Head Start
teacher at Educare Chicago. Annaliese Newmeyer
is a Head Start teacher at Educare Chicago. Kristie
Norwood is the education manager for Ounce of
Prevention Fund Grantee Support Services.
Infant and Toddler Emotional/Social Wellness in
the Classroom
This workshop discusses what best practices
tell us about young children’s (birth to three)
attachment behavioral system and temperament
types. We will look at their developing brains as
well as the vital role every childhood teacher plays
in the emotional wellness of infants and toddlers,
including the relationship between teacher and
child temperament types and “goodness of fit.” The
engaging activities will focus on teacher responses
to infant/toddler behavior that can promote or
inhibit secure attachment relationships.
Presenter: Candace Austin received her M.Ed.
in Early Childhood Education from National
Louis University. She is presently attending the
Erikson Institute to obtain an Infant Mental Health
Specialist Certificate. She has been working with
families and young children over 25 years. Her
present position with an early start home visiting
program has her working with an elementary
school district where she supports the social/
emotional growth of parents and their children
birth to three years old. She also presented “What
Every Child Needs for Emotional & Social Wellness”
at the 2012 BCDI conference.
#preservice1419
FULL AFTERNOON SESSION
More than “Good Job” and “Wow”: Building
Mindsets of Learning
Why Won’t They Cooperate? Looking at Family
Engagement Through a Reflective Lens
There is a difference between praise and
encouragement. In this session, we look at how
to help children develop critical-thinking skills and
a mindset toward learning based on the work
of Carol Dweck by looking at encouragement of
children’s thinking. As a group, we will connect
these mindsets to video observation exploring the
CLASS Dimension Quality of Feedback.
For young children with disabilities, research
identifies parent engagement as a key component
to successful interventions. The use of reflective
practice can assist professionals in examining
whether their actions are serving as facilitators
or barriers to family engagement. Workshop
participants will engage in activities utilizing
case studies, video, and small- and large-group
discussion to experience reflective practice related
to family engagement. Participants will identify
benefits and challenges of reflective practice in
working with families of young children and will
create a plan for embedding reflective practice
within their individual roles.
Presenters: Melissa Wilhelm is the founder
of Fractal Educational Systems, an education
consultancy dedicated to providing positive
mindsets of learning. Melissa has over 20 years
of experience as a researcher, instructor, coach,
trainer and consultant in early childhood.
Liz Tertell, M.Ed, C.A.S. is the associate director
of early childhood at Christopher House. She has
been a teacher, director, instructor, consultant
and trainer in early childhood. Liz has worked
with teachers and directors to support positive
mindsets of learning and growth for children and
adults.
Moving From Managing Children’s Behavior to
Fostering Social Competence
This workshop will encourage teachers to examine
the notion of, and their role in, supporting children
to become socially competent by asking them,
“Are you responding to challenging behavior by
supporting children’s learning to become socially
and emotionally competent?” Teachers will identify
alternative ways of responding to children’s
behavior.
Presenter: Sabrina Robertson, M.Ed., has a
Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from
National Louis University. She also has an InfantToddler Credential, Early Childhood Credential and
an Illinois Director’s Credential from Gateways to
Opportunity. She is in the process of obtaining a
Developmental Therapist license.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Presenters: Lynn Barts, M.A., C.I.M.I., has always
loved babies and their families. She has a Master
of Arts in Counseling and is a Certified Infant
Massage Instructor. Lynn has worked within the
birth-to-three community for over 20 years in
Early Intervention, Early Head Start, Parents as
Teachers and as a child-care consultant. Lynn’s
initial passion remains and has been strengthened
through the experiences she’s had with families
and professionals working together in Missouri and
Illinois.
Kimberly Hile, Ed.M., is in her second year of the
doctoral program at the University of Illinois with a
concentration in early childhood special education.
Her research interests focus on supporting
collaboration between caregivers of infants
and toddlers with special needs and the Early
Intervention service providers working with the
family, with an emphasis on personnel preparation.
Kimberly’s goals include obtaining a faculty position
preparing future early interventionists to utilize
family-centered practices.
