CATCA 2023

Teachers are some of our most important leaders! Based on her research, Brené developed Dare to Lead™ – an empirically based courage-building program, and adapted it for schools. It’s a game-changer for teachers as leaders at all levels. Covering the four teachable, observable, and measurable courage skills sets, Dare to Lead™ in the Classroom (Daring Classrooms™) covers:1. Rumbling with Vulnerability: The foundational skill of courage-building is the willingness and ability to step into the discomfort of being vulnerable. Without this core skill, the other three are impossible to put into practice. Our ability to be daring educators will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability – leaning into risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure.2. Living Into Our Values: What’s our North Star? What do we stand for? Research participants who demonstrated the most willingness to be vulnerable and brave anchored their behavior to a couple of essential values, not 10 or 15. Our core values give us courage and strength, especially when things are difficult.3. BRAVING Trust: It’s a must-have in our important professional and personal relationships, but trust tends to be a fuzzy concept. Understanding the seven evidence-based elements of BRAVING trust helps us to be specific and exchange feedback in meaningful ways that supports real change and enduring trust. 4. Learning to Rise: To push the reset button and be resilient, we must recognize emotion, look at the facts and truth of what really happened, discover the lessons to be learned, make changes, and go forward with more wisdom than before. Daring educators are self-aware, know how to have hard conversations, hold themselves and others accountable, build trust, lead with empathy and connection, take smart risks that lead to innovation, reset quickly after disappointments and setbacks, and give and receive feedback – especially when it’s tough.Building Brave Spaces for Students. We can’t always ask our students to take off the armor at home, or even on their way to school, because their emotional and physical safety may require self-protection. But what we can do, and what we are ethically called to do, is create a space in our schools and classrooms where all students can walk in and, for that day or hour, take off the crushing weight of their armor, hang it on a rack, and open their heart to truly being seen.We must be guardians of spaces that allow students to breathe, be curious, and to explore the world and be who they are without suffocation. They deserve one place where they can rumble with vulnerability and their hearts can exhale. And what I know from the research is that we should never underestimate the benefit to a child of having a place to belong—even one—where they can take off their armor. It can and often does change the trajectory of their life.

This presentation is designed specifically for teachers that have recently joined the plan. It gives a general overview of the plan, including information about pension contributions, maintaining your spouse/beneficiary information, the eligibility requirements for a pension, purchasing leaves of absences and substitute service, and transferring service with another pension plan. You are encouraged to sign in to your My Pension account to access your most recent plan member statement.

Let go of who you think you're supposed to be, and embrace who you are! Perfectionism is a self-destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of blame, judgement, and shame. This is a myth...no one is perfect. These thoughts hold people back from enjoying life and can cause significant amounts of distress. Have you ever seen a student cry when getting a 90% or fall apart after coming in 2nd place in a competition? In this session you will learn about the “gifts” of imperfection: courage, connection, and compassion. These are “gifts” because they come when you’re willing to be vulnerable—you develop the courage to accept that you’re imperfect, you connect with other people because they empathize with your vulnerability, and you become compassionate with other people because you realize nobody’s perfect and accept their imperfections. Learn tools for embracing healthy striving, rather than perfectionism, to excel in life.

Visual art is our first language, which connects us to how we first began to understand the world. In this workshop, learn how visual art and creativity can engage the body, brain, and hearts of educators and students alike—and why this connection is critical for thriving mental health. Be inspired with visual art project examples that will get your creative juices flowing. Discover how to deepen the meaning of the artistic process and inspire students to think outside-the-box in all areas of their lives.

Many feel uncomfortable talking about death and grief—but it is a pivotal conversation we all must face with compassion and empathy. Learn to change your perspective on loss and speak about grief in a healthy and authentic manner. Learn about the pillars of the “Healthy Grief Movement” created by bereavement author and advocate, Alexis Marie Chute. Learn to foster safe places for grief expression with tips for what to say, not say, and what are the most meaningful ways to support the mourners in your life.

Is a picture truly worth a thousand words? What happens when imagery and text combine? In an age of visual communication, it is important to reflect on the dynamic relationship between words and images. Learn the ways writers might capitalize on visual material to strengthen their craft. We will explore the word-image relationships in children’s books, graphic novels, hybrid novels, photograph/art books, magazines, comics, literary journals, and advertisements. Learn strategies for pairing words and images, observe what works and what doesn’t, and be inspired to expand the scope of future writing projects.

Award-winning artist, Alexis Marie Chute will share the broad creative and expressive possibilities of portraiture and self-portraiture. Through many examples, discover how portraits can visualize the often inexpressible parts of the human experience, making seen what is frequently unseen. Discover how different art materials and techniques can communicate various mental and emotional states, plus unexpected ways to combine these into complex and emotive portraits. We live in an age where empathy and compassion are needed more than ever. Through an exploration of portraiture and self-portraiture, learn how this artistic genre can grapple with coming of age, identity, mental health, struggle, and triumph.

Exhibitions are the standard way to present art, but more goes into the show than you might imagine. From concept to planning and execution, art curator Alexis Marie Chute will share with you her two-decade-long experience and knowledge about mounting meaningful exhibits. The tips you’ll glean will be applicable for mounting art shows in schools, libraries, community centers, galleries, and beyond. Alexis will inspire you with ground-breaking examples and show how you can create a show-stopping exhibit on any budget.