
When parents and families support child development and student achievement, promising and positive outcomes are more apt to occur. Understand the difference between parental involvement and family engagement and learn methodologies and practices to use in your everyday work with children aged preschool through 12th grade and families. Participants will work together in groups to build family engagement plans and framework ideas for their programs and schools.

The care and support of early childhood providers can make a huge difference in the life of a young child. Sesame Street in Communities has developed activities and tips to help children overcome adversity and thrive, with hundreds of bilingual multi-media tools to help kids and families enrich and expand their knowledge during the early years of birth through six, a critical window for brain development.
Learn about the free resources Sesame Street in Communities provides to caregivers to support them in areas of health and wellness, social-emotional skills, school’s readiness, and more and how to use them with families and children ages 0-6 at this free workshop.
Early childhood educators, faith-based leaders, and health care providers are encouraged to register for this free event. Breakfast is provided and attendees may earn up to three free clock hours. This workshop is for adults only.
Session 2: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds: Getting Kids Moving so They Can Thrive in the Classroom is closed -please select another choice.
Session 3: Help, Hope and Healing: How to Help Young Children Heal form Traumatic Events is closed – please select another choice.

S.T.E.M-based curriculum brings forth creativity in the child. Adding the A helps build the foundation of science-related knowledge, using the arts to encourage children to express their ideas in a wide variety of creative ways. See how the A in S.T.E.A.M. will tie to the Early Learning Standards and enhance the classroom creativity!
Kelly Carroll, Early Care and Education Specialist, The Family Conservancy

KCPT’s annual K-12 Technology Conference is for teachers, administrators, computer teachers, media specialists, technology coordinators, curriculum directors and anyone interested in the world of education and engaging students. This daylong professional opportunity includes speakers and hands-on learning with more than 20 sessions designed to empower educators with knowledge and strategies for effectively integrating technology in today’s classrooms.
Augmented Reality Sessions 1 & 4 have been closed.
View the Session Listings.


We all know and expect that each child will be a unique individual and we design our classrooms and our teaching to support and embrace all children. Yet, when it comes to adults, one of the hardest things is to know ourselves well; The next hardest thing is to work with those who are different from us… And we are ALL different! This session will look at some of the generational differences among workers. For the first time in American history there are three generations in our workforce, born in different eras and working together in an ever-changing workplace. How can we learn from one another and create workplaces of learning and collaboration? How is a leader to manage all of these different expectations?
Leanne Hilligas, Early Care and Education Training Coordinator, Nancy Heathman, Early Care and Education Specialist – The Family Conservancy
Participants will earn 2 clock hours for either Missouri or Kansas.
A light dinner will be provided. Doors open at 6:00 PM

Engaging in dialogue with those who are different than us is becoming more and more common and in a world where language continues to evolve, navigating the social landscape is becoming more challenging. Participants will engage in an identity mapping exercise designed to explore the different ways our socialization leads us to view the world and influences how we interact with those similar and different from us. Understanding how we think about and discuss our identities and how our unconscious biases manifest is the first step towards mindfulness and self-awareness.
Presenter: Tabari A. Coleman, MPA
Education Director, ADL Heartland

Robots 101
Campers will learn about Asimov’s “Laws of Robotics” and applications of robotic technology and make their own “Puppet Robot” to take home in this fun-filled program for students in grades 1-5.

Are you a parent, family member or neighbor that takes care of a pre-K child? Do you live in the 64128 zip code?
KCPT KIDS In Your Neighborhood wants to help you prepare your preschooler for Kindergarten with free PBS KIDS resources.
JOIN US on the second Monday of every month at the Lucile H. Bluford Branch of the Kansas City Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon. We’ll show a PBS KIDS show, demonstrate a pre-K activity and send you home with a bunch of FREE, at-home activities and resources!
SIGN UP for our newsletter and find out about additional events and resources: www.kcpt.org/InYourNeighborhood
Questions? Email kids@kcpt.org.

What can we do to improve children’s educational experiences and gains? One great answer is family engagement.
This training workshop will focus heavily on developing innovative techniques attendees can use to engage hard-to-serve families and parents, while using community resources to help families meet personal needs and stabilize the household.
Participants will earn two clock hours, and food will be provided.
Presenter: Phyllis Harris, President at Pathfinders Professional Development, LLC
Support provided by the Francis Family Foundation.