2022 WCASS Spring Conference May 4-6, 2022 Wilderness Resort, Wisconsin Dells
The conference content is focused on mental health and well-being for students, staff and self. Learning strands include legal considerations, student supports and services, and staff supports. Deepen your knowledge and skills with content experts and practitioners. Click here to learn more about this year's speakers!
Registration is now full! To be put on the waitlist please email [email protected]
Conference Fee | Member: $350 Non-Member: $425 Team of 3 Conference Fee | Members: $900 Non-Members: $1,100 Pre-Conference Session (in addition to conference fee; pre-registration is required) $90
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Overnight Information
Make your reservation today before the block expires
Wilderness Resort | Glacier Canyon Lodge 45 Hillman Road, WI Dells (800) 867-9453 Single: prevailing state rate
Double/Triple/Quad: $109 2 bedroom glacier canyon deluxe: $140 Ask for: 2022 WCASS Conference Leader #772704 Block will expire on 4/8/22
1:00-4:00 Pre-Conference Session: Beyond Survival Mode: A Roadmap to Wellness for Leaders Dr. Jenny Severson Join Dr. Jenny Severson for a deep dive into applying well-being practices in a series of conversations where you connect emotions, “thought life” and leadership. The session will be active and engaging. Then, based on her work with Brené Brown, participants will become a community of learners exploring the BRAVING inventory, which includes boundaries and values clarifications. You'll examine the impact again of “thought life” and be ready to make work place transfer by navigating hard conversations with a renewed perspective and tools. Dr. Adam Saenz will also support this powerful learning. All pre-conference attendees will also receive The Power of a Teach by Dr. Sáenz.
Dr. Jenny Severson, Ed.D. earned her Doctorate at Loyola University in Chicago. She has worked in the field of education for over 25 years as a teacher, school principal and passionate expert on educational psychology. Dr. Severson loves people and producing results. She has worked with educational institutions all over the globe to facilitate best practices in applying neuroscience & neurolinguistics to teaching and learning with deep roots in neurobiology, human development, cognition and psychology. We all benefit from leaders who are emotionally intelligent. Dr. Severson is an author, speaker, and trusted expert on the science of habits, neuroscience, and human development. She is all about positive tiny habits that impact people and the bottom line. Her books ThriveandThe Educator's 180-Day Gratitude Turnaround exemplify her passion for voicing one's story and how gratitude heals and transforms habits.
8:15-9:45 Welcome & Opening Keynote: The Power of a Connection Dr. Adam Sáenz We often talk about the what, the when, the how and the where of what we do. It’s critical, though, for us to stay in touch with the why. Remember? We went into education to make a difference! But is it possible to build the kinds of life- impacting relationships with students and colleagues through a global pandemic? Licensed psychologist Dr. Adam L. Sáenz. answers with a resounding, “Yes!” In this keynote address that was delivered in part as TEDxYale feature, Dr. Saenz presents two case studies that will encourage you by reminding you that that what you do in your role as an educator doesn’t just matter—it matters both deeply and generationally. We in education are uniquely postured to make life- changing impacts in the students with whom we interact every day.
Dr. Adam Sáenz earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Texas A&M University as a United States Department of Education doctoral fellow. He completed clinical training under a fellowship appointment to Harvard Medical School, and he has a post-doctorate in clinical psychology from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Sáenz also earned a Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from Graduate Theological Foundation with residency at Christ Church college of Oxford University. He currently serves as the C.E.O. of the Applied EQ Group, the counseling and assessment clinic he founded in 2003. He also serves as a consulting psychologist in the Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Texas A&M Department of Athletics. Dr. Sáenz has authored multiple titles, including the best-selling, The Power of a Teacher and Relationships That Work. His most recent release, The EQ Intervention, was an Amazon best-seller that won the Independent Publisher Association gold medal in psychology. Dr. Sáenz and his wife, Kim, have been married 26 years, and they have four adult children: Alisa, Mya, Isaiah, and Andrew.
9:45-10:15 Break & Visit Exhibitors Sponsored by: Kompas Care
10:15-11:30 Concurrent Sessions
A. Beyond Survival Mode Dr. Adam Sáenz Each day presents new challenges for educators in the pandemic: student attendance, staff shortages, concerned parents, and the demands of our personal lives can leave us feeling like we’re just living to get through the day (or the hour!). It’s called “survival mode.” While knowing how to live in survival mode is necessary through these times, we do not want it to become our new normal. The good news is that we can make small physical and mental adjustments each day that will keep us from being driven by the chaos of external forces. Learning outcomes include the following:
• Participants will understand the neuropsychology that drives survival mode, including the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. • Participants will recognize the how survival mode erodes the ability to find opportunity. • Participants will gain practical physical and cognitive strategies that can be used daily to reduce the negative impact of survival mode.
