9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Keynote Presentation
From Awkward to Awesome:
Strategies for Mastering Hard Conversations
- Dr. Teri DeLucca
Communication in all its forms is an essential component of working in the early education field and living a happy life. As early educators, we’re communicating with supervisors, colleagues, children AND their families along with our own loved ones on a daily basis, so we need to make sure we have all the right tools in our tool box! Throughout this session, we will examine effective strategies for strengthening our relationships through good communication skills. We will talk about strategies for having better communication with coworkers & families, with particular focus on those pesky difficult ones. We will dive deep into how to best have hard conversations without those awkward moments causing anxiety, worry, and fall out. We will leave you with action steps to put in place at work, at home, and even when you are out and about town. All of life’s successes and failures usually come from our interactions with others, so we will ensure you can get it right, so you can grow your influence.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM LDOE Updates
Moderator: Shelia Campbell
• Teaching and Learning Updates – Amy Poirier
- Licensing Reminders & Updates _ Andrea Burl
- CCAP Reminders & Updates – Melinda George
- CC Criminal Background Check Reminders & Update - Kayla Batiste
- EdLink and KinderSystems Reminders and Updates – Robert Klein
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tracking and Organizing CCAP Remittances, Redeterminations, Semi-Automated Invoices (SAIs) and More - Danielle Credeur, Chief Operating Officer, Sugar N' Spice Academy
In this session, center owners and directors will learn how to effectively and efficiently track and organize their CCAP Remittances, their CCAP redeterminations and their semi-automated invoices (also known as SAIs). Come prepared with your laptop and your CCAP paperwork to roll up your sleeves and get your Child Care Assistance Program paperwork organized so that your center can easily stay on top of CCAP payments received, owed and pending.
12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM Lunch Break
Highlights from our Sponsors and Corporate Partners
1:30 - 4:30 PM Breakout Session
Dr. Teri DeLucca and Dr. Brittany Hewett
From “Just a Pulse” to Passion: Unlock the Buy-in of Your Team & Improve Center Culture
All Directors/Owners in the trenches know how much heart, dedication, teaching skill, professionalism, and many other components are the making of a great teacher. We want our staff to have the buy in and commitment to stay during the challenging days, and to be viewed (and FEEL!) as more than a warm body covering a classroom. We want them to be capable and competent and to see themselves as having the potential to elevate and that starts with investing in them. Join us for an insightful and engaging two hour session designed to
- reignite the teaching spark,
- increase staff buy-in to your vision
- reduce the revolving door of turnover!
In this workshop, we’ll explore how you can leverage coaching & mentoring strategies to cultivate a striving organizational climate in your center. By focusing on key dimensions of clarity, supervisor support, professional development, along with their own self leadership, Directors/Owners will learn new strategies that shift center culture. We’ll share strategies for effectively supporting teacher mental health, stopping the drama train, and how leaders can navigate the overwhelm and stay ahead of that dreaded burnout so they can empower their teams to reach their full potential, increase staff buy-in, and drive organizational success.
About the Presenters
Dr. Teri DeLucca is the Founder & CEO of Impact Early Education. Impact helps owners/ directors lead successful schools & provides teachers with effective strategies & solutions. Dr. DeLucca has a dual PhD in educational psychology & previously worked as a research scientist focused on early intervention & social-emotional development. She successfully operated privately owned preschools where she reduced staff turnover, improved school culture & expanded business growth- however the aspect she found most rewarding was coaching & leading her team. The combination of her expertise & experiences gave her unique insight into the need for effective PD that disrupts the status quo and evokes change in schools. She founded Impact Early Education in 2020 & the team now serves preschool owners, directors, & teachers across the world. She is a published author, recognized speaker, and her work has been recognized by multiple awards including the Sigma Xi Women in Science Award, Academic Pediatric Association’s Young Investigator Award, the Institute of Education.
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Tara Emery is the President of the Child Care Association of Louisiana. She is the owner & director of London Bridge Early Learning Centers with two locations in East Baton Rouge Parish and one location in Ascension Parish. She also operates two microcenters in partnership with the East Rouge Parish School System, one at the Baton Rouge Center for the Visual and Performing Arts and one at Westminster Elementary School. In addition to being a longstanding member of the Child Care Association of Louisiana, she is also a member of the National Child Care Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children.
Dr. Brittany Hewett's educational background consists of a Doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies. as well as a Master of Science in Child Development and Family Relations and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. She has also been recognized by the National Council on Family Relations as a Certified Family Life Educator, which acknowledges her competence in ten content areas such as: families and individuals in societal contexts, human growth and development across the lifespan, and professional ethics and practice. Brittany has an intricate knowledge of the ECE field as she has served in early care classrooms as a teacher, in administration as an assistant director, as a lecturer in courses for aspiring early childhood educators, as a researcher examining and evaluating ECE contexts, an Early Childhood Behavior Specialist, and is now serving as the Director of Education for Impact Early Education where she gets to combine her knowledge, skills and passion in creating professional development for early educators!
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Danielle Credeur is from Lafayette and resides in Scott, Louisiana. She is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Sugar n’ Spice Children’s Academy and Inspire Management Solutions. Danielle had been a part of the Sugar ‘n Spice Family since 1990. She began dance classes from the owner of Sugar ‘n Spice at the time, Mrs. Carita Pearce, at the age of 5 in 1979 and has been a part of the family ever since. Danielle’s love and compassion for the children, families, employees, vendors, and all partners earned her the “Heart” of Sugar ‘n Spice Award in 2012. Danielle oversees payroll, account receivable/payable, and all Child Care Assistance/DCFS accounting for all four locations of Sugar ‘n Spice Children’s Academy as well as multiple Property Management Companies with her boss Jonathan Pearce.
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