For nearly thirty years, Quincy Conference was an anticipated event for educators in the West Central Illinois region and beyond. Each year, thousands of educators attended Quincy Conference to engage in professional learning and to collaborate with fellow educators. In 2015, Quincy Conference was revitalized after a fourteen year hiatus, through the combined effort of the Adams County Academic Success Initiative (ACASI), Regional Office of Education 1 (ROE 1), and Quincy Public Schools (QPS).The revival of the conference would not have been possible without the generous support of local sponsors and our amazing conference attendees and presenters. The two-day professional development conference provides engaging keynote speakers relating to education’s most important topics, a variety of break-out sessions presented by local leaders, and an opportunity to connect with other educators.
The event will be held in Quincy, IL. Quincy sets on the banks of the Mississippi River along the Great River Road. The surroundings are steeped in history and hospitality and infused with the arts and natural beauty. The conference will be held at Quincy’s Senior High School, located off the historic Maine Street. The Quincy Senior High School offers a wide range of event spaces that accommodate our vast offerings. -I’ll get a picture of the venue to you soon.
Thursday, October 10, 2019 - Friday, October 11, 2019 8:00 AM - 3:45 PMCentral America Time
Quincy Senior High School3322 Maine StQuincy, Illinois 62301USA217-277-2080
Quincy Conference 2019
Adam has been a teacher, Principal, Director of Innovation for a district with 35,000 students and enjoys pushing the envelope to always do what's best for kids!Adam was Principal of the Year for his region, a 20 To Watch for the National School Board Association, guest blogger for EdWeek, NAESP magazine, and many other publications. Adam also consults and works with many education companies as a way to improve their product for others!Adam is passionate about technology integration with all educators and a huge advocate of social media and connecting with other educators from across the country. Adam makes it clear that kids come first and has preached the message of Team Kid for many years.He is also the co-founder of Kids Deserve It and the author of Run Like a Pirate.Adam has an amazing wife (Stacy) and two young children (Greta and Tilden) that keep life at home exciting and active. Adam also loves to run and has completed 25 marathons.
Gerry Brooks is principal at an elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky. His educational experience includes six years in the classroom, two years as an intervention specialist, and 12 years as an administrator.He is a passionate public speaker whose focus is on encouraging and helping teachers improve their instructional abilities. He also has a desire to help administrators successfully lead their staff.An encouraging speaker, he has spoken to educational groups all around the nation. His focus is on encouraging teachers to improve their instruction through personal climate and culture strategies. He desires to help administrators focus on how to lead all staff in a positive and constructive manner.His following on social media has developed through humorous videos that focus on real-world educational experiences. He is currently followed on these social media sites by over 500,000 people.
Jake Miller is an edtech and learning enthusiast who hosts the Educational Duct Tape podcast, shares #EduGIFs at JakeMiller.net and works as a Technology Integration Specialist for an Ohio Middle School. Jake also coaches his school’s Robotics & Coding Clubs and helped develop the school's digital fabrication Fab Lab. He has experience as an authorized Google Apps for Education Trainer. He previously taught middle school math, science and a student-paced STEM course, which he co-wrote the curriculum for.
Kenneth C. Williams is a former teacher, assistant principal, and principal. He shares his experience and expertise as a recognized trainer, speaker, coach, and consultant in education and leadership. Skilled in developing productive, student-focused learning environments, Kenneth is former principal of The Learning Academy at E. J. Swint in Jonesboro, Georgia, and Damascus Elementary School in Damascus, Maryland. His firsthand experience with transforming challenged schools translates into action-oriented presentations that inspire hope, create a clear vision, and offer practical strategies to those overwhelmed by challenges.His leadership was crucial to creating a successful professional learning community (PLC) at Damascus, a challenged school that needed a new direction. The results of his efforts can be seen across all grade levels. Over a two-year period, the school’s state standardized test scores revealed a significant increase in the percentage of students performing at proficient and advanced levels. The process of building a PLC at E. J. Swint continues thanks to Kenneth’s work in laying a solid foundation in this underserved community.Kenneth earned a bachelor of arts from Morehouse College, a master of science from the University of Bridgeport, and an administration and supervision certificate from Bowie State University.
