Since our Early Education and Elementary Teachers have a desire to learn more about meeting the individual needs of every student, they were more than excited to take full advantage of the Reignite Conference in Lancaster, PA. The many different sessions offered insights into brain development, signs of distress, connecting concepts to God, Phonological Awareness, creating science rich classrooms, and self-regulation techniques among others. As the result of this amazing conference experience, our teachers are now more equipped with tools to effectively instruct our students into the 21st century.

The day started off with praise and worship, and it was such a beautiful sight to see hundreds of teachers singing and rejoicing as they all praised our almighty God. Afterward, teachers attended additional breakout sessions, enjoyed a delicious lunch, and ended their conference experience with an awesome presentation from curriculum developers Joy Roberts and Julie Widman. SMCA Teachers learned about the 4 Habits of Resilience which are: 1. Recognizing Hardships 2. Remain Hopeful 3. Reframe our Views & 4. Relationships. In addition, our teachers learned that resilience postures us to receive help so that we may be able to continue moving forward. SMCA teachers learned that there are more children in classrooms across the nation who are experiencing emotional distress than ever before. Teachers were able to glean from their session/s how to recognize the signs of distress, and how to help de-escalate any student that may be in distress while increasing a student’s sense of safety and well-being. Overall, the experience was more than beneficial, and it is evident that SMCA Teachers have already implemented what they’ve learned in their classrooms.

~ Dawn Cobbs (Early Education Principal) &
Kristen Horton (Elementary Principal)