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2019 Annual Conference

Board members can earn All E’s during 2019 Annual Conference

Kentucky School Advocate
January 2019

By Matt McCarty
Staff writer

All A’s have always been the highest benchmark in education, but at the 2019 KSBA Annual Conference school board members will be focusing on All E’s.

“Kentucky School Boards: Educate. Equip. Empower.” is the theme for the 83rd Annual Conference, and this year’s keynote speakers embody those traits.

Educate
Tim Garchow, executive director of the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA), will be the Opening Session speaker.

“Tim will educate attendees on the importance of determination, drive and the will to succeed by sharing the story of his journey through public education and point out the role of school boards in making the journey successful. While marking key milestones along the way, he will show how access to great staff in public schools propelled him from significant hardship to the stage,” said Laura Cole, KSBA’s director of Board Team Development

Garchow spent time as a special education, sixth-grade and science teacher in multiple school districts, and served two years as a principal and four years as superintendent in Washington’s Southside School District. He then served as the superintendent of the Rainier School District for six years before joining WSSDA.

Achievement for all students improved significantly during Garchow’s tenure at Rainier where he focused on recruiting, mentoring and keeping great teachers, as well as developing strong relations with the school board.

Garchow implemented a schoolhouse model with expenditures tied to the overall mission and vision. The district also concentrated on internal controls and financial responsibility. Garchow made it his priority to strengthen ties with local legislators and other leaders.

Equip
Back by popular demand in 2019 is Plenary Session speaker Alex Sheen, who captivated attendees at the 2018 conference.

“Alex will equip board members with the knowledge of how powerful it is to honor commitment by inspiring them to keep their promises,” Cole said. “After the rave reviews about Alex Sheen’s session at the 2018 Annual Conference, it only made sense to bring him back so more board members could hear his powerful and motivating message on the importance of something as simple as keeping your promises.”

Sheen is the founder of because I said I would, a social movement and nonprofit dedicated to bettering humanity through promises made and kept. Sparked by the loss of his father, Sheen and his organization send “promise cards” to anyone anywhere in the world at no cost.

Sheen truly honors commitment. He once walked over 240 miles across the entire state of Ohio in 10 days to fulfill a promise. In just two years, because I said I would has sent more than 9.81 million promise cards to more than 153 countries. His charitable projects and awareness campaigns have been featured on national television and major daily newspapers.

Since his appearance at last year’s Annual Conference, Sheen has spoken at Marshall County Schools and Eminence Independent. At the Annual Conference, attendees will be encouraged to write their own promises on a banner.

If you did not hear Sheen’s speech last year, or if you want a refresher, read about it at here.

Empower
Jim Mahoney, founder of RedBrick Hill, LLC, an educational consulting organization, will be Sunday’s Brunch Session speaker. Mahoney is a longtime educator and entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to bettering educational opportunities for all students. He has served as a superintendent, principal and teacher, as well as an adjunct professor at several Ohio universities.

“Jim will empower board members as he shares strategies for becoming a magic dragon – a selfless leader who gives what he/she expects in return,” Cole said. “With an emphasis on the power of communication, cooperation, change, compassion and commitment, Jim will share powerful stories and strategies that can be applied to anyone serving in a leadership role.”

In 2001, Mahoney joined Battelle for Kids as the organization’s first executive director. Under his leadership, Battelle for Kids grew into a national non-profit that partners with school districts, state departments of education, business and philanthropic organizations to advance educational equity and opportunity for all students. This work has impacted more than six million students and more than 400,000 educators nationwide.

In addition to giving presentations throughout the U.S., Canada, Ireland and China, Mahoney co-authored the book, “Data-Driven Decisions and School Leadership: Best Practices for School Improvement.”

Extras
• As always, board members can get a jumpstart on their training requirements for the year with a multitude of opportunities for all mandated topics, including ethics, finance, superintendent evaluation and charter authorizer training.

“Board members will be required to have 12 hours of charter authorizer training by the end of the year, so it is critical to take advantage of the available opportunities at annual conference,” Cole said. “We have worked with KDE to have several courses that offer dual training credit.”

• KSBA will offer pre-conference workshops on the Friday morning before the conference. One workshop, All Together Now, allows members to receive one hour of training in each of the mandated topics of ethics, finance and superintendent evaluation.

• Chad Mills of the Kentucky State Police will share the updated and revamped Active Shooter Program for schools during a session.

• There will be many other exciting sessions offered this year. Look for your registration brochure in the mail in the coming weeks for more information on all sessions and how to register.