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DFW Literacy Symposium 2024 – Opening Doors With Literacy

DFW Symposium Program Details

8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: CHECK-IN, VISIT EXHIBITOR TABLES

8:30 AM – 8:45 AM: SYMPOSIUM OPENS

Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker, Executive Director, Literacy Texas

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Session 1 (90 min)

Delivering Job-Ready Candidates (Nueces A & B)

When workplace skills are integrated into the classroom, programs can better deliver job-ready candidates. When employers see that students have adequate workplace skills and qualifications, they will be more willing to hire them.

In this session, we will review job readiness skills to better equip our student population as they return to their communities so that they can be successful in the workplace.

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER

Presenter: Dr. Olga Escamilla, TCALL

Escamilla, Dr Olga

Dr. Olga Escamilla has over 26 years of experience in adult education, and currently serves as a PD Specialist with TRAIN PD @ TCALL. She has served as a teacher’s aide, data entry, ABE Instructor, AEL Supervisor, Professional Development Grant Coordinator, AEL Director, Job Coach, and Workforce Case Manager. She has served as a Senior Lecturer with TAMUK- Masters of Adult Education program since 2009.

Dr. Escamilla served on the COABE Board as Region-4 Representative from 2019 – 2022.

A Teacher’s Dozen (Bosque)

From warm-up activities and vocabulary lessons to grammar topics and pronunciation practice, this session will have a variety pack of ideas and activities to energize your classroom. In this collaborative session teachers will share ideas and strategies to help students improve literacy in the classroom and beyond.

Join to learn about multilevel classroom practices to differentiate instruction and adapt activities to keep all students engaged and appropriately challenged.

Attendees will walk away with ideas and strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of each learner and enrich your multilevel classroom. Participants will leave full of new strategies to support their learners. Sweeten your day with the BurlingtonEnglish team!

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT

Presenters:

Catherine Callejo, BurlingtonEnglish

Catherine Callejo is a Customer Representative at Burlington English, bringing over 15 years of educational experience from the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth. Passionate about fostering effective learning environments, she utilizes her extensive teaching background to support educators in implementing Burlington English in their classroom, and to helping teachers create differentiated and engaging ESL classrooms that inspire students to thrive.

Evangeline Braden, BurlingtonEnglish

Evangeline Braden is a Customer Representative for Burlington English with a background rooted in K-12 education and community engagement. Before joining Burlington, she dedicated her career to teaching, coaching, and actively supporting communities. Evangeline brings extensive experience in leadership roles where she has mentored, coached, and taught both youth and adults, spanning K-12 education, organized competitive sports, and community programs. Her passion lies in empowering others to reach their full potential, making her a committed advocate for personal and professional growth.

Group Chat IRL: Leadership (Frio)

Group Chat IRL (In Real Life) sessions bring small groups together for guided conversation, networking, and idea-sharing. This session is for anyone in leadership at their organization – gather for some real talk about the trials, tribulations, and joys of literacy leadership. Share your latest innovations and ask others for ideas. Take part in guided networking and leave with new and renewed connections with others in the DFW region.

In this session: Leadership can be a healthy mix of excitement, stress, and rewards all in one big serving. However, non-profit leadership adds in a spicy set of challenges that leaders of other types of organizations simply do not face. In this interactive session, we will share our recipes for success. Participants will leave with fresh ideas in a number of topics, including financial management, faculty and staff relations, student recruitment and retention, and program development, among others. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER

Facilitator: Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker, Literacy Texas

Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker joined Literacy Texas in January 2024, after a successful run as the Executive Director of the Literacy Council of Bowie and Miller Counties, a small non-profit that made a big impact on the Texarkana community during her tenure. Dr. Walker helped the organization find financial stability and expanded innovative academic and workforce program options for adult learners at her center. She and her team launched the first 100 Families Alliance in Texas, and this innovative approach to holistic support for students led to impressive growth in enrollment and goal completion rates for those she serves.

Dr. Walker was a first-generation college student who personally knows the powerful role that education plays in helping change the course of a person’s life. This passion has fueled a career in education that has spanned two decades and impacted thousands of students. She is a certified Texas teacher and principal, and she has worked in both adjunct faculty and staff positions in higher education. She has also led professional development trainings for teachers and administrators and served as a public speaker. She earned a doctorate in education leadership from Texas A&M University–Texarkana, and her dissertation research focused on the importance of holistic support for adult learners. She holds a master’s degree in education administration from Texas A&M University–Texarkana, and she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Texas.