AFTERNOON SESSION 1
Afternoon Session 1
1:30-3pm
The Five Choices In Managing Time and
Productivity
Research shows that we typically spend 70% of the
workday on problems, crises and other activities
that do not contribute to the true priorities and
mission of the organization. We seem to live and
work by default, dealing with whatever comes up
each day instead of focusing our effort on those
things with the greatest payoff. This session will
explore the five choices all of us have in managing
our time and increasing our productivity in our
professional lives at work and our personal lives at
home.
Presenter: Wayne Kolweier is manager of
organizational learning for the Ounce of Prevention
Fund in Chicago. Wayne has B.S. and M.S degrees
in agribusiness from Southern Illinois University
and a Certificate in Advanced Studies Degree in
Organization Development from Loyola University
in Chicago. He has extensive experience in the
corporate world, having worked with several
Fortune 500 organizations, and also worked with
Lutheran Life Communities, a not-for-profit healthcare firm, as director of training. His work roles
have included employee training, sales training
and development, leadership and management
development, organization development, career
development and project management.
Books Build Better Brains: Addressing
Inequalities By Supporting Children Who Are at
Risk for Poor Educational Outcomes
Books at home, parents reading aloud and early
language skills are vital precursors to success in life.
However, children living in low-income families are
exposed to a less language-rich environment than
their more affluent peers and enter kindergarten
12 to 14 months below national norms in
language and prereading skills. Learn strategies
and interventions to build children’s foundational
language skills and reduce disparities in school
readiness.
Presenter: Elise Groenewegen joined the Illinois
Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
(ICAAP) as the Coordinator of Early Childhood
Development Initiatives in May 2012. Ms.
Groenewegen manages the Reach Out and Read
program across 130 program sites, including
consistent monitoring of program implementation
and quality. In her role at ICAAP, Elise also serves
as a liaison between medical homes; the Maternal,
Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting
program; and other early education and childcare organizations in order to build relationships
between primary-care and community-service
providers.
#preservice1421
AFTERNOON SESSION 1
Bringing Direct Mental-Health Services
Into Early Childhood Settings: An Approach
Integrating These Services Through Community
Partnerships
Connecting Communities to Coverage: How
Family Engagement Professionals Can Help
Families Access New Health Insurance Coverage
Options under the Affordable Care Act
This workshop offers an overview of the Juvenile
Protective Association’s (JPA) innovative efforts
to integrate direct mental-health services and
mental-health consultation into two early childhood
settings, one home based and one center based.
Through community partnerships with two
prominent Chicago social service agencies, the
JPA is able to provide services to vulnerable young
children and their families who often face many
barriers to accessing mental-health services. Direct
services offered include individual, parent-child
and family psychotherapy as well as parent-child
groups. Workshop participants will learn about
JPA’s approach to service integration and the
implementation challenges, evaluation findings and
lessons learned from this unique project.
Under the Affordable Care Act, new healthinsurance programs and subsidies are available to
many families and individuals. Learn about the new
options available to those you serve and what your
agency can do to assist with eligibility, enrollment
and navigation. Participants will discuss the role
of family-engagement professionals in promoting
health-insurance access and connections between
families and medical homes, and will learn practical
strategies and tools that agencies of any size, with
any budget (or no budget), can utilize to benefit
families and fellow staff.
Presenters: Katie Gleason is a child and family
therapist with the Juvenile Protective Association.
Through one of JPA’s community partnerships, she
provides home-based psychotherapy to caregivers
and young children also involved in a local Chicago
home-visiting program. Last year at JPA, Katie
provided therapy to children and caregivers at
a local Head Start early learning center. Katie
obtained her master’s degree in Social Work and in
Child Development, specializing in infancy, through
the Erikson Institute and Loyola University’s dualdegree program.
Norma Swanson Irie, L.C.S.W., I/ECMH-C, is a
clinical social worker who for 27 years has provided
support to families of children ages birth to five,
leading groups and workshops on parenting and
child development. She provides infant mentalhealth consultation, supervision and training for
early childhood professionals. Her primary interest
is the social-emotional well-being of young children.
Norma serves on the Board of Directors of the
Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
Presenter: Rachel Sacks, MPH is the Manager
for Early Childhood Development at the Illinois
Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics where
she leads an effort to incorporate the national
health promotion initiative Bright Futures into
Illinois policy. She also serves as liaison between
local pediatricians, Child Care Resource and
Referral agencies, and other organizations in order
to build relationships between primary care and
child care. She received her MPH from University of
Illinois at Chicago.
