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56th CASS Annual Learning Conference

THIS WEBPAGE IS FOR THE 2022 EVENT.

A new webpage for the 2023 event will be available once the program is finalized.


PDF  Annual Learning Conference 2022 Highlights

Pre-Conference, March 16, 2022, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.


Data Informed Leadership: How Can Data Influence Leadership Decisions?


Conference, March 16-18, 2022

PDF  2022 Annual Learning Conference Program  with session descriptions and speaker bios

PDF  2022 Annual Learning Conference Program at a Glance

 

Conference Details

The CASS Annual conference provides an opportunity to strengthen your leadership growth based on the CASS Professional Learning Goal – 2021-22: Deepening the understanding and applying the learning to support implementation of professional practice.

A continued focus on CASS Leadership Excellence: Alberta Stories of Practice ensures for system leaders to share current practices effective in their context based on the Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard (SLQS) or the Leadership Quality Standard (LQS).

When asked at the FALL 2021 conference “One thing I require to further support my professional learning” members shared stories of practice from colleagues with a focus on:

  • readiness for curriculum implementation,
  • system approaches to supporting literacy and numeracy,
  • continuous improvement based on data informed practice,
  • resiliency,
  • governance,
  • community engagement,
  • Human Resources and
  • building meaningful relationships with Elders.

We hope you will join colleagues in person for networking and collaborative opportunities that support your system leadership role and leverage teacher, school leader professional practice  and student learning in today’s classrooms.

The line-up of professional learning offerings is being guided by CASS’ Comprehensive Professional Learning Plan. For further information, contact Director of Leadership Val Olekshy.

 

PDF  2021 Annual Learning Conference Highlights

Resource Materials

Presentation Slides and Handouts

Pre-conference session
Pre-conference Session by Joanne Pitman


Role-Alike sessions

Getting Ready for New Curriculum – The Role of System Education Leaders

Child and Youth Wellbeing (HR, Workplace Wellness, Inclusion and Indigenous Education)


Getting Ready for the New Curriculum
Literacy and Numeracy Presentation Slides
Placemat – Literacy & Numeracy Foundational Knowledge to Lead New Curriculum Implementation

Foundational Instructional Practices Presentation Slides


Reinventing Schools for Extraordinary and Uncertain Times – Data Leadership
Presented by Glenn Nowosad (East Central Catholic School Division)


Mental Wellbeing: Mental Health Survey and our Division Response
Presented by Gina Almquist and Corine Gannon (Edmonton
Catholic Schools)


Rebel Governance
Presented by Christopher Fuzessy, Theresa Letendre, Sharon Nichols (Foothills School Division)


How School Leaders Interpret Data: Preliminary Observations from a National Study?
Presented by Darryl Hunter, Samira ElAtia, Glenn Borthistle, Komla Essiomle (University of Alberta)


Assurance for Student Success
Presented by Corine Gannon, Nicole Lafreniere (Edmonton Catholic Schools)


A Divisional Lens on Collaborative Response: Holy Spirit Catholic Schools’ Story
Presented by Carmen Larsen, Crystal Lothian, Aaron Skretting, Kurtis Hewson


Leading with SOS-Q Data to Support Students
Presented by Dr. John Burger (Practical Data Solutions), Doug Stevens and Kevin Newman (Foothills School Division), Timothy Carlson
and Sarah Hoag, (Calgary Academy)


Unpacking Instructional Leadership – Four Leadership Practices That Are Impacting Leaders, Teachers and Students
Presented by Kathleen Finnigan, Ryan Sawula, Ryan Ledene, Jodi Smith


Human Resources
Presented by Teresa Haykowsky


Role-Alike Summaries – CASS Pro-Spective

CASS Pro-Spective is an engagement platform seeking professional prospectives of members.

The online space is intended  to gather input from members on current and emerging topics ( e.g., CASS strategic plan, Curriculum review feedback)  as well as support networking and collaboration opportunities through Role Alike spaces.

