Event Details

MESPA Institute 2021 - Virtual Edition

  • 01 Mar 2021
  • 9:00 AM
  • 02 Mar 2021
  • 2:30 PM
  • Virtual - You will receive log-in details to our platform as we get closer to the event!

Registration

  • Aspiring and Retired Members can attend Institute 2021 for no cost! You must be logged in to register.

Registration is closed

COVID-19 won't stop the learning, collaboration, and FUN of MESPA Institute!

Join us for our LIVE virtual conference, March 1-2, 2021, 9am-2:30pm! MESPA Institute 2021 includes:

  • 4 thought leaders to motivate, inspire, and empower your learning.
  • 16 breakout sessions rooted in educational equity and cultural responsiveness; mental health supports for staff, students, and self; leadership development; and principal essentials.
  • Access to our event sponsors—our MESPA Business Partners—to connect and share resources!
  • PLUS, all registrants will receive access to ALL session recordings and materials for 30 DAYS following the event and receive CEUs based on the sessions you watch!

February 6 and on: $250
Aspiring Principal + Retired Principal Members attend for free!

We are excited for Institute to start this Monday! 

Please be sure to sign-in to our event app before Monday morning: The app is the ONLY place to watch our livestreams! 

Search your inbox for an email from event-noreply@whova.io with the subject line "Institute 2021: Log in to the app before Mar 1" sent within the last 2 weeks. That message contains all the instructions you'll need to log in, so be sure to check your spam/junk, Promotions or Social tabs, and trash folders if you're having trouble finding it. Contact MESPA ASAP if you are unable to locate the instructions; during the conference our small-but-mighty team will be very limited in our availability to help. 

If you can't find the email (we HIGHLY recommend trying to locate it as it has ALL the details), try heading to this link, use your exact email address that we are emailing right now, and create the password of your choice. Be sure to save your login information for the day-of!

Want to learn more about how to use the app? Click here to watch an attendee tutorial video!

Already logged in to the app? Here is a link to the mobile app if you haven't downloaded it yet (please note the mobile app doesn't have all the features of the web app). And be sure to bookmark the Web App!

Our 2021 Thought Leaders

In order of appearance

Hamish Brewer"Relentless" Known as the relentless, tattooed, skateboarding principal from Northern Virginia, Hamish isn't your normal principal. He is high octane, constantly calling on his students to Be Relentless. Mr. Brewer has become known as an educational disrupter who transcends the status quo and typical educational norms.

Mr. Brewer was recognized in 2017 as the NAESP National Distinguished Principal from Virginia, among his many notable accolades. Hamish is the best-selling author of Relentless - Disrupting The Educational Norm, published in 2019.

Mr. Brewer previously served at the state level as the Federal Relations Coordinator on the Board of Directors with the Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals and is currently the lead fellow of NAESP's Center for Innovative Leadership. He is a school turnaround and school improvement specialist, working with some of the most at-risk students in the United States.

Dr. Muhammad Khalifa—"Culturally Responsive School Leadership: From dialogue to system change" Dr. Khalifa is a professor of educational administration and Executive Director for Urban Education Initiatives at the Ohio State University. Before coming to OSU, Dr. Khalifa held the Robert Beck Endowed Professorship in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Having worked as a public school teacher and administrator in Detroit, Dr. Khalifa's research examines how urban school leaders enact culturally responsive leadership practices. His latest book, Culturally Responsive School Leadership (2018) was published by Harvard Education Press. He has led equity audits in U.S. schools as a way to reduce achievement and discipline gaps, and he is the first to develop and use online Equity Audits for schools. In addition to his urban work in the U.S., Dr. Khalifa has engaged in school leadership reform in African and Asian countries, including a recent U.N. project in East Africa. 

Paul Gorski—"Leading with Equity Literacy: Avoiding Common Equity Detours, Embracing Critical Equity Principles" Paul Gorski is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He has more than 20 years of experience helping educators, nonprofit workers, and others strengthen their equity efforts. He has worked with educators in 48 states and a dozen countries. Paul has published more than 70 articles and has written, co-written, or co-edited twelve books on various aspects of educational equity including Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap and Case Studies on Diversity and Social Justice Education (with Seema Pothini). He is the author of the Multicultural Pavilion, an online compendium of free resources for educators. Paul earned a PhD in Educational Evaluation at the University of Virginia. 

