EPIC 2025: Full Schedule

PD For Teachers, By Teachers. A collaborative partnership of East Central, Hinckley-Finlayson, Mora, and Pine City Schools.

Add sessions to your personal schedule to register your attendance (Check-In).

10:00am CST

Breaking Things Down into Bite-sized Pieces

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

2205

How to engage hesitant learners and sophisticated learners at the same time---

Speakers

Laura Yost Manthey

Pine County Community Culture Coach

Currently Pine County Community Culture Coach Secondary English teacher for 37 years. Retired from Minneapolis Public Schools. Experience teaching in the American Indian Community for over 25 years. Quaker Education experience: Scattergood Friends School and Friends School of Minnesota... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
2205

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

10:00am CST

Changing the Narrative

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

1206

Talking about mental health and suicide can be an uncomfortable and uncertain topic that can bring up different feelings, beliefs, and attitudes for everyone. Changing the Narrative on Mental Health and Suicide, empowers conversations around language and providing support, in the hopes to change perceptions of mental health towards hope and resilience.

Speakers

Brianne McClellan

East Central Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinator

Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinator for Pine, Isanti, Chisago, Kanabec, & Mille Lacs Counties

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
1206

Relicensure, Suicide Prevention

10:00am CST

Proficiency-based grading round table discussion

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

1215

In this session, we will discuss how we approach proficiency in our classrooms and how it guides our curriculum and assessment. Each participant will get the chance to share thoughts and ideas regarding how to effectively teach proficiency based lessons and assess student progress in the world language classroom.

Speakers

Kay Edberg

Spanish teacher, Mora Schools

Kay Edberg is a Spanish teacher at Mora High School. She has studied in Mexico and Spain and has traveled extensively around the Spanish speaking world. This year, she is working to implement more proficiency-based grading in her classroom.

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
1215

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

10:00am CST

The “Let’s Grow” Experience

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

1216

Let’s Grow offers free (grant funded) materials that encourage young people to try new things, grow in confidence and become independent with parent permission and educator encouragement. In this session, we will discuss rational, brainstorm how this could fit in big or small ways into our curriculum , and look at some of the free materials together.

Speakers

Amanda Stenberg

German Teacher, Mora Schools

I’ve taught German at Mora HS for 20 years. I care about teaching the whole child, growth and connection.

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
1216

Relicensure, Children's Mental Health

10:00am CST

Using "Un-grading" and a Classroom Constitution to create Autonomy.

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

1232

Classroom management techniques such as Classroom Constitutions, "Un-grading" using Can-do Statements and a SEL-style of positive affirmations will be covered in this session. Some of the examples will be in German, but the presentation will be in English. The end of the session I will demonstrate how I do my Friday Affirmations with the group.

Speakers

Lisa Hodena

German Teacher, Hinckley-Finlayson Schools

Lisa Hodena is an ITV German teacher since 2001 in HFHS. Her classroom style is ever evolving to make the ITV and language learning experience a relevant and autonomous experience for her students. When she is not dropping fun educational jargon in her bio, she loves to garden and... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
1232

Relicensure, Positive Behavior Intervention Systems

11:00am CST

Becoming Confident with Sound Walls

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

1208

This session will support teachers on how to get started with having a sound wall in their classroom and using it for explicit instruction. Strategies for explicit instruction based on the Science of Reading practices will be shared for classroom use.

Speakers

Deanna Jahnz

Peer Coach, Pine City Schools

I am currently a peer coach at Pine City Elementary with a focus on literacy instruction. I have been a LETRS facilitator for three years and really enjoy supporting teachers in their learning of facilitating literacy. I have also worked with CAREI over the past few years to create... Read More →

Becoming Confident with Sound Walls pdf

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
1208

Relicensure, Reading Preparation

11:00am CST

Equity in Action Starts with You!

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

2205

Dive into real-world scenarios to explore how equity and diversity shape educational experiences. Using case studies, this session invites participants to reflect on their own frames of reference and consider their impact on students, families, and school communities. Participants will engage in meaningful dialogue about challenges related to issues of diversity and leave with new insights and actionable ideas to promote inclusion and equity in their teaching practice.

