Breakout Session Offerings

Student-led learning can powerfully build self-efficacy in young people. Unfortunately, in a world of standardized tests, district mandates, and rushed implementation, it can be difficult to put these concepts into practice, and misunderstanding around terms like productive struggle and project-based inquiry can muddy the waters even further.  

For over 100 years, the Girl Scouts of USA has built girls of courage, confidence, and character through girl-led programming and instruction. In this session, you’ll learn how to transfer the lessons GSUSA has learned to your own classroom or organization.

Presenter: April Rames, M.S.Ed, M.A.T (Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas)

Young people build confidence, resilience, and self-efficacy through relationships where they feel safe, seen, and supported. In this interactive session, participants will explore the Connection-to-Confidence Framework and discover how trust-based relationships create the foundation for emotional regulation, belonging, healthy identity development, and lasting confidence. Drawing from attachment, co-regulation, youth development, education, and family systems, participants will learn practical ways to strengthen connection, support young people through difficult emotions, and help them recognize their own capacity to thrive. Participants will leave with actionable tools they can immediately use to build stronger relationships and help young people develop the confidence and resilience to navigate life's challenges

Presenter: Jeri-Ashley Bremer, M.S. Ed. (The Integration Firm)

The FBI is warning the public of a sharp increase in the activity of "764" and other violent online networks that operate in the United States and around the globe. These networks methodically target and exploit minors and other vulnerable individuals, and it is imperative the public be made aware of the risk and the warnings signs exhibited by victims.

Presenters: Randy Reyes and Stephanie Post (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

In a world that often celebrates perfection and fears failure, mental health professionals have a unique opportunity to help students build the resilience, confidence, and mindset needed to thrive through life's inevitable challenges. This session explores how to teach students to reframe failure as a catalyst for growth, build emotional resilience, and develop the skills to persevere when life doesn't go as planned.

Presenters: Melissa Clark (Education Service Center, Region 20)

Combining coping skills, resilience, and self-confidence to prepare youth for adulthood. The session will focus on helping youth celebrate small wins that lead to long-term success. Helping build confidence and growth during adolescence. Tools and activities applicable to everyday situations that teachers, professionals, and even caregivers can use.

Presenter: Marilu Watkins, LPC-A (DePelchin)

Through engaging, hands-on musical experiences, participants will explore music therapy techniques designed to target executive functioning goals such as attention, memory, cognitive flexibility, impulse control, planning, and self-regulation. Participants will leave with an understanding of how music can support and strengthen essential skills across a variety of populations and settings.

Presenters: Summer Bentley MT-BC, NMT and Mary Beth Fisk MA, BS (The Ecumenical Center)

This interactive workshop explores how small, intentional “productive inefficiencies” can help students build executive functioning, self-efficacy, connection, and resilience. Participants will learn a practical taxonomy of resilience and use it to identify where students may need more targeted support. Together, we will examine how well-designed friction can strengthen student agency, encourage healthy interdependence, and create moments where students practice the skills they need to succeed in school and life. Rather than adding another initiative, this workshop helps participants rethink everyday interactions as opportunities to build confidence, connection, and resilience.

Presenter: Christopher O'Shaughnessy (Youth Compass)

Whole-child success depends on whether the adults around a student work together—or work in parallel, unaware of each other's efforts. This session explores how UP Partnership, East Central ISD, Communities in Schools of San Antonio, five additional districts, and community partners are building a more coordinated student support ecosystem across San Antonio. Participants will examine the conditions that make this kind of collaboration possible, including a shared MTSS framework, clearly defined intervention pathways, coordinated case management, shared data, partner capacity, and closed-loop communication.

Presenters: Sarah Pena, M.Ed. (East Central ISD) Christina Martinez (UP Partnership), and Mark Larson, MAT, MSA (ProUnitas)

Sometimes the emotional pain our students carry feels too overwhelming to manage alone. In these critical moments, school mental health professionals play a vital role in providing calm, connection, and support. Join me for an important conversation about how we can recognize signs of emotional crisis, respond with compassion, and help students navigate their most difficult moments with care and hope. Together, we can strengthen our ability to support students when they need us most.

Presenter: Susan Salinas M.Ed. (Education Service Center, Region 20)

Yes, And: Building Together is an interactive improv-based experience designed to strengthen connection and community. Through engaging group activities and guided reflection, participants build skills in collaboration, active listening, and shared leadership in a supportive, low-pressure environment.