Jessica Cabeen—"Dream Big, Live Colorfully, Lead Boldly: Developing your Best Self at School and Home" currently serves as the principal of Ellis Middle School in Austin, MN. Prior to this role she was the Principal of the "Happiest Place in Southeastern Minnesota", Woodson Kindergarten Center. She has been an assistant middle school principal, a special education supervisor, and special education teacher. Jessica was awarded the NAESP/VINCI Digital Leader of Early Learning Award in 2016 and in 2017 was named the MN National Distinguished Principal. She is a Fellow for the National Elementary Association of School Principals and a Future Ready Principal™

She has written four books: Hacking Early Learning, Balance Like a Pirate, Lead with Grace and Unconventional Leadership. She was the principal facilitator for the Minnesota PreK-3 Principal Leadership Series and is a facilitator of the Minnesota Principal Academy. She speaks at regional and national conferences on topics such as family engagement, early learning, and unconventional leadership.


Registration includes an All-Access pass to keynotes and breakout content!

Your registration will include access to all live sessions the day-of the event. In addition, you will receive access to ALL session recordings and material for 30 days following the event. That means you can earn up to 10 CEUs per day for the sessions you watch live and the sessions you return to later!

Schedule overview:

Schedule subject to slight changes.
Monday, March 1:
9am - Welcome and Opening Keynote by Hamish Brewer
10:15am - Networking Activities and Break
10:45am - Breakout Session Block A
11:45am - Lunch Break
12:15pm - Keynote #2 by Dr. Muhammad Khalifa
1:30pm - Breakout Session Block B
2:30pm - End of Day 1

Tuesday, March 2:
9am - Keynote #3 by Paul Gorski
10:15am - Business Partner Activities and Break

10:45am - Breakout Session Block C

11:45am - Lunch Break
12:15pm - Breakout Session Block D

1:30pm - Keynote #4 by Jessica Cabeen

2:30pm - End of Conference

F.A.Q.

  • How will I watch live? Through our event app! See the information above for login instructions.
  • Do I need to be a MESPA member to attend? Yes! If you are an elementary or middle-level principal in MN, we would love for you to be a member. We also honor our member rate for MASSP members! If you are attending from out-of-state, we would love to have you! Contact us at 952.297.8670 or mespa@mespa.net to register at the member rate.
How do I become a MESPA member? You can find an overview of the benefits of membership and apply by visiting www.mespa.net/join. Simply click the yellow "Click here to become a new MESPA Member today!" button, fill out the application completely, and click Invoice me to pay by check OR click Pay online to pay by credit card for an additional fee.

How do I renew my membership? Renewal is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4!
  1. Log into your profile at mespa.net, then click View profile.
  2. Scroll down past the header text, "Membership details."
  3. Click the gray Renew Until 01 Jul 2021 button.
  4. Update your profile, then click Update and next, and click Invoice me to pay by check OR click Pay online to pay by credit card for an additional fee.
        • I'm an aspiring principal. Is this conference relevant to me? YES and this year, Aspiring Members are able to attend this conference for FREE as long as you are a member.
        • Do you accept credit cards? Yes! Once you complete your registration, you may choose either "Invoice Me" to pay by check, or "Pay Online" to pay via credit card! If you received an invoice, you can click the "View Invoice Online" link to pay online that way, too.
        • When are the MESPYs? The MESPYs will be livestreamed on April 15th at 7pm!
        • Other questions? Please contact MESPA at 952.297.8670! During the conference our small-but-mighty team will be very limited in our availability to help, but we'll do our best!


        Cancellation policy: A completed Institute registration constitutes a bill and commitment for full payment at the time of registration. Due to MESPA’s incurred costs (i.e. speaker fees, AV, virtual registration, etc.), please know that unfortunately, we are unable to grant refunds within one week from the start of the professional development (February 22, 2021 and on). Prior to the one-week mark (before February 22), we are able to issue a refund, less a $25 processing fee. We are sorry, but we are unable to issue refunds for no-show registrations due to our actual costs incurred.

        MESPA is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization

        1970 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 204
        Roseville, Minnesota, 55113
        952.297.8670

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