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An empowering teacher retreat designed to inspire and elevate early childhood educators, caregivers, and advocates.

We acknowledge the immense challenges our field has withstood these past five years and are ready to come together to do the work to shift from Surviving to Thriving!

 

We welcome you to join us as a community of practice as we embrace transformative holistic collaborative learning. This all-inclusive conference is like no other!

 

Calling all Play-based preschool educators! Join us for a fun-filled weekend of reflection, deep discussion, networking, learning, and refueling our deep passion for working with children. Participants will leave feeling validated, filled with new information and ways of thinking, and challenged to dissect and examine their practice. Together, we will share, learn, and grow!

 

This is a unique opportunity to explore practices that foster holistic development, engage caregivers in collaborative dialogue, and connect with like-minded educators from diverse backgrounds, programs, and circumstances.

 

Through various topics, we will push past what we already know and dig deeper into cultivating a unified approach to advocacy, aligning our practices, elevating our work, and rejuvenating our passion and purpose to better support the why? how? and for whom? ensuring that educators not only survive but thrive in their vital roles.

 

By engaging in reflective practice and joining a supportive community of practice, participants will gain valuable insights and strategies to create nurturing environments where children and educarers can flourish. Join us on this journey to become a beacon of positive change in early childhood education. Don't miss out on this chance to enhance your skills and network with like-minded educators. Register today!

 

Looking forward to having you with us!

 

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• ​3 nights at the INN 

• 8 meals 

• Keynote/Breakouts/Think tanks/ Research/ and Exhibits

• Experiences:  Yoga, hikes, kayaking, drum circle, fireside chat, live podcast recording

 

Single occupancy: $850 pp

Double occupancy $650 pp

 

 

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The Revolutionary Power of Care 

We will explore care as an act of resistance, advocacy, and restoration. In this interactive dialogue with Carol, we will sink into an appreciation for our embodied knowledge of care, see ourselves as researchers alongside children, and view our work as improvisational art that honors the rights of children.

 

Carol Garboden Murray is the author of Illuminating Care: The Pedagogy and Practice of Care in Early Childhood Communities (Exchange Press, 2021). Carol has worked as an educator and leader in the field of early childhood education for many years. She is currently working alongside children, families, and educators as the Executive Director at Wimpfheimer Nursery School at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie New York. You can read her articles and find out more about her at carolgarbodenmurray.com

 

 

 

Breakout Sessions

 

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Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood

 

 We know that play is the child’s human right, and they should play for play’s sake—but what about the folks we need to persuade? We can move children from surviving to thriving by persuading others to LET THEM PLAY. Join Heather for a conversation about using schema play stories to connect to the values held by play skeptics, novices and other pooh-poohers.

 

 Heather Bernt-Santy, M.A. Ed., has been living her commitment to children, their families and their teachers for over 30 years,. You may know Heather from her work as the host of the popular early care and education podcast “That Early Childhood Nerd,” but she also loves her work as a speaker, consultant, writer and professor. She has held just about every position possible in the field of early care and education: teacher, director, family child care provider, education director—you name it, she’s probably tried it! Heather is an enthusiastic believer in children’s right to play and of the research that tells us play IS right

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Liberated Learning: A Pedagogy of Belonging

Educational systems often enclose children through bias, ambiguity in roles and practices, and the persistence of traditional, push-down academic approaches. These barriers limit their autonomy, resilience, and sense of belonging. This session introduces the Freedom Framework—a transformative approach rooted in joy, access, equity, and care—to help dismantle these enclosures. Participants will explore strategies to make the values of relationships, resilience, and belonging visible in any learning environment. Together, we will reimagine education as a liberated space where every child is seen, supported, and free to thrive.

 

Kisa Marks is an Author, Keynote Speaker, Co-Author of Rethinking Weapon Play in Early Childhood: How to Encourage Kindness, Empathy, and Imagination in Your Classroom (Routledge) and the soon-to-be-released We Are Who We're Waiting For: Your Role in Salvaging Childhood in the Early Years (Redleaf), and passionate Early Childhood Advocate. With over 20 years of experience in early childhood education, Kisa has run her own home-based, play- and nature-focused early childhood program for the last 15 years. She recently founded The Play Lab Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to ensuring child-centered programming is accessible to every child and every family. Kisa proudly serves the little people—the wild, the worried, the intuitive, the unknowing, and the brave. Her ethos is rooted in liberated learning, cultivated through respect for children and childhood, time spent in nature, and the revolutionary practice of play. Committed to equity, access, and joy for all children, she now advocates for the rights of children and collaborates with educators to bring liberated learning into their classrooms. When she's not embarking on adventures with her crew or championing the rights of children.

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Weaving The Inner and Outer Landscape

 


This session focuses on unifying socio-emotional learning and more “hard” earth skill traditionally taught at forest schools.
For example: if we are fire starting, I would show how to weave this back into the children’s “inner fire”

 

Bio Nicolette Sowder is the founder of Wilder Child and Wildschooling, representing one of the largest global communities of nature-connected parents, home-educators and nature-based educators. Nicolette has a Masters in Writing and formerly taught in a traditional classroom as an ambassador for the Teach for America program. Her experience within that paradigm strengthened her resolve to help design nature-bonded, village-led learning experiences. She is doing that as an Cedarsong certified educator at Strong Roots Nature School near Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her children’s book, Wilder Child, has just been release by Penguin Random house. Together with her husband she also runs a 60 acre farm based on restoration-agriculture principals where she Wildschools her two daughters

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What's Maslow got to do with staff retention?  