Role Alike spaces for Curriculum, Assessment and Technology, First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education, Human Resources and People Services, Inclusive Education and Workplace Wellness exist.  Each space includes a cohort list of members, summary from past learning opportunities, additional resources posted and members input from recent engagement activities. Visit https://cassprospective.ca/ for background prior to attending the upcoming conference Role alike session.

CASS Resource Library – Alberta Stories of Practice Learning Guides

The CASS Resource Library  includes “made in Alberta” resources designed for system leaders that will support “pre learning” prior to the annual conference.  One example are CASS learning guides, which are intended to apply research, deepen understanding and enhance professional practice within the Alberta context. Learning guides have summarized  CASS “Alberta Stories of Practice” webinars.

CASS Conference Archives 

Missed a recent CASS Learning Opportunity?

The CASS Conference Archives include a list of conference concurrent session recordings and resources, alongside the program.   You can find past learning opportunities and resources in the archives. (Thanks to all facilitators for your willingness to share the learning beyond the conference.)

Conference Supporters

PRESENTING GOLD SPONSOR

With offices in Edmonton, Calgary, and Yellowknife, McLennan Ross is an established law firm committed to service the legal needs of our clients in Alberta and the North. Founded over 100 years ago, McLennan Ross has grown today to more than 100 lawyers and an extensive support staff.

Over the years, McLennan Ross and its legal professionals have been involved in numerous landmark cases, at all levels of the Canadian judicial system including the Supreme Court of Canada.  The outcomes of these cases have often had a profound effect on the legal framework in which many businesses operate.

GOLD SPONSORS

Intellimedia LP offers services and solutions that maximize the value of systems and data to power and achieve organizational success. Equipped with extensive knowledge and experience in business process, data management, and integration, Intellimedia helps organizations expand capabilities of existing systems, as well as complements them with customized solutions.  

An Edmonton based Software Company, Intellimedia offers licensed software solutions, technical professional services as well as IT and management consulting to K-12 Schools and School Districts. With a well-established Client base in Alberta and numerous others throughout Canada and all around the world, Intellimedia has become a trusted partner to many School Districts, both large and small scale. 

Among our flagship education solutions are Dossier Education Management System, SchoolEngage, and InteliLink all of which help maximize the value of data as well as increase organizational capacity to ease administrative burden.



For over a century, Nelson has built and continues to strengthen its partnerships with educators and school administrators across Canada, and around the world, who enhance the ongoing development of trusted learning solutions aligned to curriculum expectations. As the education landscape continues to evolve, now more than ever, Nelson’s mission to re-imagine and define these learning solutions, preparing students for tomorrow’s workplace, remains at the core of our values.

Wherever learning happens, Nelson resources are designed to support the educational journey. From engaging and state-of-the-art technologies, to authentic classroom resources, to professional learning services, Nelson’s commitment is steadfast in supporting lifelong learners.


Hāpara enables educators to create visible, differentiated and focused learning experiences with Google Workspace and Google Classroom. The Hāpara instructional management suite helps teachers see student efforts across Google Workspace for Education and Google Classroom applications, support collaborative assignments, deeply differentiate instruction, and ensure real-time engagement. With Student Dashboard, students are empowered to take control of their digital learning experience giving them a single overview dashboard of their learning program in Google Workspace and Google Classroom and direct access to all of their needed resources, assignments, and notifications.

Hāpara has cultivated the Alberta Collaboration for Learning. The Alberta Collaboration for Learning has built a comprehensive library of Alberta Program of Studies content in both synchronous and asynchronous formats. From 2019-2021, more than 140 professionals (teachers, editors, copy editors, proofing staff, instructional designers, curriculum specialists and online learning professionals) created a full suite of vetted year-long Alberta online K-12 courses.

In addition, the Consortium has also started to replace textbooks and recommended reading resources in digital copyright-free formats.

Our platform is designed for students and teachers to collaborate with each other beyond district or provincial borders. Through our “Discover” tab in Workspace teachers can publish and share locally developed content that can be adopted and augmented by other teachers. Even basic search in “Discover” reveals lessons and activities about Indigenous art, issues, and identity that teachers from Alberta can use to support learning in their classrooms.