Please note – this special intensive course runs throughout the day and is only available to those who register for it in advance. 

Beginning Literacy ESL – Part 1 (Caddo)

This intensive course provides instructors with techniques and strategies to improve the persistence and performance of learners at the lowest level of ESL. Teachers will learn how to promote an environment that builds retention and community among learners.

Strategies and activities focus on realia found in the learners’ environment to help beginning literacy ESL learners develop basic oral communication skills and build reading and writing skills. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT

Presenter: Denise Johnson, TCALL

Denise Johnson is a graduate of Grambling State University and Lamar University. She is blessed to be the mother of one son, Denise’s greatest accomplishment.

Early in her career she worked at International Business Machines (IBM), as a software engineer and project manager. She has over 29 years of experience in technology, project management, training, and education. Ms. Johnson has a successful track record of leadership, networking, and innovative problem solving. Ms. Johnson currently serves as an Internal Auditor for Houston-Galvestion Area Council.

Prior to her current position she served as the Program Administrator, Adult Education and Literacy where she was succesful at building and strenghenting relationships with internal and external partners. Having served over 17 years in Adult Education and Literacy, where she started as a part-time instructor and went on to also serve as distance learning, workforce, and field program assistant. As professional development Coordinator, Ms. Johnson was able to passionately help adult learners develop both professionally and personally.

As a program manager Ms. Johnson managed the Integrated Education and Training (IET) and the Data Entry Departments. Ms. Johnson coming from a humble background has a passion to help people (youth and adults) transition from jobs to careers.

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM: Session 2 (90 min)

A is for Adult – Part 1 (Nueces A & B)

In this 3-hour interactive session, participants will explore some of the major tenets of teaching adults, including Malcom Knowles’ assumptions and principles of Andragogy. 

Group discussions of adult learning theory, motivators, barriers and drivers of persistence of adult education students will allow participants to have a greater understanding of how to reach our students in a meaningful way. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): PAL

Presenter: Wayne Crandall, TCALL

Wayne Crandall has been in adult education for more than 20 years. He has taught both ABE/ASE and ESL classes, has been an AEL Program coordinator, and is an AEL Trainer.

He is currently a Field Professional Development Specialist with the TRAIN PD @TCALL, where he develops PD content, trains adult education teachers and assists Texas Adult Education programs with their professional development needs.

Group Chat IRL: Building Student Leaders (Frio)

Group Chat IRL (In Real Life) sessions bring small groups together for guided conversation, networking, and idea-sharing. This session is for anyone who works with adult students – gather for some real talk about how to build truly student-centered programs. Share your latest innovations and ask others for ideas. Take part in guided networking and leave with new and renewed connections with others in the DFW region.

In this session: We often talk about the importance of having “student-centered instruction,” but we sometimes struggle to put that into practice in our learning centers. How do we move students from merely receiving instruction to being active participants in the learning process? How can we capitalize on the strengths of our adult learners to help our programs grow? 

In this interactive session, we will talk about the important components required for building student leadership in your organization. Participants will share about their successes with student leadership and walk away with new ideas to take back to their programs. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER

Facilitator: Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker, Literacy Texas

Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker joined Literacy Texas in January 2024, after a successful run as the Executive Director of the Literacy Council of Bowie and Miller Counties, a small non-profit that made a big impact on the Texarkana community during her tenure. Dr. Walker helped the organization find financial stability and expanded innovative academic and workforce program options for adult learners at her center. She and her team launched the first 100 Families Alliance in Texas, and this innovative approach to holistic support for students led to impressive growth in enrollment and goal completion rates for those she serves.

Dr. Walker was a first-generation college student who personally knows the powerful role that education plays in helping change the course of a person’s life. This passion has fueled a career in education that has spanned two decades and impacted thousands of students. She is a certified Texas teacher and principal, and she has worked in both adjunct faculty and staff positions in higher education. She has also led professional development trainings for teachers and administrators and served as a public speaker. She earned a doctorate in education leadership from Texas A&M University–Texarkana, and her dissertation research focused on the importance of holistic support for adult learners. She holds a master’s degree in education administration from Texas A&M University–Texarkana, and she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Texas.