AFTERNOON SESSION 1
Examining an Innovative Community-Based
Home Visitation Model That Successfully
Identifies, Recruits, and Retains High-risk
Families
This workshop describes a specific evidencebased, community-based intervention model with a
home visiting component used in Early Head Start
programs. The presentation will include research
findings suggesting the model is able to identify,
recruit and retain high-risk families in greatest need
of services. We will share successful engagement
and retention strategies that can be adapted to
other early childhood programs without being cost
prohibitive.
Presenters: Shauna Ejeh is the director of Baby
TALK Early Head Start (BTEHS) in Decatur, Illinois.
BTEHS serves families prenatally through the age of
3, offering home-based and center-based services
to at-risk families in Macon County. BTEHS serves
all families that have significant risk factors but
specifically targets pregnant and parenting teens.
Deb Widenhofer is the Learning Institute director
at Baby TALK Inc. in Decatur, Illinois. Deb earned
a B.S. in Education from Ball State University and
is a Credentialed Developmental Therapist, as well
as a certified reliable in the Neonatal Behavioral
Assessment Scale. She has worked in the design
and administration of local programs and
assisted other communities in building systems of
support for young families. She is on the Decatur
Touchpoints training faculty and the National Baby
TALK training faculty.
Julia Labuda has a Master of Science in Child
Development from the Erikson Institute. She has
worked in the field of early childhood education for
15 years, with a focus on supporting programs that
provide services for at-risk families and children.
Julia has been an Early Head Start teacher, parent
educator, developmental therapist and evaluator,
and administrator, and is now the Baby TALK
Professional Association coordinator.
Let’s Create!: Using Natural and Recycled
Materials with Young Children to Create Art
Participate in hands-on art activities utilizing mixed
media and recycled materials that encourage
individual expression. Explore the process of
art and how we as educators can engage young
children in meaningful art explorations with natural
materials utilizing math, science and literacy
concepts.
Presenter: Erika Gray is the director of education
at the Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview, Illinois,
where she has worked for 15 years. She oversees
the Education Department, which develops teacher
workshops, grant programs and daily programming
throughout the museum. Erika received a B.S. in
Art Education from Bowling Green State University
in Ohio in 1998. Her hobbies include creating
pottery, crocheting and photography.
Making Learning Visible: It’s More Than What’s
on the Wall
Join us as we discuss the process of documentation
from observation to reflection to sharing. We’ll
learn innovative and beautiful ways to document
children’s learning that connects learning objectives
and child development to teacher and parent
observations. Participants in this workshop will
leave with the tools and inspiration to create
documentation that is both functional and beautiful
and is accessible to children and families.
Presenter: Megan Sexton, M.S. in Child
Development, is the studio art teacher and 2-yearold teacher at Winnetka Public School Nursery, a
Reggio-inspired preschool. She also works at the
Chicago Children’s Museum as an early learning
facilitator and at the New Schools Project at the
Erikson Institute as a program coordinator. Megan
is an advocate for teachers’ connecting with social
media; follow her on Twitter @teachermeg.
#preservice1423
AFTERNOON SESSION 1
None of My Strategies Work With This
Child: Recognizing the Signs of Trauma, and
Techniques for Helping Children Feel Safe and
Secure in the Classroom
Are you feeling like you’ve tried every technique
you know and some children still seem to challenge
your teaching skills and abilities? This may be the
workshop for you. We will examine trauma, how it
affects children and how to establish a warm, safe
classroom environment that is beneficial for all
children.
Presenters: Glenna V. Jakush has been working
for more than 20 years with children from birth
through age five in Head Start and Early Head
Start settings. She has an M.S. in Early Childhood
Education from the Erikson Institute and is
particularly interested in establishing strong
relationships with children and families to promote
the best possible learning outcomes. She currently
is a master teacher with 3-to-5-year-olds at
Christopher House.