Presenter: Alexandria Sepulveda (Magik Theatre)

Often, students see learning as something directed at them rather than something they co-create. Participants in this session will have autonomy in choosing the subject of their investigations. They will be encouraged to generate their own questions and investigate those questions further. We will share strategies to help you create an environment where your learners can thrive.

Presenters: Kimberly Robinson and Dr. Tivy Whitlock, Ph.D. (Doseum)

Young people thrive when they feel truly seen, heard, and valued, but creating that kind of connection can be challenging when youth are withdrawn, overwhelmed, resistant, or struggling with big emotions. This interactive session introduces PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy), a relationship-based approach developed by Dr. Dan Hughes that helps adults build trust, emotional safety, and authentic connection with young people. Through real-world examples, reflection, and experiential activities, participants will discover practical ways to shift everyday interactions from managing behavior to understanding what may be happening beneath it. Attendees will leave with simple, powerful strategies they can use immediately to help young people feel safer, more connected, and confident they belong.

Presenters: Valeria Salazar, LCSW-S, and  Kara Gaines, LCSW-S (San Antonio Behavioral Healthcare Hospital )

Families are often asked to trust systems that have not always given them meaningful opportunities to be heard, understood, or included. For students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and families navigating complex school and community systems, trust is not built through one meeting or one program. It is built through consistent communication, shared decision-making, dignity, and follow-through.
This session will help school staff, youth-serving professionals, nonprofit partners, and community leaders understand how family voice, belonging, and culturally responsive communication can strengthen support for children and youth. Participants will explore real-world examples of how families experience systems, what can cause families to feel dismissed or disconnected, and how caring adults can shift from a compliance mindset to a relationship-centered approach.
Participants will leave with practical strategies to create stronger connections with families, especially families of students with disabilities and multilingual families. The session will focus on how professionals can build trust, improve communication, include families earlier in problem-solving, and create conditions where students and families feel valued, capable, and connected to supportive systems.

Presenter: Maribel Gardea, B.S. (MindshiftED Parent Institute )

The need for empathy, compassion, inclusion, and real-life human connection has never been stronger. Learn how to foster a warmer, more compassionate culture in your workplace, campus, or classroom.  This session shares personal stories and lessons learned. Participants will leave with easy-to-implement strategies to start building compassionate connections.

Presenter: Gloria Canada, Ed.D. (Circles of Purpose, Inc.)

Every day, educators encounter students whose behaviors are shaped by experiences that extend far beyond the classroom. This dynamic session will challenge participants to rethink behavior through a trauma-sensitive lens while equipping them with practical, evidence-informed strategies that foster safety, connection, resilience, and belonging. Learn how trauma-sensitive practices can transform classroom culture, strengthen relationships, and improve student engagement—all while maintaining high expectations and accountability. Walk away with actionable tools you can implement immediately to create learning environments where every student feels seen, supported, and empowered to succeed.

Presenter: Sara Hendrix, MS, LCSW, LCDC-I (Avela Health)

Every young person remembers one adult who truly saw them. This session helps educators, mentors, and leaders build belonging, connection, and trust with young people. Drawing on the presenter's education and leadership background, participants explore what makes youth feel seen, heard, and valued. Through storytelling and hands-on activities, they leave with a personalized plan to strengthen connection with the youth they serve.

Presenter: Jennipha L. Ricks, M.Ed. (Jae Elle Consulting, LLC)

Teen suicide is a significant issue that has been on the radar screens of teachers and administrators for many years now. Teachers who have experienced the suicide of a student and the profound effect it has on their world know what an impact even one suicide can have and how important it is to prevent suicide. Since 2004, HOPE Squad has been seeking to prevent teen suicide by transforming the school culture so that students are willing to talk without stigma about their mental health needs, fellow students are ready to hear them, and the joy of life and hope for the future outweigh the dark forces that drive teen suicide. In this presentation, Will Toney, LCSW, a licensed social worker and classroom teacher, will relate the history of HOPE Squad and how it has been implemented at East Central High School in San Antonio, Texas.

