Consultant and former college administrator Dr. Derek Greenfield’s keynote address encouraged participation. Right away, he directed attendees to sit with a stranger and talk with them. From there, he had participants create their own personal handshakes with their partners and give them a hug. The activities were intended to help educators open up to each other, as they ideally would with their students, including those considered at-risk. “The moment we start saying ‘at risk,’ think about it,” Greenfield said. “The dandelion is a weed or a flower — it depends how you perceive it. Let’s see our students as full of strengths, and not challenges.” He had advice for how attendees should approach the rest of the conference, too. “I need you to spend some time being vocal in the next few days, and say, ‘I know you need some work to do,’” he said.

Throughout the conference, educators had myriad sessions to attend on a wide range of topics. Equity took a center stage, with sessions on supporting foster and homeless youth and a presentation by educational consultant Mary Montle Bacon on the disproportional classification of African American students as “emotionally disturbed.” Bacon said it was important to understand those students’ backgrounds before jumping to identify them as “disturbed,” as this label can be damaging to students’ experiences. “When you come from an oppressed group, you see the world through a lens of powerlessness,” Bacon said. “I may no longer be in the culture of poverty, but it’s still in me. It shapes what I do every single day. Until we can understand our journeys, we can’t understand why these kids behave how they behave.” Another session Thursday featured findings from the final report of ACSA’s Mental Wellness Task Force, which was convened by Past President Holly Edds in the fall of 2019. ACSA Senior Director of Federal Government Relations Adonai Mack opened the discussion with ACSA Legislative Analyst Jason Henderson and Mark Miller, deputy superintendent with San Dieguito Union High School District. The session highlighted the task force toolkit that school leaders can use to help them tackle school shooting prevention and emerging mental health issues like youth suicide and chronic absenteeism. “We need to figure out how to care for our students in a way to make them feel their worth,” Mack said. Between sessions, attendees visited booths in the exhibit hall and enjoyed snacks like pastries suspended from a “doughnut wall” display, and healthier options like fruit and nuts from “Create Your Own Trail Mix” tables. Thursday’s keynote Dr. Pedro Noguera emphasized a student-focused approach that involves “teaching kids the way they learn, versus kids learning the way you teach.” Noguera, a sociologist and distinguished professor of education at UCLA, discussed big-picture ideas, as well as daily equity disparities in schools — even in homework. “Homework is an equity issue,” Noguera said. “How many of you help your kids with homework? How many students have no one to help them? But, they are being judged the same.” Student participation in clubs, such as music and sports, has a correlation with improved academic performance, Noguera said. Plus, they learn better through interaction and through making mistakes. “We need to do more to model for our kids, and demonstrate to the adults that the path to higher achievement is through deeper engagement,” he said. Following his keynote, Noguera signed copies of his book, “Excellence Through Equity,” which he co-wrote. Friday’s closing keynote session featured a unique performance by Northwood High School sophomore Jasmine Chhabria, who re-enacted the events of the landmark Mendez v. Westminster ruling, which struck down the forced segregation of Mexican-American schoolchildren in Orange County in 1947, years before Brown v. Board of Education ended school segregation nationally.  Following Chhabria’s performance, Sylvia Mendez, whose parents were the plaintiffs in the case, talked about the Orange County communities that supported the Mendez family during the fight for integration. “It was a case that was fought not only by one family,” Mendez said. “It was a case fought by a group of hundreds of people that came from different ethnic backgrounds. They all came together to end segregation in California.”