Annie Cacchione, M.S. in Mental Health Counseling,
has always had a passion for working with and
helping children and their families. After living
and teaching in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for five
years, she decided to return to the US and pursue
her goal of working as a bilingual mental-health
clinician. Since joining the Christopher House team
in 2013, she has been lucky enough to collaborate
with teachers as well as parents to promote the
social and emotional growth of each child that is
served.
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Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
On the Move: Dealing with High Activity Levels
and ADD/ADHD in Young Children
Learn what happens to the brain when young
children do not get the involvement necessary
for it to retain information. Participants will learn
to differentiate between age-appropriate and
problematic activity levels, as well as to understand
and identify ADD/ADHD in young children. This
workshop will explore how movement can be
utilized to maximize brain connections and wholebrain functioning in young children from birth to
age five.
Presenter: Angela Searcy, M.S., is a diversifying
higher education in Illinois fellow at Argosy
University in the Doctor of Education Program, the
owner and founder of Simple Solutions Educational
Services and a PD provider for Teaching Strategies
LLC, Lakeshore Learning and the Erikson Institute.
Angela is also an adjunct professor at the Erikson
Institute, a PDI preschool coach with the Ounce of
Prevention Fund and the host of Angela Searcy’s
Simple Solutions Internet Show 11am CST on www.
globalnewsforum.com.
AFTERNOON SESSION 2
Afternoon Session 2 3:15-4:45pm
Active Transportation Safety for Young Children
Federal regulations require Head Start programs to
provide transportation safety education within 30
days of program start. Workshop participants will
learn how to implement safety lessons about safe
walking, cycling and public transportation use that
extend across subject areas, including language
arts, math, fine arts and physical development.
During the presentation, participants will receive
copies of lessons that align with Head Start
program standards and brainstorm with fellow
participants on ways they can more successfully
engage parents and students.
Presenter: For nearly four years with the Active
Transportation Alliance, Eric Bjorlin has created
and coordinated numerous curricular programs
for schools and after-school programs. He has also
provided technical assistance to numerous schools
and school districts to support biking and walking
initiatives. Eric has conducted numerous trainings
and presented at conferences and events across
the state. He has also worked as a teacher, camp
counselor and service-learning facilitator.
Building Strong Kids by Strengthening
Fathers and Families
All of this talk about father involvement doesn’t
always make sense to folks working with children.
However, these hairy legged guys can have a big
hand in improving the educational, emotional
and physical outcomes for kids in early childhood
programs. Strong Fathers-Strong Families has
worked with over 140,000 fathers and can help you
find ways to engage more fathers in the education
of their children.
Presenter: J. Michael Hall, M.Ed., is the father of
two boys in college and the husband to a beautiful
reading teacher. As founder of Strong FathersStrong Families, he has presented to more than
140,000 fathers in schools, Head Start programs
and national conferences. For his pioneering work
over the past ten years in the fatherhood field, he
was honored as a 2012 White House Champion of
Change. Learn more about Mike at StrongFathers.
com/Mike.
Home Visits and Oral Health:
Strategies for Success
If you have ever struggled to motivate others
to make oral health a priority, this session is for
you. Learn methods to enhance the oral health
of children during home visits and help ensure
children are free from tooth decay. Although
strategies for home visits will be discussed, anyone
interested in oral health will benefit from this
session.
Presenter: Dr. Sharon Perlman brings her
passion, commitment and more than 20 years of
experience of improving oral health in the Head
Start community as the Ounce of Prevention
Fund’s dental consultant. She earned her D.D.S.
and M.P.H. from the University of Illinois and
previously was chief of dental service for the Cook
County Department of Public Health, an adjunct
associate professor at the University of Illinois
College of Dentistry and chair of the Access to Care
Committee of the Chicago Dental Society.
#preservice1425
AFTERNOON SESSION 2
Conflict is part of our professional and personal
lives. This session will explore the core principles
and strategies in managing conflict and help you
manage conflict in a more professional way that will
lead to better outcomes. The course will review the
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, which
has been used extensively in many leadership
and management training programs dealing with
conflict issues.
Presenter: Popular presenter Emily (Dugan)
Leonard is a teaching artist known for her fun,
interactive workshops that teach arts-based life
skills directly applicable to the early childhood
classroom. In addition to overseeing the Outreach
program at the Beverly Arts Center, Emily is a
practicing teaching artist, working with over 2,000
students a year in the performing and visual
arts. Emily is delighted to return to work with the
outstanding service providers at the Head Start
Pre-Service Conference.