There are many ways that early learning leaders can create and sustain supportive environments for their staff.  This session will focus on using Maslow's Hierarchy to analyze their team's needs and create opportunities for all staff to grow and thrive leading to increased staff retention and engagement.

 

Alissa Mwenelupembe has worked in early childhood education for the past 20 years and has a long history with NAEYC as a member, volunteer, author and past student governing board member. That engagement took on another level when she joined NAEYC in December of 2020 as the Senior Director, Early Learning Program Accreditation. Alissa now serves on NAEYC’s Executive Team as Managing Director, Early Learning. Anchored by a passion to ensure all children have access to high quality early learning opportunities, Alissa has occupied various roles throughout her professional journey. She began her career as an early childhood educator working with toddlers and eventually transitioned into leadership roles, including an extensive period where she served as the Center Director at three NAEYC accredited early learning centers. She has also been a coach and content specialist in Indiana’s QRIS system: Paths to QUALITY, written content for Exchange Press, helped to draft the Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education NAEYC position statement, as well as co-edited the book Each & Every Child: Teaching Preschool with an Equity Lens published by NAEYC. Drawing from all these experiences, Alissa takes pride in being both a constructivist educator that has worked hard to bring reflective practices to the educators she has supported throughout her career and possessing the lived experiences of knowing the nuances required to run an early learning program, manage and support staff, tend to the care and education of young children, and meaningfully and intentionally engage with families. Alissa holds a doctorate in early childhood education from Ball State University. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of Black women in early childhood education leadership.

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Self Care for Early Childhood Educators 

This course is designed to help teachers understand the impact of stress on their physical and mental well-being. Participants will explore a variety of methods for combating their stress and leave with several tools designed to help them deal with everyday stressors.

 

 Andrea Diuguid has over 15 years of classroom experience, Andrea focuses on establishing strong connections with students and adults alike. She creates inviting environments where children are accepted as they are, and parents are met without judgment. Committed to developmentally appropriate practice, Andrea focuses on social-emotional skill-building through open-ended art and sensory invitations. Andrea has a heart for any who feel “othered.” As an MSDE approved trainer, she strives to inspire educators to do the same. When not in the classroom, Andrea enjoys creative pursuits including performing as a background actor in local media and a variety of crafting mediums.

 

 

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Research Discussion Question: What makes a behavior challenging? Why do adults struggle with behaviors they know are developmentally appropriate?

 

All behaviors express a need; there are no universally challenging behaviors. What varies are adults’ comfort levels and triggers. Some thrive in noisy, busy settings, while others prefer calm. Some embrace messes, while others resist them. Some are comfortable with anger or crying, while others feel compelled to fix these emotions. Everyone has triggers—some more, some less—but no one is without them. If behavior isn’t the issue, is it the adult’s reaction to the behavior? And if so, how can we, as a field, better understand and support this area of professional and personal growth?

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 Sierra Roussos holds a B.S. in Education from Indiana University and an M.A. in Education from New York University. She has worked with both children and adults, teaching English in Paris, and French in New York. her career in early care and education started in 2008 when she and her husband opened a bilingual home daycare. When they later expanded to a center-based program, her role as classroom teacher shifted to administration. As a director, she loved again working with both children and adults. She later became the Director of St. Mark’s Nursery School and Kindergarten for seven years leading a wonderful child- and play-centered program that is a model of supporting young children, their families, and the broader community. Currently, she serves as a volunteer research coordinator for Defending the Early Years’ Regional Childhood Defenders Working Groups and is working on a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership at Marian University. 

 

 

 

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Making Something out of Nothing 

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In this session, Tiffany will share how she and her team were able to raise over a million dollars to creatively construct her play based childcare program. She will share the ups and downs of her process and the partnerships she has cultivated to further build and develop her program. Join Tiffany as she facilitates a dream, plan, and support session. This is an invaluable session for the dreamers,  those with a passion to build it and they will come! This interactive think tank is meant to make dreams turn into reality and if anyone can do it, Tiffany can! 

 

 

Tiffany Pearsall, founder and preschool teacher at Play Frontier, is well-versed in child development, progressive education, and play. She considers herself a constructivist teacher, giving students all the trust and tools they need to construct their own learning. She also gets googly-eyed for all things John Dewey, educational philosophy, architecture of care, and equity in ECE. She grew up playing in creeks, paddling on lakes, and trimming grass with kid scissors and advocates for the same joyful childhood outdoors for all. You can find her either in the woods with kids or pushing for system-wide change at the policy level. 

 

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If you would like to display an exhibit in the exhibit hall please email us at info@playempowers.com with a description of your exhibit. Your exhibit must contribute to the theme From Surviving to Thriving, share your program or perspective, and encourage discussion and inspiration. Be creative! 

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