Kim Bearden is the cofounder, executive director, and language arts teacher at the highly-acclaimed Ron Clark Academy, an innovative middle school and educator training facility in Atlanta. Over the past nine years, over 36,000 educators from around the world have visited Kim's classroom at the Academy and have attended her workshops to learn better ways to engage students, promote academic rigor, and create a climate and culture that promotes success. Kim was recently honored at the White House for being inducted into to the National Teachers Hall of Fame. She was selected from over 70,000 nominations to be honored as the Disney American Teacher Awards Outstanding Middle School Humanities Teacher. The Milken Family Foundation selected her to receive the Award for Excellence in Education, and she was the chosen from among 7000 teachers as Teacher of the Year in Cobb County, Georgia. Women Works Media Group has named her one of Georgia's Most Powerful and Influential Women.Over the past twenty-nine years, she has been a teacher, instructional lead teacher, curriculum director, school board member, staff development trainer, and middle school principal.Kim's book, Crash Course: The Life Lessons My Students Taught Me, made several bestseller lists, the LA Times Bestseller List being among them.
I wish I could go back to second grade, so Mr. Bonner could be my teacher," were the words Ellen Degeneres released on her social media accounts in early January 2017. This is when she learned of how Mr. Bonner's unique, rap-filled teaching methods encouraged students to go above and beyond on a reading test. Mr. Bonner is an inspiring second grade teacher at North Carolina's South Greenville Elementary, where the majority of students have strenuous familial dynamics and many are homeless. The school is 100% FRL (free and reduced lunch) and is located in an impoverished neighborhood in Eastern North Carolina. In early 2017, Bonner was honored by Ellen DeGeneres in recognition of his positive and innovative educational approaches for children coping with the challenges of poverty. Ellen presented Bonner and his school with technical equipment to assist in the creation of music videos serving as aids to education. Additionally, Wal-Mart presented the school with $25,000, and the Ellen Show created a Go Fund Me site for South Greenville, which has raised over $88,000 for the Title I school. However, the amazing journey did not stop there! One month after he first appeared on her show, Ellen flew Mr. Bonner and his entire second grade class to visit with her again at her studio. Twenty children from Mr. Bonner's class received an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles, California. The students recorded in a professional studio had class on a Hollywood set, and made a professional music video with Ellen, Big Sean, Ice Cube, Migos, Ty Dolla Sign, and Lin Manuel Miranda! Mr.Bonner's class was then awarded another $20,000 from Wal-Mart to assist in creating a more prosperous learning environment.His efforts to change the proficiency learning culture have also captured attention from other national news outlets. NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Flocabulary, the Ashton Kutcher Foundation, and Remind all released stories on how Mr. Bonner is utilizing music as a tool to help counter the negative statistical data concerning children living in poverty. He's had the privilege of speaking at NC State University, the American Association for Blacks in Higher Education, and various other institutions, delivering powerful messages on improving student performance and resilience. With only four years in K-12 education, Mr. Bonner is consistently seen as a visionary leader who strive
Monica’s goal is to transform teachers, leaders, and schools from seeing education as an ordinary job into an extraordinary adventure. Genta feels that every person who walks into a school deserves to love their experience! She is a believer in finding awesome and celebrating life every day! Genta is full of energy, full of passion, and full of love for helping others on their journey in life and learning.She is the author of four books, Game Changers and 180 Days of Awesome, Crushing It For Kids, and The Rooted Classroom, a middle school science teacher, and nationwide educational consultant and motivational speaker. Monica’s TED talk has been viewed by thousands of educators from all over the world. She has earned a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction and a Masters in Educational Leadership & Administration and is a National Board Certified teacher.In her free time, she enjoys long road trips, accomplishing new challenges, eating unique pizzas, and impromptu dance parties. She is pumped to share her life and experiences with you and is confident you will laugh along the way. Monica lives in Illinois and is surrounded by loving friends and family. Find out more at www.monicagenta.com or on social at @MonicaGentaEd
Founder and Lead Equity SpecialistPaul is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He has 20 years of experience helping educators strengthen their equity efforts in classrooms, schools, and districts. He has worked with educators in 48 states and a dozen countries. Paul has published more than 70 articles and has written, co-written, or co-edited twelve books on various aspects of educational equity including Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap and Case Studies on Diversity and Social Justice Education(with Seema Pothini). He is the author of the Multicultural Pavilion, an online compendium of free resources for educators. Paul earned a PhD in Educational Evaluation at the University of Virginia. He was a teacher educator at several universities for 15 years. He is also a published poet, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and the biggest fan of Buster, his cat.