Presenter: William Toney, LCSW (East Central High School)

This session will introduce attendees to the Theoretically Evolving Activities in Mentoring (TEAM) Framework, which offers a way to organize and understand different types of adult-youth relationships. Presenters will provide an overview of how different relationships (e.g., an academic teacher and student versus an athletic coach and player) can benefit youth in different ways. Presenters then build attendees’ skills in shifting from one type of relationship to another to best serve youth, using tenets from Motivational Interviewing (MI), an evidence-based counseling approach. MI is discussed alongside the TEAM Framework (what presenters call “MI TEAM”), focusing on actionable skills that foster positive connections across diverse roles and settings.

Presenters: Dr. Mackenzie Hart, PhD, and Michael Karcher, PhD, EdD (University of Texas- San Antonio)

This workshop explores how authentic relationships can create stronger connections, trust, and a true sense of belonging. Participants will reflect on what it means to engage others beyond inviting them to the table, focusing on listening, shared experiences, and meaningful connection. Through practical strategies and interactive discussion, attendees will identify ways to build relationships that are genuine, inclusive, and sustained over time. Participants will leave with tools to strengthen engagement and create spaces where people feel seen, valued, and heard.

Presenter: Romero Davis (Collective for Justice & Growth)

The presentation introduces the audience to the principles and goals of restorative justice (RJ). The audience will understand the basic methods and potential applications of restorative justice processes for building relationships and fostering community in the classroom. They will become familiar with the four types of RJ practices and appreciate how they can help strengthen relationships and humanize conflicts when they occur.

Presenter: Dr. Robert Rico, Ed.D. (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

This session will explore youth-centric strategies for mental wellness integrated through youth-led forums.  The Ecumenical Center and The Center for Young Minds (CYM) create positive connections among youth through youth-led mental health programming, peer engagement, and interactive community events. Presenters will discuss how creating safe, approachable spaces for teens encourages connection, reduces mental health stigma, and strengthens youth voice.

Presenter: Marybeth Fisk, MT, CEO (The Ecumenical Center)

This session explores how a data-driven approach can help schools better understand and support the whole child, from identifying needs to connecting students and families with the right resources. Participants will learn how to leverage community partners and tiered strategies to create comprehensive supports, while highlighting lessons East Central has learned through 10 years of EC CARES and the impact this work has had on student outcomes. We’ll also highlight the work of the EC AWARE grant over the past four years and how Communities In Schools of San Antonio (CIS-SA) has become integrated into campus and district systems to strengthen and sustain student support. Together, we’ll connect the dots between data, partnerships, and coordinated care to create systems where every student has the support they need to thrive.

Presenter: Meredith Powell, M. Ed. (East Central ISD)

Description coming soon

Presenter: Dr. Robert Rico, Ed.D. (UTSA)

Restorative practices are more than a response to navigating conflict. They build relationships, foster belonging, and create communities where our youth feel seen, heard, and valued. During this session, we will explore how connection, utilizing restorative practices as a foundation, helps foster growth, resilience, and accountability. Participants will learn practical restorative practice strategies that strengthen relationships, promote trust, and create environments that can help our youth thrive.

Presenters: Patricia Robinson, MSW and Dayna Dixon, MS (Communities In Schools of San Antonio)

Youth and families often navigate overlapping challenges—including food insecurity, housing instability, health and mental health needs, school stress, transportation barriers, and family responsibilities—that can leave them feeling disconnected from support. This interactive workshop introduces The Health Collaborative’s youth- and family-centered care coordination approach, grounded in the Pathways Community HUB model and the role of Community Health Workers as trusted guides. Through a real-world-inspired youth and family journey, participants will identify common points where systems fail families and practice relationship-building, warm handoffs, youth-centered goal setting, family voice, and closed-loop follow-up. Participants will leave with a practical “Connection Pathway” tool they can adapt in schools, health settings, youth programs, and community organizations to help youth feel seen, valued, and connected as they move from referral to relationship and from need to meaningful support.

Presenters: Elizabeth Lutz, MBA and  Camerino Salazar, Ph.D. (The Health Collaborative Health Resources in Action)

Positive Connections refers to the experience of feeling accepted, valued, and connected within a community. The focus is on intentionally creating environments where youth see themselves as valued, feel safe being authentic, and know their presence matters. Trainings and workshops in this category help youth development professionals create a sense of belonging for youth. This can include building belonging through one-on-one relationships, as well as fostering belonging for youth within schools and communities. These meaningful relationships help youth navigate challenges and connect to supportive systems.

Presenters: Monica Valenzuela, MA Ed. and Valerie Harber, MA (East Central ISD), Aleecia Furlong, BSW (Communities In Schools of San Antonio)