You probably were not able to go to every session, keynote, or presentation that you wanted to during the Bridge to the Future II conference in San Diego last week. It was great getting some heat and sun compared to Wisconsin (it was a high of 3 degrees that day).

Maybe there were two sessions that were at the same time, or you were just enjoying the 80 degree weather they were having. Either way, there was so much going on that you might have missed something, so I put together a list of the major news and happenings of the conference.

In no specific order:

  • It started with the Coulston family taking us through the process of the educational system in Delaware. They explained that through communication and self-advocacy, you can bring about positive social change. Chris is a high school senior who is an advocate for FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) and plans to work in the field of healthcare, Clem is a Teacher Education major at the University of Delaware and their mom, Ellen was instrumental in bringing Social Thinking(R) to Delaware schools.
  •  Sue Sawyer, President of CA Transition Alliance gave a talk on the basics of transition planning. She discussed best practices and how to achieve a goal of competitive employment for all.
  • The team at Sacramento City USD talked about self-advocacy– something we are truly passionate about. They talked about putting together a city-wide conference for youth coming together to hear about stories for success. Oh, and Susan McKellar is currently using Conover Online too! It was great to meet her.
  • Kimberly Osmani talked about the impact of WIOA on transition services. The overview of the law, intent, designation of funds and what exactly “pre-employment services” look like.

 

This is an example of 'pre-employment services' Work Samples provide an opportunity for youth to explore a given career field based off of their interests.

This is an example of ‘pre-employment services’ Work Samples provides an opportunity for youth to explore a given career field based off of their interests.

RoadTripNation's big green RV!

RoadTripNation’s big green RV!

This doesn’t cover everything that happened at the conference, but these were the things that stuck out to me. It was a great time meeting like minded professionals that have that same passion that we do at The Conover Company.

Please feel free to share this post or let me know in the comments what your favorite moments were of the conference!