The Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC) recently held their annual Early Childhood Education Symposium in Juneau, called “Relationships and the Power of Resiliency.” This year the symposium focused on social-emotional development in young children. Just over 200 educators from 13 communities around Alaska joined us for two days of in-depth strategies to support children under the age of 8 to encourage strength of character, positive growth and development. There were 25 workshop sessions to choose from including those offered by our four guest speakers, Keri Krout, Deborah Harris, Amy Lang and Tara Maltby, and local keynotes from Patrick Sidmore and Heidi Johnson on Alaska Adverse Childhood Experiences.
A huge thanks to the following organizations that donated special trainings, scholarships and their time to help make this year’s conference a success: The Juneau Community Foundation, Alaska AEYC, Best Beginnings, Thread, Alaska Center for Resource Families, Juneau Youth Services, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Alaska Children’s Trust, Alaska Autism Resource Center and the Juneau School District. Over 20 early educators that would otherwise not have been able to participate received scholarships.
A special thanks the Centennial Hall staff for being so easy to work with, Breeze-In for providing over 200 meals each day for our hungry conference attendees and staff and the AEYC board members who continue to drive the success of our organization.
And last but not at all least, thank you to all of our fabulous presenters who came to Juneau from all over Southeast, the state of Alaska and beyond to donate their time and expertise: Keri Krout, Amy Lang, Deborah Harris, Tara Maltby, Pat Sidmore, Heidi Johnson, Mj Grande, Nicki Shelton, Anji Gallanos, Janice Hurley, Kristen Spencer, Judie Klemmotson, Mariana Moreno-Goodwin, John Bennett, Mandy O’Neil-Cole, Nicole Adair, Sergeant Burke, Jeri Museth, Meghan Johnson, Talea Kellar, Emily Coate, Melinda Messmer, Bev Ingram, John Smith, Tommie Jimmie, Justin McDonald, Victoria Johnson, Marsha Hotch, Jerry Bennett, Christa Womack, Lisa Arehart, Jessica Mills Clark, Christi Williams and Kenneth Weber.
Next year the conference will be held on March 17 and 18 at Centennial Hall.
Joy Lyon, M.A.,
Executive Director,
AEYC Southeast Alaska