Founded on the belief that Learning Begins with Hearing, Audio Enhancement has been developing audio solutions to empower learning for over 40 years. What started as an effort to help children with hearing impairments succeed in school quickly became a way to enable all students to hear and learn.

Audio Enhancement innovates to create more effective schools through improving technology and the learning environment. Our solutions have been helping schools manage the challenges seen commonly in education, as well as obstacles brought by the pandemic.

Audio Enhancement’s solutions are designed to be able to work together or on their own—classroom audio provides clear instruction through masks; classroom video enhances digital content to facilitate effective remote and blended learning; schoolwide communication allows for instant flexible scheduling to accommodate staggered schedules; and school safety provides quick communication with office staff to communicate urgent situations.

SILVER SPONSORS

Enhance learning and teaching as well as school safety with FrontRow.  FrontRow offers portable, standalone, or integrated audio systems for K-12 classrooms with smart technologies that make classroom audio, lecture capture, AV control, paging, intercom, bells, and emergency notification simple and easy.


The Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (ARTA) was established in 1963 as a province-wide, non-profit organization with the goal of providing a united voice for retired educators. Since then, ARTA has grown to over 27,000 members and provides many services, including healthcare and dental insurance plans, wellness events and information, and retirement resources of all kinds.

Education is very important to ARTA members, and that includes doing our part when it comes to Indigenous education for seniors. In addition to supporting Indigenous retired educators among our membership, and beginning our meetings with a land acknowledgement, ARTA takes an active role in providing educational resources and facilitating conversations on topics of Indigenous Education.

ARTA’s quarterly magazine, news&views, regularly publishes stories and articles (written by our members) that explore many aspects of Indigenous knowledge. In the last year, we’ve shared stories, poetry, and articles on topics such as the 60’s Scoop, the Seven Sacred Teachings, and the importance of Alberta’s traditional waterways. In 2021, we partnered with an organization called Reconciliation Education to offer a discount to our members to take a course to improve their knowledge of Indigenous cultures, histories, and the ongoing reconciliation conversation.


Mitigating Harmful Aerosol Transmission via Ventilation Systems with Ti-DOX HydroxylizAirTM
The HydroxylizAire is based on a patented technology developed in Calgary. It is not a filter but an environmental decontamination device capable of simultaneously and continuously destroying harmful micro-organisms and toxic chemicals flowing through forced air ventilation ducts.

Regulatory organizations, such as ASHRAE, EPA and WHO, have now all acknowledged that hazardous aerosols are potential major instigators of health and safety issues via dispersion through ventilation ducts, and highly recommend HVAC system upgrades to minimize those concerns.

HydroxylizAires can simply be attached to ventilation ducts to provide a cost and energy saving installation, operation and maintenance solution for mitigating airborne transmission of dangerous microbes and toxic chemicals.


TW Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance brokerage with roots in the community dating back over 85 years.   As brokers, we work for our members, not the insurance company, and their needs are our top priority.

We have been working with Educators for over 40 years and offer one-stop shopping for your personal insurance needs.  CASS members are eligible to take advantage of exclusive discounts and coverage accessible only through TW Insurance Brokers.

We believe in choice and advocacy for our clients and, as brokers, we can source the insurance marketplace for the carrier and coverage best suited for your needs.

BRONZE SPONSOR

Pearson’s K-12 learning solutions are created in collaboration with Canadian educators, with an emphasis on pedagogy, efficacy, and best-in-class content. Pearson is committed to developing a full array of core curriculum, supplementary, assessment, professional, and early learning resources to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, and in their own ways. Representing leading professional learning educators incl. Heinemann, Annick Press, Teacher Created Materials, Taanishi, and more.

Visit pearsoncanada.ca/ata for more details! If you have any questions, please contact our sales representative.


