2023 Breakout Sessions

Engage in a question and answer session with keynote speaker Takiema Bunche Smith to go deeper into how leaders can create early childhood environments and systems that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming for students and adults of all identities. Discuss the inevitable challenges of doing this work, and brainstorm some solutions while in community with other leaders.

Become more aware of the body’s feel-good chemicals (aka Joy Juice) while exploring how to release more of your own Joy Juice and the Joy Juice of others. Discover how Conscious Discipline increases Joy Juice through connection and noticing, which builds intrinsic motivation to learn, grow and build healthy relationships with others.
Session B - Handouts

As an educator, it’s normal to have good days and bad days in the classroom. The challenges of the last few years have created stress and threatened to negate the joy that brought of us to this work.  As leaders of primary buildings, we will share ideas on how to help others (and even ourselves!) remember and cultivate the joy that first brought us to work with young children.
Session C - Handouts

Build connections and relationships by creating a community of trust and safety in order to prevent challenging behaviors. Healthy relationships build positive school climate, improve classroom management and create environments where all students feel a sense of belonging. This session will focus on how we use our relationships to co-regulate with dysregulated individuals, support healthy neural development and create environments that engage all learners. We’ll explore methods to build connections and community within the classroom setting.

Join us to explore how to intentionally overcome adversity and build resilience. Positive experiences are critical for healthy emotional development. HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) builds upon the science of strengths-based approaches, using this growing body of knowledge to better understand and support child health and development. Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) drive healthy development and mitigate the long-term effects of adverse ones (ACEs). Our vision is a world that recognizes, honors and fosters positive experiences as foundational to mental health and well-being. 

The session will highlight several ways that children of Color are not faring well in early childhood settings and illuminate ways educators can work toward ensuring that they thrive and flourish in schools. Five types of daily violence/traumas that children of Color experience in and beyond Preschools are described against the ethical backdrop, First Do No Harm (Boutte, 2008). Evoking the Maasai legend that asks, How are the children? the presenter will share case studies of the experiences of preschoolers of Color, will provide an overview of five types of school violence (physical, symbolic, linguistic,  curricular/pedagogical, and systemic), and will offer ways to interrupt violence by infusing revolutionary love in early childhood classrooms.

Facilitators: Maya Dorsey, Director of K-12 Initiatives, Learn to Earn Dayton; Erika Pimentel, Family & Community Engagement Coordinator, Learn to Earn Dayton; Jane McGee-Rafal, Dayton Foundation Del Mar Encore Fellow, Learn to Earn Dayton; Saundra K. Collie, Dayton Foundation Del Mar Encore Fellow, Learn to Earn Dayton

This session will engage preschool and early grade teachers and paraprofessionals in a conversation on the intersection of community and early literacy proficiency. We will gather input from participants and demonstrate why it is critical for students to read proficiently before third grade. Developing early readers requires more than schools and teachers; it takes a village of stakeholders. We will provide methods for families to be part of their child’s literacy journey, and participants will learn of our partnership with Trotwood-Madison City Schools and their exciting Mighty Rams classroom. We will share information about the new Miami Valley Early Grade Literacy Collaborative. The Collaborative is developing a toolkit that can be used by families to promote literacy at home. 

This session will introduce action steps being taken by Preschool Promise to make learning environments Black-boy inclusive. These strategies include a Black male volunteer initiative, equity training and a high school pathway for potential early childhood educators. 

Do you believe you deserve ultimate happiness and want to be in awe of life? Join this session and obtain the tools to embark on a personal journey where you will gain clarity, learn to set free your authentic self and allow joy to become your default. The resources gained will support you in shining the light you were given, the light that this world so desperately needs. Join us in becoming a constant seeker of joy. 

Nature provides a powerful learning environment for children and adults alike. We will discuss how to use the great outdoors to be present with one another and create connected learning communities. We will review ways to work on observation and inquiry with young children in outdoor spaces. An overview of Five Rivers MetroParks resources will be shared. Please bring your coat to the session; part of it will occur outside the building.
Session J - Handouts

Participants will get the opportunity to learn about the My Music Education App program, with and without technology. This interactive session will provide a chance for attendees to explore a restorative, creative music experience that includes circle conversations, movement and chants. We will then experience the app technology designed for non-musicians to connect with children who love music.

Learn more about using books to create a sense of belonging and joy in your learning environment. We will take a look at a number of books that are inclusive, feature diverse characters (diversity in race, religion, abilities, gender, etc.), and are appropriate for children birth through 3rd grade. We will discuss ways to use those books to cultivate community through shared reading experiences, and how to make real world connections using stories. The session will end with a brief overview of resources and services Dayton Metro Library can provide to help you.
Session L - Handouts

This session will help participants recognize stress in children and learn how to promote resiliency and healthy coping skills for ourselves and children, in safe, nurturing and stable classrooms and relationships. We will work to improve the knowledge and skills of teachers and staff and build support for caregivers, children and families. Attendees will gain skills to ground and connect the whole body, with strategies to instill calm, relaxing skills in young children.
Session M - Handout

In this fun-filled session, participants will learn about the importance of connection through positive relationship-building activities. Screen time is helping us connect, yet is also undermining our ability to generate JOY, a sense of belonging in the moment and leaves us longing for more. We are all longing for belonging and crave activities that give us the dopamine-fueled sense of excitement and enthusiasm that comes through true positive connections. We will learn how to create these experiences using the three elements that produce real, true fun. This session, led by a team of early childhood mental health professionals, will highlight the ways you can be the catalyst to generate authentic JOY, because there is  Just One You and you have the power to bring the fun into all your relationships!
Session N - Handouts

Learning begins at birth, but what does play look like for our youngest learners? This session will focus on creating invitations for play for infants and toddlers, rethinking how we create meaningful moments throughout our days. We will focus on serve-and-return interactions through play, routines and relationships.