AUSTIN—More than 4,000 Texas school district leaders, educators and service providers will gather Jan. 27-30 at the Austin Convention Center for the 2019 Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) Midwinter Conference. The annual conference offers unparalleled professional development and learning opportunities for school leaders and leadership teams.
General session speakers:
- Sean Covey is a bestselling author and president of FranklinCovey Education. In his keynote, “Transformational Results: The 4 Disciplines of Execution,” Covey will share how thousands of school administrators around the globe are achieving transformational results in the midst of a daily whirlwind of priorities. (3:30 p.m., Mon., Jan. 28, Exhibit Hall 5).
- Jaime Casap, chief education evangelist at Google, will focus his keynote presentation on the need for a culture of innovation and iteration in our schools so that we may build new learning models supported and enabled by technology to foster student-focused learning. (3:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 29, Exhibit Hall 5).
- Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, who heads the Texas Education Agency (TEA), will highlight some of the many examples of effective instructional leadership in Texas schools, while sharing the work TEA is doing to help support the work school systems are engaged in to improve instructional quality for all students. (9:45 a.m., Wed., Jan. 30, Exhibit Hall).
Other conference highlights:
- The Tomlinson Leadership Institute, partnering with Deloitte University, will conduct a preconference workshop featuring a panel that will include LaDainian Tomlinson, founder of Team America and the 2006 NFL MVP. Concepts discussed include the science of teamwork, creating a culture of inclusion and innovation, and more. (1-5 p.m., Sun., Jan. 28, Austin Convention Center Room 12A)
- The TASA/TASB Exhibit of School Architecture (Exhibit Hall 4) will showcase new and renovated Texas schools and celebrate excellence in planning and design of the learning environment.On display will be projects awarded Stars of Distinction, including the
two recently announced winners of the Caudill Award: Houston and Manor ISDs. - DLR Group will host a Student Innovation Challenge in the conference exhibit hall in which teams of students from Allen, Elgin, Lubbock-Cooper and Tomball ISDs will be provided a “big idea” and an “essential question” that will lead them into asking more questions, investigating and solving challenges with the help of conference attendees. (work sessions in Exhibit Hall 4 Booth 158: 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Mon., Jan. 28, and 8 a.m.-noon, Tues., Jan. 29; student presentations: 1-2 p.m., Tues., Jan. 29, Austin Convention Center Room 12A)
- Thought Leaders will speak on topics including community-based accountability, literacy and early reading skills, digital learning, cybersafety, STEM, organizational transformation, innovation, transformational leadership, at-risk students, school safety and more.
- The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will host a free, one-day conference called Learning Roundtable: Building a Stronger Texas – Acting on the Long-Range Plan for Public Education in conjunction with the TASA Midwinter Conference. (8:30 a.m.-3:50 p.m., Wed., Jan. 30, Austin Convention Center, Fourth Floor)
- Recognized during the first general session (3:30 p.m., Mon., Jan. 28, Exhibit Hall 5):
- Finalist for 2019 AASA National Superintendent of the Year Brian Woods of Northside ISD (also the Texas Association of School Boards’ 2018 Superintendent of the Year)
- TASA’s 2019 Honorary Life Members (members retiring this year who have demonstrated extraordinary devotion to education and to the association)
- Marney Doepken of Clear Creek ISD and Courtney Jerkins of Midway ISD (Region 12) —recipients of the 2019 Johnny L. Veselka Scholarship for doctoral students in educational leadership programs
- Recognized during the second general session (3:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 29, Exhibit Hall 5):
- Jose Espinoza, Socorro ISD superintendent, recipient of the Texas K-12 CTO Council’s Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award
- Jeff Wheatcraft, 2019 Texas Teacher of the Year (and Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year) and Rhonda Peña, 2019 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year
- Other outstanding Texas educators
Additional information:
TASA Midwinter Conference website
TASA Midwinter Conference mobile app
TASA Midwinter Conference program
Twitter:
#TASA19
#InspiringLeaders
@tasanet
Note: Media badges are required for entry to all Midwinter Conference activities. Stop by the VIP registration desk in the Atrium on Level 1 of the Austin Convention Center to sign in and receive a badge. Please be prepared to present your press credential or press ID that clearly shows your media affiliation and position. Without verification, you will be required to pay the full, non-member registration fee to access the conference.
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