B. “You’re the reason my child has failed!” –Supporting Staff When Confronted by Parent Discontent and Anger Christine Hamiel and Kylie Owens, Attolles Law, s.c. This session will focus on legal, as well as practical, approaches for supporting staff after tough interactions with families. Whether it be following a contentious IEP meeting, disciplinary matters, daily behavior issues, or the initiation of truancy proceedings, school staff are put through the ringer. The speakers will explore strategies and legal options for supporting students/families, while focusing on the well-being of your school team to ensure satisfaction and retention.
C. Overview of WI DPI Comprehensive School Mental Health Framework Jess Frain & Liz Krubsack, WI DPI with district partner(s) This session will introduce participants to DPI's updated Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework. The framework provides a vision for advancing health and educational equity in Wisconsin through the implementation of Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems. Participants will gain an accurate understanding of mental health and how we promote wellbeing in schools through a continuum of supports, an overview of the components of a Comprehensive School Mental Health System, and a tool for applying a trauma sensitive lens to mental health work in schools. Participants will walk away with knowledge of several DPI resources that will help their schools and districts improve their school mental health systems.
A. Students are back and masks are coming off! The world of education is back to normal, or is it? Tess O’Brien-Heinzen and Matthew Bell, Boardman and Clark The pandemic has been difficult for children and has had a significant and lasting effect on many students. Even prior to the pandemic, schools were focused on student mental health and how to support students’ needs in school. The pandemic has only increased those needs and the focus is now squarely on this issue, especially in special education. Join Tess O’Brien-Heinzen and Matthew Bell from Boardman and Clark as they discuss how student services teams are uniquely situated to facilitate mental health services and address needs across the school environment. Attendees will be reminded of critical procedural compliance with respect to issues involving mental health including bullying/harassment and self-harm, provided updates on the latest caselaw, and given the opportunity to listen and discuss options and pathways for moving forward in the challenging post-pandemic world.
B. Comprehensive Special Education Evaluations: A Closer Look at Emotional Behavioral Disabilities Tim Peerenboom, WI DPI and Tammy Stowers-Tonn, CESA 5 This session will provide school and district leaders an overview of conducting Comprehensive Special Education Evaluations for students who may have an Emotional Behavioral Disability. Tools and strategies for how LEAs can create and implement systems and practices that assure accurate identification of Emotional Behavioral Disabilities.
C. Using Empowering (and Lesser-Known) Tools To Impact our Mental Health and Well-Being Brittany Meoska, Brittany Meoska Coaching, LLC After over two years of living through a pandemic, many people are struggling. Languishing (the absence of well-being) was the dominant emotion of 2021 and continues to plague folks. We ALL have mental health just like we ALL have physical health, and there are many things that you can do to work toward feeling healthier in both areas. But...where do you begin? And how do you help yourself when you have so many other responsibilities to take care of? In this session, Brittany Meoska shares two impactful, easy-to-learn coaching tools that she uses personally AND with her individual coaching clients. These tools help create clarity of where to focus your time and energy so you can design more meaningful actions that will impact your overall well-being.
2:15-2:45 Visit Exhibitors
2:45-4:00 Concurrent Sessions
A. A Practical Guide on Preventing and Responding to IDEA Complaints, and Legal Considerations for Supporting Mental Health for Staff and Students Buelow, Vetter, Olson, Buikema and Vliet, LLC Attorney Gary Ruesch will lead a panel discussion with Attorneys Renae Aldana, Alana Leffler, Sheila Thobani, Mary Gerbig and Emily Turzinski to discuss top tips for preventing IDEA complaints, including a practical analysis of recent DPI/federal court decisions and effective strategies to improve IEP meeting outcomes, strengthen home/school communication and navigate relationships with parent advocates. They will guide participants through the IDEA complaint process, highlighting effective complaint response strategies that promote lasting resolutions and parent partnerships. Attorney Gary Ruesch will also lead the panel in a high level discussion surrounding mental health issues for staff and students. This discussion will focus on key supports and considerations for staff, implications related to student truancy and attendance, and highlight practice tips under Title IX, Sec. 504 and IDEA.
B. Exclusion, Seclusion, Restraint, Oh My! Tim Peerenboom, Brian Dean, Katie Berg, WI DPI Participants of this session will learn practical strategies to reduce the use of punitive discipline practices such as suspension and expulsion, and seclusion and restraint by replacing them with evidence based practices to support students. Participants will leave this session an understanding of the ways in which punitive discipline practices are not only ineffective, but harmful to students, staff and administrators, and will gain practical strategies for reducing that harm through policy and procedure changes and the implementation of evidence based practices.
