More than 600 people attended the three-day Collaborative Brain Conference held in August at Shooting Star Casino Hotel & Event Center in Mahnomen as the conference returned for the first time since it was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“We were very pleased to hear from our speakers who shared that it was a well-organized conference, and some were even more surprised at how many people come to a remote area to attend such a conference on child development,” said Kim Lage, White Earth Early Childhood Specialist/Licensor, who along with Sue Heisler, White Earth Child Care Early Childhood Program Director, coordinated the event with a committee of regional early childhood professionals.
This year’s conference marked its 20th year, designed to be an educational conference dedicated to service providers, teachers, professionals, and parents. The conference features high-quality speakers sharing up-to-date information and proven strategies to better serve children and families.
Keynote speakers included Ron Shuali, M.Ed., a best-selling author and motivational speaker; Albert Pooley, founder and president of the Native American Fatherhood and Families Association; Dr. Caitlin Johnson, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Minnesota State University Moorhead; and Mitch Factor, who has been a lead teacher in Tribal Head Start for over 30 years and specializes in wellness, parent and family involvement, and staff working as a collective unit to benefit the child and family.
Kim reported that in surveying event attendees, several had attended a previous year’s conference but many were new registrants, coming from throughout Greater Minnesota as well as neighboring states such as Wisconsin and North and South Dakota.
“The speakers were excellent and though we did not do give out an evaluation of the speakers, we took the time to listen to people’s comments when coming out of a session,” she said. “The positive remarks and their enthusiasm to take back what they had learned … are the true testimony to how people react and carry back their (learning).”
The Northwest Minnesota Foundation has committed to sponsoring and helping to implement the conference over three years.
“Our conference collaborators and sponsors are our greatest help in funding and partnerships to bring together high-quality and recommended session speakers to address today’s concerns and/or meet specific educational needs,” Kim said. “The conference recognizes professional development by issuing clock hours and child care providers who need hours for licensing or Parent Aware rating.”
The event also featured a silent auction that helped to raise scholarships to support attendance at next year’s conference, raising more than $2,600.
The conference will return in 2025, planned to be held August 12-14.
