November 18, the Southeastern Board of Cooperative Educational Services (SE BOCES) and Lamar Community College hosted their annual Fall Conference for area educators.  This year’s conference was powered by Share Fair Nation, a nationwide organization providing professional development for educators, by educators. 

Approximately 350 attendees from 13 school districts in Colorado attended the event as well as college personnel.

The event kicked off with a keynote address from Dr. Barbara Brady, who has over 30 years of service with public schools including 24 years as a high school counselor.  In her address Friday morning, Dr. Brady remarked on how her life may have been very different if it weren’t for the teachers she had growing up. 

She told the conference attendees about growing up very shy and poor in rural West Virginia, and how her teachers encouraged and empowered her to believe in herself ultimately helping her out of her shell and on her career path as an educator.

In her address, Dr. Brady stressed the importance of providing a support system for all students, including social and emotional support within the classroom.  Through her work, she has helped the state of West Virginia to continually improve graduation rates as well as cut dropout rates in half.

Dr. Brady has served as the state coordinator for school counseling at the West Virginia Department of Education for the past 10 years as well as on various other state and national leadership teams to advance the success and well-being of all students. 

After the keynote address, conference-goes broke up into various session that highlighted new learning trends and expanded on some of the learning practices already being used by teachers in the area. 

Educators could attend three of 24 breakout sessions in instructional practices, knowing your learner, and creative and digital experiences.  These sessions included workshops like Reimagining Your Classroom Space and Craft; Game On: Exploring the World of Game Based Learning; and More than Sad: Prevention for Teachers and Other School Personnel, to name just a few.

Many presenters for the conference came from Share Fair Nation with additional presenters from other school districts and the Colorado Department of Education.

The SE BOCES Fall Conference is held every other year with a smaller version offered in each odd year. 

For more information regarding future conferences, contact Del Chase, LCC’s Concurrent Enrollment Coordinator, at 719.336.1514 or del.chase@lamarcc.edu.