Save the date for this years Educators’ Symposium on July 18th & 19th. We hope you’ll join us for keynotes, panel discussions and interactive mingling around topics like supporting mental health in classrooms, music and disability, and Fred Rogers’ legacy in practice today. Registration and fees will be required to attend.
At our first annual Educators’ Symposium in 2021, 175 attendees from 33 states and 5 countries joined from many different contexts including early childhood, K-12 education, families, community organizations, administration/ leadership, higher education, and informal learning. We hope to see you this year!
See the two day schedule below!
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10:00-10:15 A.M. Opening Remarks
Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director, Fred Rogers Institute
10:15-11:30 A.M. Opening Keynote
Dr. Ivan Lamourt
11:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. Break
12:30 P.M. - 1:30 P.M. Mental Health Panel
Moderated by Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director, Fred Rogers Institute
Panelists
Children bring their full selves to their classrooms and out-of-school activities, including their questions and worries about the world and their grief and anxiety when they experience loss or difficult change in their lives. Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director at the Fred Rogers Institute, will lead a discussion with a panel of professionals working in spaces that support the mental health and well-being of children and youth. Hear from clinical therapists and school-based mental health professionals about tangible and practical ways to be a support to children in your classrooms and programs facing difficult moments.
1:30 P.M. - 1:55 P.M. Meet Your Neighbors: A Session for Mingling OR Episode Watch
Join us for some interactive mingling to meet your neighbors at the Educators’ Symposium. This will be an opportunity to make some quick contacts with other like-minded educators in attendance. Or, perhaps you’d like to watch an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for some inspiration. The choice is yours!
1:55 P.M. - 2:15 P.M. Break
2:15 P.M. - 3:15 P.M. ParentChild+ Providing Equal Possibilities from the Start with Two-Models
Malkia Singleton, Pennsylvania State Director, Parent Child +
For over 50 years, ParentChild+’s intensive one-on-one home visiting model has been providing families in historically marginalized communities with knowledge, skills, and materials to build school readiness in their homes. During this session ParentChild+’s best practices on engaging, supporting, and building school readiness through home visiting with very diverse families, including native born and immigrant, will be shared. Additionally, ParentChild+ has adapted their one-on-one model to extend similar supports to a diverse array of family child care settings. While family child care is a commonly accessed option for families in under-resourced communities, it also often lacks the resources to support early development and school readiness. During this session, participants will discuss challenges that the family child care sector is facing locally and nationally. Learn more about ParentChild+’s unique approach to professional development for home-based child care providers.
3:15 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. Closing Remarks
Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director, Fred Rogers Institute
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10:00-10:15 A.M. Opening Remarks
Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director, Fred Rogers Institute
10:15-11:30 A.M. Educators’ Neighborhood Inquiry Educators Discussion
Emily Uhrin, Archivist, Fred Rogers Institute
As part of this year’s Educators’ Neighborhood cohort, five Inquiry Educators have studied in the Fred Rogers Archive according to individual research questions related to their practice. Emily Uhrin will lead the Inquiry Educators in a discussion about the group’s collective understanding of how Fred Rogers' philosophies were consistent in his work and personal life. Symposium attendees will then have the opportunity to choose a breakout room with an Inquiry Educator who will present individually from his or her unique perspective and research.
Inquiry Educators’ Breakout Sessions
11:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. Break
12:30 P.M. - 1:30 P.M. It’s You I Like: Music and Disability in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
Amanda Draper, Assistant Professor of Music Education at Indiana University, Gretsch Fellow in Children’s Music
Amanda Draper is the 2022-2023 Gretsch Music Fellow in Children’s Music. She has been exploring the work and musical legacy of Fred Rogers to highlight the ways in which he celebrated competence and ability. In her own research and practice, she has observed how a focus on children’s strengths in their musical experiences can impact beliefs about ability more broadly. In this presentation, Amanda will share some of the emergent findings from her archival work examining the intentional ways Fred Rogers approached honoring disability and difference and how music played a role in that process. Through this work, she hopes to bring attention to ways educators and caregivers may utilize musical participation as a conduit in helping children to be accepting of one another and see each for their capabilities and contributions rather than deficits and disabilities.
1:30 P.M. - 1:55 P.M. Meet Your Neighbors: A Session for Mingling OR Episode Watch
Join us for some interactive mingling to meet your neighbors at the Educators’ Symposium. This will be an opportunity to make some quick contacts with other like-minded educators in attendance. Or, perhaps you’d like to watch an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for some inspiration. The choice is yours!
1:55 P.M. - 2:15 P.M. Break
2:15 P.M. - 3:15 P.M. The ABCs of FRP (Fred Rogers Productions)
Mallory Mbalia, Director of Learning and Education, Fred Rogers Productions
In this session, Mallory Mbalia, Director of Learning and Education at Fred Rogers Productions, will share how the production company’s series carry Fred Rogers’ legacy forward in new and innovative ways. She will highlight each of FRP’s current shows, their learning goals, and their intentionality. Mallory will also showcase clips and the various resources that are available. There will be interactive questions and lots of joy integration and music. Enjoy learning about what is happening at Fred Rogers Productions and the new ways in which the organization continues to center its work around the needs of children and families.
3:15 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. Closing Remarks
Dr. Dana Winters, Executive Director, Fred Rogers Institute
Located at our office at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, the Exhibit displays special memorabilia and history about Fred’s life and work.