The Barbara A. McDonnell Education Conference: Early Childhood and Special Education
(5.5 CTLE hours)

Imagine the Possibilities: Supporting Success for All

Friday, November 22, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  
Public Square, Madison Theatre, Molloy College

This conference made possible through the generosity of Eileen C. McDonnell

Conference Description (5.5 CTLEs Offered!)

Student success occurs beyond the classroom. Professionals working with infants, toddlers, children and young adults with diverse abilities have made great strides to create academic opportunities for all. In order to address the whole individual, there has been a recent surge of programming to emphasize the leisure, athletic, artistic, and social aspects of early childhood education and special education.   There has been a renewed effort to address the social-emotional needs of early childhood students. This conference will highlight the work of various organizations that provide inclusive opportunities from early childhood programs through adulthood that include individuals of diverse abilities in programs that enrich the whole person. Experiences in the arts, sports, technology, and work complete the educational programming for individuals. Professionals who have established programs will share their goals and outcomes, how they introduced their program, got it up and running, and how they found funding.

Learning Objectives
- Learning together by empowering professionals and families to advocate and provide opportunities for individuals of diverse abilities to develop skills and follow their passions to fulfill their dreams.
- Identify multiple non-academic areas where individuals of diverse abilities can find success and joy.
- Make connections with people and programs to facilitate the pursuit and establishment of new opportunities.
- Apply adaptations in classroom, clinical and outside activities.

Intended Audience
Pre-K to Adult teachers and administrators, school psychologists, school social workers, school counselors, instructional assistants/aides, and parents. 5.5 CTLEs given for teachers who attend. Sorry, continuing education for other professionals such as social workers or speech language pathologists, is not available for this conference.

Call for Proposals
Concurrent session proposals due by September 3, 2019. Click here to download a proposal application (for best results use Internet Explorer).

Keynote Session: John's Crazy Socks
John's Crazy Socks is a father-son enterprise inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of "crazy socks". Through selling socks, John and his father, Mark X. Cronin are spreading happiness.  The Long Island based company has created a mission driven business that is built on four pillars.  The pillars are: Inspiration and hope (showing what people with differing abilities can do); Giving back (5% of their earnings are donated to Special Olympics), Fun products you can love (every item we sell spreads happiness), and Making it personal (every package gets a thank you note from John and candy).

The Cronin's won Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 New York Award in the category of "Mission Driven". John is the first person with Down syndrome to win this prestigious award.  John and Mark will provide an engaging and inspiring keynote address discussing the motivation behind selling crazy socks, their business model, and their inclusive approach to creating a highly successful business. The Cronin's entrepreneurism has transformed opportunities for individuals with diverse abilities.

Agenda
                                       
Concurrent Session Descriptions
Conference participants will be able to pick from a variety of topics presented during two (2), one (1.25) hour concurrent sessions: from 10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and from 12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. A number of topics for different grade levels will be offered. Participants are asked to pre-register for the topics that they would like to attend since seating will be limited in most of the sessions. 

10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.     Concurrent Session I Click here for topics and descriptions

12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.     Concurrent Session II Click here for topics and descriptions

Location
The conference Opening Session and Check-in will be held in the Madison Theatre located in the Public Square Building on the Rockville Centre campus of Molloy College located at 1000 Hempstead Avenue, Rockville Centre, NY 11571.  Travel directions will be sent with your confirmation, but can also be downloaded by clicking here. If you should need hotel arrangements, please click here for a list of area hotels or call 516.323.3550.

CTLE Credit
This conference is approved for 5.5 hours of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE). Click here for further information on the new CTLE requirements.

Sorry, continuing education for other professionals such as social workers or speech language pathologists, is not available for this conference.

Conference Tuition Rates
- Early Registration through 10/18: $55
- Regular Registration, 10/19-11/8: $60
- Late Registration, 11/9-11/21: $65
- 11/22 or at the door: $70
- Molloy Students: $10 (please register using your Molloy email)
- Non-Molloy Students (provide copy of student ID at door): $20
- Molloy Alumni 25% discount
- Molloy Faculty and Staff: No Charge (please register using your Molloy email)

Registration
Please note that completing the information for this conference through a program such as My Learning Plan Inc. is mainly for you to receive permission to take this conference from your district. Once you receive permission to take the conference from your district you will still need to register for the conference. There is no connection between My Learning Plan Inc. and your official registration for this conference.

Click here to register online. Click here to register in person, by phone, fax or mail.

Please also note: if your district will be paying for you to attend the conference, we know that it can take some time before your district might issue a check. Therefore, it would be advisable for you to send in your registration first, even though the check from the district might not have been processed yet, to avoid being closed-out of the conference or to take advantage of the early registration discount. If multiple registrations from the same district will be paid through a purchase order, all the registrations should be sent at the same time.

Confirmation of your registration and travel directions will be sent to you upon receipt of your registration.

Refund Policy
A full refund will be granted as long as you contact us one week prior to the start of the conference. However, substitutions can be made until the day of the conference at no charge. 

Conference Brochure, Details and Additional Information
The most up-to-date  information on the conference can be found on this conference web page.

We will mail out a brochure in late January/early October 2019 to people on our mailing list.  Join our mailing list online or contact Cindy Thomas, Assistant to the Director, Summer Sessions and Conference Services by email: conted@molloy.edu or by phone: 516.323.3550.