This year’s ACE Conference was nothing short of a success! With over 90 sessions, trainings and workshops, attendees learned about the latest teaching strategies, resources, technology updates, best practices, test taking skills, and updates from the FLDOE for adult education. The conference was planned to ‘empower’ all of our adult educators to help them face their day-to-day challenges when they return to their schools. I hope we were successful in empowering you to, in turn, empower your students.
We were honored that the Florida Department of Education, Division of Career and Adult Education staff were in attendance and well represented. Their participation is invaluable to the practitioners in the field, and their expertise and support is a huge reason that the ACE Conference is a success. We welcomed and introduced our new Florida Adult Education Program Director, Ms. Carol Bailey, to the conference. We look forward to working closely with her to continue providing the best in leadership and training to the adult education field. A special thank you to Carol, Kathleen Taylor and Rod Duckworth for their continued support and leadership.
The line-up of concurrent sessions at this year’s conference was outstanding! Thank you to our presenters who took the time and effort to prepare the informative, interesting and hands-on sessions for the conference. The presenters are the heart and soul of the conference, and the main reason for having this event is to offer professional development and training to the participants. Conference attendees were not disappointed this year!
I would like to recognize our ACE Conference sponsors for their generous support. It’s their sponsorships that enable us to provide the extras that make a big difference in your conference experience!
Gold Sponsor – Grand Opening of Exhibits and Sunshine Success Stories
English Discoveries – Stewart Holtz, Jill Rosolek and Christina Piland
Gold Sponsor – President’s Reception
Paxen Publishing – Deanna Crosson, Richard Semancik and Chris Miller
Silver Sponsor – Conference Bags
Burlington English – Kimberly Bartholomew, Lauren Abraham, Didier Brunot and Vicky Denkus
Silver Sponsor – Ice Cream Social
Aztec Software – Adriane Fajnor and Mike Widra
Silver Sponsor – Monday Afternoon Break
Focus School Software – Shannon Hutchinson and Kiffani Irby
We owe a huge thank you to ACE President and Conference Chair Maria Miranda for her leadership and vision for this year’s conference. The ACE Board of Directors was an integral part of the planning and running of the ‘behind the scenes’ activities. They were also responsible for donating those outstanding raffle baskets! I would also like to thank the ACE staff, Leigh Ann Clark and Ashley Olevitch. Your hard work, positive attitude and attention to detail makes the ACE Conference run smoothly. I could not do it without each of you!
ACE will soon be emailing information on upcoming professional development workshops in your area. Topics include ESOL and EL-Civics, adults with learning disabilities, and part-time teacher academies. The Best Practices Round-up is tentatively scheduled for February back at the Westgate River Ranch. The Summer Symposium is scheduled for June 9-11, 2019 at the Wyndham Grand Jupiter Harbourside.
Mark your calendar now for the 29th Annual ACE Conference scheduled for October 2-4, 2019 at the Hilton West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Convention Center. We’ve already begun making plans and will be sending out call for proposals after the first of the year!
Continue visiting the ACE website, www.aceoffloridafoundation.org, for updates. Feel free to contact the ACE office with any questions. Thank you so much for your support!