KSBA's 84th Annual Conference
Education in Focus: Vision 2020
Kentucky School Advocate
January 2020
Staff report
Now that the calendar has turned, it’s a good time for boards and districts to reflect and look forward. KSBA’s 84th Annual Conference – “Education in Focus: Vision 2020” – will do both with three dynamic general sessions.
Friday’s Opening Session will discuss the importance of branding as KSBA unveils its new brand. Saturday’s Lunch/Plenary Session will look back at the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 while discussing how those lessons can drive the next 30 years of public education. Sunday’s Brunch Session will focus on empowering education leaders to create positive change within their schools.
“We wanted this year’s conference to have a forward-looking focus to reflect our Vision 2020 theme and we think our general sessions will help our members to bring ‘Education in Focus’ as we enter a new decade,” said Laura Cole, KSBA’s director of board team development. “We are particularly excited for the panel discussion on KERA and think it will be beneficial for our members to revisit the importance of that legislation as we continue to move public education forward.”
In addition to the three general sessions, this year’s conference, which will be held Feb. 21-23 at the Galt House in Louisville, will offer members a variety of breakout sessions, including all the mandated topics.
New look for KSBA
The 2020 conference will serve as the launch of KSBA’s much-anticipated rebrand. KSBA will unveil a new logo, colors and tagline. To help commemorate this milestone, a generous portion of Friday’s Opening Session will be devoted to the importance of maintaining a positive brand image – as an association, a district and an individual.
From beginning to end, the conference will celebrate KSBA’s new look as one small part of our promising future.
“KSBA’s rebrand launch at annual conference presents a perfect opportunity for us to discuss the value of brand image,” said Josh Shoulta, KSBA’s director of communications. “Board members, through their words and actions, shape public perceptions of themselves and, by extension, their districts. Serving as a mindful brand ambassador can make all the difference in improving the culture within a school system.”
30 years of KERA
Saturday’s look back at KERA will feature a bipartisan panel during lunch of two former legislative leaders who supported the bill and helped to monitor and guide its implementation – David Williams, former Senate President, and David Karem, former Senate Majority Leader and current state board of education chairman. KET’s Renee Shaw will lead the discussion. As we look back a generation ago to the transformative reform legislation, which changed everything about public education in our Commonwealth, few people were more at the forefront of those developments than Karem and Williams.
“For the vast majority of local board members who were not in service in 1990, or not even out of school yet themselves, hearing their perspectives as to what things were like before KERA, how the bill was formulated and what they feel were its triumphs and shortfalls, will be extremely beneficial as we renew ourselves for the next 30 years of educational improvement,” said Eric Kennedy, KSBA’s director of advocacy. “We are honored to have the opportunity to learn firsthand from these elder statesmen about that historic legislation still guiding our work today.”
Empower leaders to change lives
During the summer of 2013, Jessica Lawrence completed a 23-year dream of making a solo bicycle ride more than 4,000 miles across the country.
During Sunday’s Brunch Session, Lawrence will share the extraordinary journey of preparing and fulfilling a major life goal and will relate her experience to key lessons that empower leaders to create positive change within the public health and education sectors.
She motivates her audiences to create personal calls to action and has her participants up and moving throughout the presentation to create an atmosphere that welcomes movement, connection and change. In sharing her story, Lawrence hopes to inspire, give a voice to audience members’ own personal and professional journeys, and dare them to do something extraordinary to create lasting change.
Banners needed
District involvement is at the heart of what makes KSBA events successful and, to that end, each school district is invited to design one of the banners that will line the halls of the conference. KSBA asks districts to create the banner as part of a student learning activity. The 32 x 63 ½ inch vertical banners must identify the school district and depict the conference theme. Banners must be received to KSBA by Feb. 20 and will be returned to the district by the end of March.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 800-372-2962.