Director of Flip Fest Summer Gymnastics CampDirector at Gymnastics Academy of CharlestonOwner of Coach2Coach Retreats Ambassador for TumblTrakRandy was born and raised in Quincy, Il and graduated from Quincy University with a BS in Physical Education. After owning a gymnastics club for 24 years in Quincy, Randy now directs an Olympic Summer Gymnastics Camp, Speaks Nationally and Internationally on Music, Movement, Heart Rate Monitors, Safe Gymnastics , Special Needs Activities and Class Management. Travelling across the world Randy has worked with many Olympic athletes to underprivileged children in the private and public sector.Randy’s positive and high energy approach while working with students or elite athletes has given him many insights on motivating students of all levels and abilities through movement and music.Randy has been a part of coaching and educating young children and adults for over 36 years. With his fun, lovable attitude, he is the heartbeat of leading group activities. Even if you don’t know Randy before you go to the Quincy Conference, you won’t forget him when you leave.
Robert Jackson began his teaching career over 20 years ago in Indianapolis Public Schools with a No More Excuses teaching approach with all of his students. As an educator, he didn’t allow his students to feel sorry for themselves or let their circumstances define their futures. He set high expectations for his students and expected them to do well. As a Coach, the same rules applied. Those same students went from low performing students to successful Pastors, Lawyers, School Administrators, Teachers, Pharmaceutical Sales Reps, Business Owners, Pro Athletes, Entertainers and more.He has become one of the most sought-after speakers in the country, delivering keynote addresses and workshops to educators, administrators, parents and students. He has delivered 100’s of presentations and has become an expert in teaching cultural diversity, restorative practices, socio emotional learning, working with students who have experienced trauma and how to educate Black and Latino males. His goal is to teach educators and administrators how to use their power more effectively to Educate, Activate and Motivate all Students to be Successes. Mr. Jackson has written and published 5 books and has written articles for ASCD EL Leadership Magazine. He is currently writing a new book for ASCD on building cultural diversity with Black and Latino Males. His “No More Excuses” Curriculum has been featured in publications nationally and Is being utilized in K-12 Schools, Colleges and Universities in the US and Canada. His books include, “Black Men Stand Up”, “A Boys Guide to Manhood”, “A Young Woman’s Guide to Womanhood”, “Put a Stop to Bullying” and “Solutions to Educating Black and Latino Males.”He attended Western Kentucky University where he received his BS Degree in Industrial Technology while lettering 4 years in both Football and Track. After being cut from the NFL Minnesota Vikings he began his teaching career. There he met many young students, both young men and women who had been broken by life changes, dealing with issues much greater than school work. Instead of focusing on the problem, he decided to focus on teaching solutions by helping students cope with their inner pain and navigating more effectively through the school system. He has remained deeply rooted in his commitment to serve his community as a speaker and mentor to many. He has spoken at national conferences including ASCD, SDE, C