Speakers

Jackie Stevens

English Teacher; Staff Development Coordinator, Mora Schools

Dr. Jackie Stevens is an English teacher at Mora High School. She also serves as an instructional coach and the district staff development coordinator. She is the knowledge bowl coach, student council co-advisor, and prom co-advisor. Her interests include professional development... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
2205

Relicensure, Cultural Competency

11:00am CST

Hexagonal Thinking

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

2213

Hexagonal thinking is a simple method that yields big critical thinking results. Students take a set of hexagons with varied terms, concepts, themes, real-world connections, etc. that relate to your current unit of study, and then link them together into an interconnected web. In pairs, groups, or even alone, they must use their critical thinking skills to decide which hexagons link best to which others.

Speakers

Kevin Nolt

Mora Schools

I am a high school business teacher in Mora and have been teaching for 13 years. I currently, teach Accounting, Economics, Marketing, and Personal Finance 1/2. I have coached numerous sports at Mora and have been an instructional coach. Besides being involved in school activities... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
2213

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

11:00am CST

High Frequency Vocabulary Instruction

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

2207

We will look at how to incorporate high frequency and academic vocabulary in our instruction.

Speakers

John Atella

Hinckley-Finlayson Schools

John Atella has experience teaching writing at the secondary and post-secondary levels in China, Japan, and the US. One of his many passions is teaching sentence combining (compound, complex, and compound complex sentences) in meaningful contexts. When not dreaming of new ways to... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
2207

Relicensure, English Language Learners

11:00am CST

PBIS - Relicensure

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

2223

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports will help create safe, consistent, reliable research based tools for effective and efficient supports for students and staff.

Speakers

Anna Black-Asmus

Mora Schools

A trainer for the state of Minnesota for 12-13 years - have worked as a paraprofessional, a teacher in general education& special education and as a Special Education Coordinator. Multiple lens approach. Hopefully provide some handy tips to use immediately.

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
2223

Relicensure, Positive Behavior Intervention Systems

11:00am CST

Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) in School Settings: A Suicide Prevention Training

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

1232

Limit of 35 for this session

Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help (QPR, 2024)

Speakers

Sarah Ellstrom

Mora Schools

Sarah Ellstrom is a School Counselor for Mora Public Schools, and passionate about empowering others support individuals in crisis.

Jackelyn Bekius

Mora Schools

Jackelyn Bekius is a School Counselor for Mora Public Schools, and is passionate about empowering others support individuals in crisis.

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
1232

Relicensure, Suicide Prevention

11:00am CST

Slow Reveal Graphs

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST

2222

Learn about the new Anchor Standard #1: Data Science in the 2022 Math Standards and using Slow Reveal Graphs (Jenna Laib); an instructional routine to promote sense-making about data. Participants will leave the session with resources and a lesson you could implement in your classroom tomorrow! (Note - the anchor standard starts at Kindergarten and goes to grade 11).

Speakers

Joanne Blake

Elementary Teacher, Unique Learner Coordinator, Pine City Schools

Joanne has been in education for over 30 years. During this time she has been a special education teacher, an ADSIS Teacher, a reading teacher, a classroom teacher and a teacher of the gifted and talented. She is currently one of the math instructional coaches at Pine City Elementary... Read More →

Deb Adams

Pine City Schools

Deb Adams has been in education for 30 years. She has taught second and fourth grade and has also been an ADSIS instructor. She is currently one of the math instructional coaches at Pine City Elementary School.

Monday January 20, 2025 11:00am - 11:50am CST
2222

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

1:00pm CST

Anxiety in Overdrive: Helping Students Regain Control

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

1232

A student is at home sick...again. Meanwhile, another student shuts down and refuses to participate in classroom discussions, a 3rd student spends half of the day in tears, and a 4th student asks to go to the nurse because their stomach hurts every day during math time. While none of these students are outwardly expressing worries, all of these students could be experiencing anxiety. Researchers examining trends in childhood diagnoses from 2016-2020 reported a 29% increase in childhood anxiety (Lebrun-Harris et. al, 2022 LINK). But we don't need research to tell us what we see in our classrooms every day. So what can you do about it?

Please join Jackelyn and Tatum as we discuss common signs and symptoms of childhood anxiety, provide an overview of some basic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skills that have been proven to help combat anxiety, examine trends in anxiety diagnoses and treatment practices, explore strategies to reduce anxiety in your classroom, and provide easy to implement strategies to support anxious students.

Speakers

Tatum Reitter

Mora Schools

Elementary School Counselor at Mora Elementary School and passionate about SEL, helping students to learn how to regulate their emotions, and helping them become the best human they can possibly be!

Jackelyn Bekius

Mora Schools

Jackelyn Bekius is a School Counselor for Mora Public Schools, and is passionate about empowering others support individuals in crisis.

