Featured Speakers
Thursday's Featured Speaker:
Rachel Wagner, MSW
Rachel received her Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Sociology from Ithaca College and received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Albany. Rachel is a Lead National Trainer and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist for the Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC). She is the author of FLIP IT! Transforming Challenging Behavior. She is also the co-author of Your Journey Together: Building the Resilience of Children and Families, and the Devereux Resilient Leadership Survey (DERLS). Rachel travels the country speaking to groups on topics related to social-emotional health and resilience.
Rachel began her career as a preschool teacher and then worked as a teacher and counselor at a therapeutic preschool. She also served as an Early Childhood Mental Health Coordinator and Consultant for several Head Start programs. Later in her career, Rachel began one of New York’s first early childhood mental health consultation services.
In her work at DCRC, Rachel enjoys a variety of responsibilities including adult learning design, live and web-based professional development, resilience resource creation, technical assistance, and long distance reflective supervision to groups and individuals providing early childhood mental health consultation, coaching and leadership services. Rachel embodies the characteristics of a great reflective practitioner as she helps others explore the emotional content of their work in order to grow and improve their practices and confidence. She is also endorsed by the MI-AIMH to provide reflective supervision for applicants applying for Endorsement® for Early Childhood Family Specialist (II) – both Bachelors and Masters-prepared applicants. Rachel currently resides in the Syracuse, NY area with her family. She is a passionate speaker, a dedicated listener and an advocate for children who communicate in unique ways.
Title:
Fill Your Pitcher Before You Pour! Promoting Adult Resilience.
Description:
Many of us wake up every day committed to supporting the resilience of children and families, but over the course of the past year, we have learned that we cannot give what we do not have. Adult resilience and children’s well-being are deeply connected. Resilience is defined as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” A resilient individual experiences challenges, but has learned the skills, habits, and behaviors to buffer these risks and move forward. In this session, participants will learn about four research-based areas that are essential for adult resilience: (1) Healthy relationships; (2) Self-regulation; (3) Initiative, and (4) Internal Beliefs. These four areas of resilience (called protective factors) are examined and participants will walk away with real strategies to fill their pitcher before they pour.
Friday's Featured Speaker:
Dr. Rosemarie Allen
Rosemarie Allen has served as a leader in early childhood education for nearly 40 years. Her life's work is centered on ensuring children have access to high-quality early childhood programs that are developmentally and culturally appropriate. She is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her classes are focused on ensuring teachers are aware of how issues of equity, privilege, and power impact teaching practices. Rosemarie has served in directorship roles with the Colorado Department of Human Services where she was responsible for the State’s child care licensing program, the federal child care assistance program, the redesign of the State’s quality rating and improvement system, the implementation of the State’s professional development plan, and assisted in the creation of Colorado’s early learning guidelines. Rosemarie is a respected keynote speaker and has the distinct honor of being appointed as a “Global Leader” to represent the United States at World Conferences across the globe.
Dr. Allen’s non-profit Institute for Racial Equity & Excellence (IREE) serves as the lead agency for ensuring equity in educational practices throughout the nation. IREE monitors and licenses child care centers using a model she created, “Culturally Responsive Community-Based Licensing”. Rosemarie also served on President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” (MBK) initiative, Early Childhood Task Force. In that role, she was the national expert on implicit bias and culturally responsive practices, speaking at conferences across the country. She also serves as a contractor for the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations focusing on equity, implicit bias, and culturally responsive practices in the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children.
Rosemarie earned her B. A. from California State University, Master’s of Education from Lesley University, and a Doctorate Degree in Leadership for Equity in Education from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Title:
The Intersection of Race, Culture, and Ability: Addressing the Needs of All Children.
Description:
This training will engage participants in discussions related to key social justice and equity issues impacting how we lead, serve, and interact with others. Implicit bias, how it manifests in environments serving children with special needs including autism and related disorders, and the concept of learning loss versus learning gains will be presented. Anti-bias/Anti-Racist strategies will be offered to address racial equity in environments serving children with autism and related disorders.