The Friday pre-conference, facilitated by Donya Ball, provided a deep dive into her book, “Adjusting the Sails: Weathering the Storms of Administrative Leadership.” Pre-conference attendees were provided a copy of the book, which served as a guide as participants analyzed the difficult leadership world for which there is often no compass. The relatable anecdotes and practical guidance with sarcasm and humor sprinkled in helped attendees weather the storms and the ever-changing tides of the educational world.

The conference kicked off Saturday with the first general session, Navigating the Waters of School Leadership. Ball highlighted that education administration is an itinerary consumed by rough seas, but the leaders that are equipped with the navigation skills to weather the most difficult of storms are the leaders that will experience the most successful of journeys. Ball presented the most critical storms that every leader will endure at some point in their career and the practical, no nonsense approaches required to forge forward to calm waters.

The conference continued on Saturday with breakout sessions on numerous topics including gender issues, alternative dispute resolution, working with longterm English learners, building trust in your teams, boosting staff morale, leading while female, distributive leadership, tier 1 interventions, legal issues and more. Many presentations were done by local school administrators and ACSA legal partners and attorneys, who offered great legal information.

Saturday’s general session featured a live and in-person version of ACSA’s Legislative Lunch Break hosted by Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Naj Alikhan and Senior Director of State and Federal Governmental Relations Iván Carrillo. They welcomed guests Assemblymember Dawn Addis and State Senator John Laird. Conference attendees shared that they were impressed by the legislators’ interest and knowledge about education issues, and that they traveled to the event despite their many other commitments and severe weather conditions.

The conference also featured a Saturday afternoon session with student leaders from the California Association of Student Councils. On Sunday morning, there was an affinity panel facilitated by State ACSA president Erin Simon and featuring Zandra Jo Galván, president, California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators; Daryl Camp, president, California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators; and Isaac Huang, president, California Association of Asian and Pacific Leaders in Education.

A general session on “The Leader’s Atlas: A Guide for School and District Level Leaders” was presented by Steve Ventura.

Attendees noted that the conference had excellent presentations and up-to-date information for school administrators in Central California and central coast. The venue allowed participants to choose from several different PD sessions in a limited area.