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
1232

Relicensure, Children's Mental Health

1:00pm CST

Exploring Forced Assimilation: Comparing Historical Events through Literature

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

2224

In this session, we’ll look at a unit used to compare Native American boarding schools in the U.S. with Nazi concentration camps to explore themes of forced assimilation, cultural destruction, and dehumanization. We’ll look at how these historical events are represented in literature through "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "A Council of Dolls," along with supplementary nonfiction articles. The session will help connect history with literature and show how the overall unit will end with a comparative essay, encouraging students to analyze these events and their portrayal in fiction.

Speakers

Bailey Harris

Hinckley-Finlayson Schools

8th, 9th, and 10th grade ELA teacher at HFHS.

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
2224

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

1:00pm CST

Learning to be a good relative in Indian Country

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

2205

Learning to be a good relative is all about love, respect and humility. Adding to that being a teacher with specific curriculum demands and an interest in human development, I turned to designing an engaging and friendly, very visual curriculum for my Native American students as a meaningful way of connecting with The American Indian Community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. New to Pine County, I now serve four school districts in the role of community culture coach. So I am back to square one on my life path---staying grounded in the work, turning to design and engagement in a friendly curriculum I call home.

"Learning to be a good relative in Indian Country" is part storytelling, part best practice, part describing the wonderful world of learning to be a good person while being a teacher and an advocate of American Indian youth.

Speakers

Laura Yost Manthey

Pine County Community Culture Coach

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
2205

Relicensure, American Indian Heritage and Contributions

1:00pm CST

Resources for a culturally inclusive classroom

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

1208

Come to this session to gain resources on how you can assess your own cultural bias and what having a culturally inclusive classroom can look like. Be ready to self reflect and look specifically at our own schools.

Speakers

Jennifer McCauley

Career and Technical Education, Mora Schools

Jennifer has been an Agriculture Teacher for 12 years at Mora and loves animals and the outdoors. She has a passion for learning and professional development. The past few years she has been in an AGED IDEAs group (Inclusion, Diversity and equity in Agriculture Education) and wants... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
1208

Relicensure, Cultural Competency

1:00pm CST

TAG+C a Writing Strategy

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

2203

Ever ask a student to write a paragraph and get two words in response? Have no fear, TAG+C is here! A writing strategy created by an EL teacher in Woodbury to help middle school aged new-comers to the country, just learning English, write solid complete paragraphs. This is a great strategy to help ALL students learn to write a proper paragraph or constructed response on their own. (Grades 4-12)

Speakers

Forga Christina

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
2203

Relicensure, English Language Learners

1:00pm CST

Uggg math, to YYYYEEEESSS MATH!

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

2222

I will cover multiple Assistive Technology (AT) resources specifically for math to support students from grades K-12, but the majority of the emphasis will be on higher level math options. There will also be time to explore all of the resources for you to determine what you might be able to integrate into your math world to support all students, not just students with disabilities, and perhaps even integrate it into your math classes.

Speakers

Elizabeth Denzine

Special Education: Specific Learning Disabilities, Mora Schools

Hello All, I'm a math lover, former Elementary Grade level teacher turned Elementary SPED, SLD teacher. I am passionate about utilizing technology effectively and authentically in the classroom to support student success and growth. I am also passionate about exploring Assistive... Read More →

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
2222

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations

1:00pm CST

Understanding Accommodations and modifications: Why, Who, How

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

2223

There are a lot of educators (SPED educators as well) who don't understand the difference between accommodations and modifications because most of the educating staff uses the generic term “modification.” So when they hear “accommodation,” they are like, "Huh? What’s the diff?"
It is important that everyone understands WHY we push students on IEPs into the general education setting before they are fully caught up to their peers and why this requires accommodations and modifications. We will define and explain each, give examples, practice scenarios, and provide a safe, non-judgmental space to ask questions and interact.

Speakers

Deb Bursell

Mora Schools

Deb was a para-educator in Mora for 15 years. She went back to school to get her license in SPED. She has been teaching in Mora for 6 years.

Michaela Carle

Mora Schools

Michaela's journey in education began during her college years at St. Cloud University. She graduated in 2018 with her SPED license, Michaela honed her skills in the Sauk Rapids School District and the St. Cloud School District before bringing her expertise to Mora High School.

Monday January 20, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
2223

Relicensure, Curriculum / Modifications / Accommodations