Meeting Pattern

April 26, 2025 [9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.]

Description

The Pathway to Partnerships Conference is a one-day conference for parents and professionals focusing on building partnerships between school and home, while also highlighting available special education and parent services across the state of ND. This year’s keynote speaker will be Hunter Pinke, who is a lifelong North Dakotan who grew up in the rural town of Wishek, ND. Hunter delivers his No Bad Days approach to life after he suffered a complete spinal cord injury at the age of 22.

Afternoon breakout sessions include:

• an overview of parent organizations that aid in the navigation of services birth and up;
• available services related to children with special needs;
• relationship building;
• the importance of communication with families; and,
• how to increase family engagement efforts.

Syllabus, Objectives, and Outcomes

Objectives:

Participants will:

• be equipped to use defined strategies and resources to implement true family engagement efforts. 
• be able to immediately access or guide families toward accessing ND state services available for families, children and professionals.
• be able to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of creating and maintaining meaningful relationships with the families of the children they serve. It will equip educators to integrate defined strategies and resources in the creation and implementation of true family engagement efforts, utilizing everyday events and communication methods to cultivate meaningful relationships with the families of the children that they serve.

• also be able to immediately guide parents through knowledge gained and resources received through this conference.