Presenter: Wayne Kolweier is manager of
organizational learning for the Ounce of Prevention
Fund in Chicago. Wayne has B.S. and M.S degrees
in agribusiness from Southern Illinois University
and a Certificate in Advanced Studies Degree in
Organization Development from Loyola University
in Chicago. He has extensive experience in the
corporate world, having worked with several
Fortune 500 organizations, and also worked with
Lutheran Life Communities, a not-for-profit healthcare firm, as director of training. His work roles
have included employee training, sales training
and development, leadership and management
development, organization development, career
development and project management.
Tapping into the Power of Grammy:
Intergenerational Engagement that Promotes
School Readiness
Managing Conflict: Best Practices
Stomping Around and Making Faces: Aiding
Emotional Development through Modeling and
Cooperative Play
Emotional learning begins at birth and continues
through adulthood. In this playful, interactive
workshop, participants will explore the key
elements of emotional communication using
body language, facial cues and pre-linguistic
verbalizations. Participants will learn a set of
behavior-modeling, emotional-awareness and
emotional-communication games and activities that
can begin at birth and grow with the student as
verbal language skills develop. Participants should
come prepared to get up and move! Presenter will
provide written outlines of all games and activities
so participants can fully engage in the play element
of the workshop without stopping to take notes
along the way.
26
Head Start/Early Head Start Pre-Service Conference
The phenomenon of grandparents raising children
is not new. Today’s grandparent is more involved
in kinship care than ever before. Grandparents
often care for children with little or no preparation
for understanding how they can support their
grandchildren’s abilities to be school ready.
They often lack information about the range of
strategies, support services and information they
can access to fulfill this aspect of their relationship.
Learn more about ways you can support these
dedicated caregivers by providing specific
resources and information on how they can be part
of the team that promotes school readiness for
their grandchildren.
AFTERNOON SESSION 2
Presenter: Juanona Brewster is the director
of early childhood development for the Illinois
Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
She earned graduate degrees from Northwestern
University and the Loyola University of Chicago
School of Law. She advocates on behalf of
vulnerable children and families. She is the mother
of two and the grandmother of five, including a
child with special health-care and education needs.
She is also the project director for Promoting
Resiliency of Trauma Exposed Communities
Together.
Using Story Books in the Teaching of Math
This workshop will use storybooks for developing
the topics of patterns, number, geometry,
measurement and graphing. A brief summary of
research will be included that shows that early
math more than reading predicts success by the
middle grades.
Presenter: Marie Kielty is an educational
consultant specializing in early mathematics.
She is a retired preschool, kindergarten and
primary teacher and math coordinator from the
Chicago Public Schools. She has a master’s degree
from the Erikson Institute. Marie has presented
various workshops at local, state and regional
conferences for the past 30 years. She has served
as a CDA advisor and as a provider of professional
development and consultation in math and science
for three Ounce of Prevention Fund sites.
When Your Child Has a Fever….
There are many misconceptions about fevers/colds
in children, and many of even the most informed
parents are unaware of the true medical facts. This
workshop will discuss different scenarios parents
frequently encounter with their children and the
use or overuse of medications, including antibiotics.
The goal is for attendees to walk away from this
workshop feeling more confident in the decisions
they make in taking care of their children’s health.
Presenter: Nisha Kapadia, M.D., is a Lurie
Children’s pediatric hospitalist at Swedish Covenant
Hospital. She is very interested in community
outreach and making a positive difference in the
Chicago community, especially the urban Chicago
community. Originally from Washington state,
she completed college and medical school in the
Chicago area before heading to Baltimore for her
pediatric residency training. Her love of Chicago
brought her back to the city after she completed
her training, returning to her “adult” home.
#preservice1427
Inspire minds. Change lives.
@theounce will be live tweeting the conference!
Join the conversation using #preservice14
Register online at: theOunce.org/preservice
All attendees must register online. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.
You will receive an email confirmation with your registration details.
McCormick Place is handicap accessible. Please contact [email protected]
for more information or to make special arrangements.
Stay Connected With The Ounce!
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© Ounce of Prevention Fund 2014