2025 Administrative Assistants Conference

1. Teamwork in Action: Building an Effective Principal-Admin Assistant Partnership
Derrick Kunsman & Sarah Ahmad, Chippewa Falls Middle School

A strong partnership between administrator and administrative assistant is essential for a successful school environment. This session will delve into our collaborative relationship, sharing with you insights and strategies we have implemented which focus on communication, efficiency, and teamwork. 

2. Google Sheets and Forms- Intermediate Level
Jason Rubo, Director of Technology, Verona Area School District

Join me for this information session, carefully designed to boost your existing skills and enhance your proficiency as an administrative assistant using Google Sheets. Go deeper into the capabilities of Google Sheets, including advanced features like pivot tables, formulas, splitting cells, VLOOKUP, and more. These tools will empower you to streamline data management, craft dynamic reports, and automate intricate tasks, ultimately enhancing your efficiency and effectiveness. Whether you’re organizing information, generating insightful reports, or making data-driven decisions, this session will provide you with the expertise and tools to excel in your administrative assistant role.

3. AI for Administrative Assistants: Elevating Excellence in Support of School Success- Beginner Level
Rita Mortenson, Educational Technology Coach, Verona Area School District

Join this session designed for administrative assistants looking to leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence to support principals, superintendents or other school leaders effectively. Explore how AI can revolutionize your daily responsibilities, from managing schedules and emails to automating data entry, freeing you up to provide invaluable support. Delve into AI-driven data analytics for more informed decision-making and discover AI tools that streamline communication and document management. By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped to harness AI’s potential, bolster your administrative skills, and offer invaluable support to your principal or superintendent. Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your role in education administration through AI!

4. Front Office Conflict, Handling Challenging Interactions
Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Learning, AWSA

As a front office staff member, you are often the first line of defense for the school, the principal and the staff. Often times there are uncomfortable interactions, challenging situations, or someone/something that is demanding your attention and urgency. Not everyone who comes through the office handles their emotions or issues in the most effective ways. In this session, participants will learn some conversational stems that can de-escalate and/or move a person out of their emotional state into a productive state.

5. Canva Basics: Empowering Administrative Assistants to Create in Canva
Amanda Getgen, Communications Strategist, The Donovan Group

This beginner-friendly Canva workshop is designed to equip school and district administrative assistants with the tools and skills they need to create professional and engaging designs in Canva easily. This course covers all the essentials of Canva, from basic use to setting up your brand, creating a template library, and crafting your own designs. For this session, you must have an active Canva account and bring your questions! 

1. Effective Project Management for Administrative Support in School Systems: Strategies for Balancing Diverse Roles and Responsibilities
Wendy Brody, Student Services Specialist, Samantha Cervantes, Administrative Assistant, Denetrice Sercye, Lead Administrative Associate, & Chandu Vemuri, Executive Assistant for Board and Superintendent Leadership, Sun Prairie School District

Whether in large or small districts, administrative assistants at the site, director or superintendent level are charged with effectively managing critical tasks for a school district. At Sun Prairie, the 12th largest school district in the state of Wisconsin, encompassing 15 sites, including early childhood, 4K and adult transition, our administrative assistants support school sites, district departments, assistant superintendents and the superintendent. Come hear how members of our administrative support team effectively manage tasks related to fiscal, reporting and data tracking components of special education, expulsions and enrollment and kindergarten orientation. We will provide real time strategies on how we manage these projects and tasks, which will be especially helpful for districts who do not have these specialized roles and where administrative assistants are balancing everything at once.

2. Maximizing Gmail and Google Calendar: Advanced Tips for Efficient Communication and Scheduling- Intermediate Level
Jason Rubo, Director of Technology, Verona Area School District

This session dives deep into the advanced features of Gmail and Google Calendar to help you manage your communication and scheduling more effectively. Learn how to leverage Gmail’s advanced settings, such as filters, labels, templates, and automated responses, to keep your inbox organized and reduce email overload. Discover powerful tips for using Google Calendar, including creating custom calendar views, sharing calendars, setting up appointment slots, and integrating with other Google Workspace tools for seamless scheduling. Whether you’re looking to streamline your daily tasks or improve your overall productivity, this class offers practical solutions and advanced strategies to make the most of Gmail and Google Calendar.

3. Google Docs and Drive: Enhance Collaboration and Organization- Intermediate Level
Rita Mortenson, Educational Technology Coach, Verona Area School District

Learn how to maximize the potential of Google Docs and Google Drive to enhance collaboration and streamline document management in your school. We will cover tips and tricks for creating and formatting professional documents, organizing and sharing files effectively, and utilizing advanced features like version history, commenting, and real-time collaboration. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, this hands-on class will provide practical strategies to help you stay organized, collaborate seamlessly with colleagues, and manage your digital workspace efficiently. Bring your questions and be ready to explore new ways to boost productivity using Google’s powerful tools! 

4. The V.U.C.A. Advantage: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities with Vision, Understanding, Collaboration, and Agility
Dametra Moore, Executive Assistant, Madison Metro School District

Take your Canva skills to the next level with this intermediate class for school administrative assistants performing communication and design tasks in Canva. This workshop dives deeper into using Canva’s more advanced features that may be helpful to administrative assistants, such as the bulk create feature, Magic Studio tools and capabilities, and apps within Canva that will enhance workflows and create consistency.

1:45 - 2:00 PM Dessert Break 

2:00 PM Closing Keynote:
A Consciously Competent Office: The Benefits of Reflective Practice
Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Learning, AWSA

Classroom teachers must reflect on their impact on the students they serve to improve student outcomes. Our office certainly has an impact on everyone who walks through the door so our ability to reflect means actively considering and analyzing our interactions, evaluating our own performance in each situation, and using that insight to improve future interactions by identifying areas for improvement, and adapting our approach based on feedback. This session will have participants reflecting on how they have handled situations and how others interpret these interactions.

Other Information:

Event cancellation or Postponement
AWSA reserves exclusive right to modify, postpone/reschedule or cancel programs for any reason, including but not limited to emergency, inclement weather or other acts of God. If there is an event cancellation, every attempt will be made to reschedule and registration fees will be applied to the reschedule event dates. In the unlikely event of cancellation of an event, including inclement weather, the liability of AWSA is limited to the return of paid registration fees minus actual expenses. Cancellations of travel reservations and hotel reservations made directly with the hotel are the responsibility of the attendee.

Conventions, Conferences, and Workshop Cancellation Policy
A full refund of fees will be made on cancellations received 10 calendar days prior to the start of the event (7/13/25). If you cancel between 7/14/25 and 7/18/25 will receive a 50% refund of the fees. After that date there will be no refunds. There is no refund for no-shows.

Dietary Disclaimer
AWSA makes every effort to accommodate basic dietary needs such as vegetarian, gluten-free and basic food allergies. AWSA does not assume liability for adverse reactions to food consumed or items one may come into contact with while eating at an AWSA event. 

Accessibility
For questions about accessibility or to request special assistance during the event, please contact Kathy Gilbertson at [email protected]. Three weeks advance notice is required to allow us to provide seamless access. If you need to cancel the special request this must be done at least 3 working days prior to the start of the event. See registration cancellation policy on the event’s web page for how to cancel your conference registration.

*Refund fees retained by AWSA pay for your food guarantees, a/v equipment, meeting room rental and any hotel attritions caused by the cancellation.