Early childhood education conference held at ACTC

Published on Aug 1, 2024

In collaboration with Ashland Regional Training Center (RTC), Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, and Northeastern Alliance Early Childhood Collaborative, Ashland Community and Technical College (ACTC) was honored to host the 2024 Summer Institute, a professional learning opportunity for preschool teachers and administrators from child care, Early Head Start, Head Start, and state funded preschool programs.

The conference was held July 19 and 20 with over 100 registered for the two-day free event. 

This year’s theme was “Come Together: Connect, Collaborate, and Cultivate Learning!”  

Kateri Thunder was featured as the keynote speaker for the event. 

Thunder has the pleasure of collaborating with learners and educators from school divisions and early learning centers around the world to translate research into practice. She has served as an inclusive early childhood educator, an Upward Bound educator, a mathematics specialist, an assistant professor of mathematics education at James Madison University, and Site Director for the Central Virginia Writing Project. 

Her research, writing, and presentations focus on equity and access in early childhood and mathematics education, as well as the intersection of literacy and mathematics for teaching and learning. Kateri has collaborated with thousands of educators to catalyze change in their classrooms, centers, and schools. 

She is the chair of NCTM’s Research Committee and co-creator of The Math Diet. 

She is also a best-selling author for Corwin’s Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom Series, the Success Criteria Playbook, and Visible Learning in Early Childhood.

“My staff and I spent two quality days immersed in learning and growing our skills,” Stephanie Lyons, Director of the Boyd County Early Childhood Academy shared. “There were sessions to challenge and inspire each of us and we cannot wait to implement what we’ve learned. Thank you for this excellent opportunity RTC and ACTC!” 

Concurrent sessions were facilitated by national, state and local presenters. The sessions focused on supporting the development of all young children through effective, developmentally appropriate practices. 

Other community partners were on-site to provide resources and support.

All participants received free professional and classroom materials.  

“Giving up a Friday and Saturday of my summer break was well worth it,” Monica Carper, preschool teacher from Carter County Schools commented. “Hearing Dr. Thunder speak about the importance of intentional learning through play reminds me of the importance of my role as a preschool teacher.”