C. Inclusive Supports for Student Social Emotional Wellness Through the Pandemic Sara Totten, DeForest SD This interactive session will provide an example of how to engage families and staff in effort to: 1) create conditions for understanding and empathy for student emotions, behavior, and regulation; 2) an understanding of the impact of trauma on student wellness; and, 3) an awareness about inclusionary prevention and intervention in the schools.
4:00-6:00 Networking Reception
Sponsored by: Buelow, Vetter, Olson, Buikema and Vliet, LLC
Friday, May 6, 2022
7:30-8:20 Breakfast
8:30-9:45 Concurrent Sessions
A. Effectively Using Expulsion Abeyance Agreements in Special Education Chad P. Wade, Renning, Lewis & Lacy
School districts are increasingly utilizing expulsion abeyance agreements as an alternative to expulsion hearings. Attorney Chad P. Wade from Renning, Lewis, & Lacy s.c. will present effective strategies for drafting and presenting such agreements. Attorney Wade will also address how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s procedural protections apply to a school district’s decision to offer, implement, and enforce expulsion abeyance agreements.
B. Best Practice Approaches to Truancy Reduction Julie Incitti and Marge Resan, WI DPI The most effective truancy reduction strategies include activities implemented across a continuum of supports within an equitable Multi-Level System of Support (MLSS). In this session we will review important information from Wisconsin Statutes, and dive into best practice considerations. We will consider attendance improvement for students with specialized services. Additionally, we will explore examples from school districts in Wisconsin who have engaged in cross-system collaborations to improve their truancy reduction efforts. After this session, participants will be familiar with Wisconsin statutes and legal implications, will have strategies to infuse into their district’s processes, and will have planned a few next steps towards a more collaborative approach to truancy reduction.
C. A Roadmap for Recognizing and Managing Emotions Dr. Adam Sáenz Since emotions are a powerful driver of behavior, behavior management strategies that do not empower students with emotional literacy will do little to help students gain insight into their behaviors. When we ignore, inhibit, or invalidate emotion, we deny students (and ourselves) the opportunity to learn to appropriately express emotion. Only when we invite emotion can we then instruct emotion. Learning outcomes include the following:
Participants will understand the concept of emotion as energy, a fuel source that drives behaviors.
Participants will learn why only two (of five) possible responses to emotion facilitate emotional literacy.
Participants will understand the five-step roadmap to instructing students how to regulate emotion.
D. Restorative Practices, A Proactive Approach to Supporting Culture and Wellbeing Alissa Darin and Carol Zabel, WISH Center
Restorative Practices in a school setting has emerged as a way to strengthen relationships and promote positive school culture, supporting student and staff Social Emotional Learning, Trauma Sensitive Schools and Equitable Multi-Level Systems of Support. Restorative Practices encourages us to rethink challenging behaviors and reframe our culture of discipline practices to promote inclusion and wellbeing. With a ratio of 80% proactive and 20% responsive strategies used, Restorative Practice aims to create safe spaces so that if conflict or harm occurs, a sense of accountability to the community drives individuals to heal the harm they have caused.
10:00-11:30 Closing Keynote Developing Powerful Connections Through the Stages of Community Dr. Adam Sáenz We may not be uniform—in race, politics, gender, generation, etc.—but we can be unified in love and service. We call that place “community.” We may not agree on everything, but we’ve learned to treat each other with dignity and respect. Our group is a relationally safe environment, and we share a sense of belonging and purpose. This is the place where lives are impacted. Everyone wants to be on this team. We’ll discuss how a group gets there as they travel through pseudo- community, chaos, and emptiness to arrive at community. Learning outcomes include the following:
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the characteristics of each stage of community.
Participants will gain strategies to move the quality of their relationships from State One to Stage Four. These strategies are applicable to every one-on-one or group relationship with peers, colleagues, family, or significant others.
Dr. Adam Sáenz earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Texas A&M University as a United States Department of Education doctoral fellow. He completed clinical training under a fellowship appointment to Harvard Medical School, and he has a post-doctorate in clinical psychology from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Sáenz also earned a Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from Graduate Theological Foundation with residency at Christ Church college of Oxford University. He currently serves as the C.E.O. of the Applied EQ Group, the counseling and assessment clinic he founded in 2003. He also serves as a consulting psychologist in the Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Texas A&M Department of Athletics. Dr. Sáenz has authored multiple titles, including the best-selling, The Power of a Teacher and Relationships That Work. His most recent release, The EQ Intervention, was an Amazon best-seller that won the Independent Publisher Association gold medal in psychology. Dr. Sáenz and his wife, Kim, have been married 26 years, and they have four adult children: Alisa, Mya, Isaiah, and Andrew.