Please note – this special intensive course runs throughout the day and is only available to those who register for it in advance. 

Beginning Literacy ESL – Part 2 (Caddo)

This intensive course provides instructors with techniques and strategies to improve the persistence and performance of learners at the lowest level of ESL. Teachers will learn how to promote an environment that builds retention and community among learners.

Strategies and activities focus on realia found in the learners’ environment to help beginning literacy ESL learners develop basic oral communication skills and build reading and writing skills. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT

Presenter: Denise Johnson, TCALL

Denise Johnson is a graduate of Grambling State University and Lamar University. She is blessed to be the mother of one son, Denise’s greatest accomplishment.

Early in her career she worked at International Business Machines (IBM), as a software engineer and project manager. She has over 29 years of experience in technology, project management, training, and education. Ms. Johnson has a successful track record of leadership, networking, and innovative problem solving. Ms. Johnson currently serves as an Internal Auditor for Houston-Galvestion Area Council.

Prior to her current position she served as the Program Administrator, Adult Education and Literacy where she was succesful at building and strenghenting relationships with internal and external partners. Having served over 17 years in Adult Education and Literacy, where she started as a part-time instructor and went on to also serve as distance learning, workforce, and field program assistant. As professional development Coordinator, Ms. Johnson was able to passionately help adult learners develop both professionally and personally.

As a program manager Ms. Johnson managed the Integrated Education and Training (IET) and the Data Entry Departments. Ms. Johnson coming from a humble background has a passion to help people (youth and adults) transition from jobs to careers.

12:30 PM – 1:15 PM: WORKING LUNCH

Networking and guided collaborative activities

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Session 3 (90 min)

A is for Adult – Part 2 (Nueces A & B)

In this 3-hour interactive session, participants will explore some of the major tenets of teaching adults, including Malcom Knowles’ assumptions and principles of Andragogy. 

Group discussions of adult learning theory, motivators, barriers and drivers of persistence of adult education students will allow participants to have a greater understanding of how to reach our students in a meaningful way. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): PAL

Presenter: Wayne Crandall, TCALL

Wayne Crandall has been in adult education for more than 20 years. He has taught both ABE/ASE and ESL classes, has been an AEL Program coordinator, and is an AEL Trainer.

He is currently a Field Professional Development Specialist with the TRAIN PD @TCALL, where he develops PD content, trains adult education teachers and assists Texas Adult Education programs with their professional development needs.

Please note – this special intensive course runs throughout the day and is only available to those who register for it in advance. 

Beginning Literacy ESL – Part 3 (Caddo)

This intensive course provides instructors with techniques and strategies to improve the persistence and performance of learners at the lowest level of ESL. Teachers will learn how to promote an environment that builds retention and community among learners.

Strategies and activities focus on realia found in the learners’ environment to help beginning literacy ESL learners develop basic oral communication skills and build reading and writing skills. 

PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT

Presenter: Denise Johnson, TCALL

Denise Johnson is a graduate of Grambling State University and Lamar University. She is blessed to be the mother of one son, Denise’s greatest accomplishment.

Early in her career she worked at International Business Machines (IBM), as a software engineer and project manager. She has over 29 years of experience in technology, project management, training, and education. Ms. Johnson has a successful track record of leadership, networking, and innovative problem solving. Ms. Johnson currently serves as an Internal Auditor for Houston-Galvestion Area Council.

Prior to her current position she served as the Program Administrator, Adult Education and Literacy where she was succesful at building and strenghenting relationships with internal and external partners. Having served over 17 years in Adult Education and Literacy, where she started as a part-time instructor and went on to also serve as distance learning, workforce, and field program assistant. As professional development Coordinator, Ms. Johnson was able to passionately help adult learners develop both professionally and personally.

As a program manager Ms. Johnson managed the Integrated Education and Training (IET) and the Data Entry Departments. Ms. Johnson coming from a humble background has a passion to help people (youth and adults) transition from jobs to careers.

3:00 PM – 3:15 PM: CLOSING SESSION

Wrap-up, door prizes (must be present to win!)

3:15 PM: FAREWELL

You missed this event – but there are more coming up!

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Checked/updated 11/06/2024

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