Professional Learning, Faculty of Education

The Faculty of Education, through it’s Professional Learning programs and courses, provides high-quality educational experiences for teachers in a wide variety of school environments: rural, urban, public, Catholic, and Indigenous education contexts. We are currently working with Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority (KTCEA), Edmonton Public and Catholic Schools, Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC) and the Fort Vermilion School District, along with graduates from the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP). Our programs go beyond lectures, providing in-service teachers and school leaders with opportunities to engage in authentic tasks and experiences directly linked to their professional needs. We support teachers in all stages of their careers with part-time, flexible, online learning options:

  • The Graduate Certificate in School Leadership provides opportunities to enhance your skills as a school leader, or aspiring leader, by observing and collaborating with a leadership team of your choice. Courses fulfill academic requirements for Alberta’s LQS and SLQS certification and are offered fully online.
  • The Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies is for teaching professionals and other educational specialists seeking advanced professional learning. Disciplinary focus areas include: Indigenous Education, Early Childhood Education, Mathematics Education, and Technology in Education, with some being offered fully online.

Become an agent of change and create thriving learning environments in your school. Visit https://uab.ca/prolearn for all of our exciting learning opportunities.

Retirement Banquet

To register as a guest to the banquet, register here.

to the following CASS members whose retirement will be celebrated on Thursday, March 17, 2022. 

^confirmed to attend
*unable to attend
(D)* Deceased

Retirees on this list are the retirees that gave CASS explicit permission to be acknowledged.

  • ^Bob Allen
  • ^Janice Aubry
  • *Kevin Andrea
  • *Joe Arruda
  • *Joann Bartley
  • *Paul Bennett
  • *Michelle Brennick
  • *Barb Brochu
  • *Joan Burke
  • *Roger Clarke
  • *Amber Darroch
  • *David Dempsey
  • ^Angela DesBarres
  • *Jeannie Everett
  • ^Chris Farquharson
  • *Manny Ferreirinha
  • *Joe Frank
  • *Shawn Haggarty
  • ^Margaret Hartman
  • ^Michael Hauptman
  • *Stu Henry
  • *Brett Huculak
  • *Metro Huculak
  • *Dalane Imeson
  • ^David Keohane
  • *Ruth Kuik
  • *Jayson Lovell
  • *Scott MacNeill
  • *Dr. Lorraine MacPherson-Court
  • *Monica Mankowski
  • *Cathy McCauley
  • Glenn McClure (D)*
  • *Dr. Dianne McConnell
  • *Charlie McCormack
  • *Lorne McDonald
  • *George McGuigan
  • *Chris Meaden
  • ^Mariette Moss
  • *Doug Nicholls
  • *Blair Norton
  • ^Mike Paonessa
  • *Dr. Lorne Parker
  • *Violet Parsons-Pack
  • *Dr. Natalie Prytuluk
  • ^Nick Radujko
  • *Todd Robinson
  • *Dr. Dianne Roulson
  • ^Christian Roux
  • ^Chris Smeaton
  • *Lissa Steele
  • *Gary Strother
  • *Richard Svoboda
  • ^Colleen Symyrozum-Watt
  • *Dr. Donald Tessier
  • *Darlene Unruh
  • ^Dr. Norman Yanitski

Enjoy great storytelling and celebrate special memories with our retirees through these retirement booklets.

Masks can be worn as a personal preference and are no longer mandatory. Edmonton’s Temporary Mandatory Face Coverings Bylaw has been repealed. Please visit the hotel’s COVID-19 Updates for more information.

Online registration is now closed. Please contact claudine.cortes@cass.ab.ca for info.

Goal:

CASS Professional Learning Goal for 2021-22: Deepening the understanding and applying the learning to support implementation of professional practice.

Date(s):

March 16-18, 2022

Location:

Conference occurs at the Fantasyland Hotel,
17700-87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB

Reservations can be made by calling (780) 444-3000 or toll-free 1-800-737-3783. MUST mention that you are attending the 2022 CASS Conference or booking code 6282636 to receive the negotiated rate of $159.00/night + tax. 

Special rates will be valid until February 25, 2022.