2025 Middle & High School Principals Convention 

 The 2025 Middle and High School Principals Convention will take place February 5-7, 2025 at Hilton City Center, Milwaukee.


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Cost of the Convention:

Member Registration:  $267           
Non-Member Registration: $424          
Legal & AI Pre-Conference: $99
Retirement Pre-Conference: $49

Event Location:

Hilton City Center
509 W Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee
$164 run of house
(414) 935-5940
Block name: AWSA HSMS Principals Convention
Block expires on 1/14/25
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Additional Accommodations:

Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
139 E Kilbourn Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
$164
(414) 488-0540
Block name: AWSA HSMS Principals Convention
Block expires on 1/15/25
(Free shuttle from Saint Kate to Hilton)

 

In Partnership with the WI Army National Guard

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

12:00 - 4:30 PM  |  Pre-Conference Sessions ($99)

1. Harnessing the Power of AI for Secondary Principals
Rita Mortenson, Educational Tech Coach & Jason Rubo, Director of Technology, Verona Area SD & Brian Cox, Principal, Verona Area HS

We can use AI to enhance decision-making, streamline administrative processes, unlock insights from data, and support student success. You will walk away from this session able to harness AI in new ways to save time, grow your impact, and better balance your work and private life. The session will include information for leaders just beginning to explore AI and for those wanting to explore intermediate applications, so whether you're new to the world of AI, or have already utilized these tools for tasks like drafting correspondence, data analysis or helping your staff enhance teaching and learning, you will not want to miss this interactive session. 

12:00-1:15 | Legal Seminar General Session 

2. Student Discipline & The Suspension Expulsion Process, Plus! An Update On Hot Legal Topics
Bob Butler, WASB Associate Executive Director & Malina Piontek, AWSA’s Retained Legal Counsel

Attorneys Bob Butler and Malina Piontek will cover an area  secondary principals  deal with on a daily basis: student discipline. The presentation will  focus on tips for experienced secondary administrators when taking a student expulsion case to the school board, and suggestions on how to avoid having an expulsion decision overturned if appealed. AWSA members attending this session will receive an Expulsion Overview Guide with sample notifications and hearing procedures. Finally, in this plenary session, Bob and Malina will provide updates on any hot legal issues that principals need to know.


1:30-2:45 & 3:00-4:15  Legal Concurrent Sessions

Navigating Legal Issues Arising from Artificial Intelligence and Other Technology
Brian Goodman, Attorney, Boardman Clark

Building-level administrators are often on the front lines when dealing with the challenges posed by technology.  Rapid technological development, especially generative AI, has created unique legal challenges for building administrators to navigate.  Attorney Brian Goodman will help break down these legal issues, including issues involving plagiarism, AI-generated inappropriate images, “deep fakes,” false social media pages created by students to impersonate teachers and administrators, and more.  This session will also include several hypothetical scenarios so administrators can work through some examples as a group.

Title IX: Your Compass for Addressing Sex Discrimination and LGBTQIA+ Matters
Christine Hamiel, Attorney, Attolles Law

The 2024 presidential election is in the rearview mirror. The battle continues to wage on in federal courts. Where do things stand with respect to the 2024 Title IX regulations and case law applicable to LGBTQIA+ considerations? This session will provide updates as to the status of Title IX, as well as provide practical guidance to assist you in charting the course for your district for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year.

Keeping Up with Special Education and Section 504
Tess O’Brien-Heinzen, Attorney, Renning Lewis & Lacy

Navigating the maze of Special Education and Section 504 can be tricky for school district administrators, especially when they are called to step into contentious IEP meetings, respond to angry parents, calm staff tensions, and assess requests for accommodations.  Join Tess O’Brien-Heinzen as she walks through a basic primer of the laws applicable to students with disabilities and provides strategies for legal compliance with respect to the hottest special education and Section 504 topics, including discipline, seclusion and restraint, staff shortages, service animals, and accommodations for issues related to mental health including anxiety and depression.  Administrators should come prepared to participate in a robust discussion that will leave them feeling prepared to handle even the toughest issues ahead.

2:00 - 4:00 PM  |  Pre-Conference Session ($49)

3. Planning for Your Retirement
Joel Craven, Owner, Astraios Financial

This session will provide information on the three legs of a solid retirement: the WI Retirement System, Social Security and personal savings (e.g., Roth, 403(b) plans, etc.).  The session will also cover what educators should know about putting savings to good use and public service loan forgiveness.  Come with your questions and leave better prepared for your future. 

5:00 - 6:00 PM | Welcome Reception 


Thursday, February 6, 2025

7:30 - 8:15 AM  |  New Principals Breakfast  

If you are a new high school/middle school principal, please come to this informal breakfast to meet AWSA staff and other new and experienced leaders.

 

8:30 - 9:45 AM  |  Opening Keynote: Be Their Hero: Trauma Informed Care

Josh Varner, Consultant

Two out of every three students in the United States are impacted by a traumatic event. When students experience trauma or an extremely stressful situation, it's normal and natural for them to have a hard time coping afterwards. I'm passionate about teaching educators how to support individuals impacted by trauma. I specialize in inspiring educators that they can support these students and be the hero in their life journey. During this training participants will learn how many students are impacted by childhood trauma and how to identify them; and, how the brain and body respond to trauma and how that impacts student behavior. Participants will leave with a ‘Call to Action’ and be equipped with many specific tools that are easy to use to support their students.

 

9:45 - 10:00 AM  |  Break and Opening of the Expo Hall

10:00 - 11:15 AM  |  Concurrent Sessions Round One 

1. Managing the Unmanageable: How to Deal with Increased Stress in Schools 
Josh Varner, Consultant

Recent studies have shown that it has never been more stressful to be an educator than it has over the past two years.  Teacher burnout is at an all time high. So many of our stressors are out of our control (pandemic, lack of subs, increased student issues) but we can control how we manage our increased stress load. During this presentation you will learn how stress is stored in the body and evidence based ways to release it. During this training participants will learn: 1) how stress gets stored in the body, 2) evidence-based practices that complete the stress cycle, and 3) how to make an individualized stress management plan that meets the needs of each person. 

2. Cultivating Strong School Cultures: Empowering Growth, Achievement, Wellness, and Hope
Andy Farley, Principal, Brookfield East High School and the 2023 National Secondary Principal of the Year

We all aspire to work, lead, and serve in schools where growth and personal development are a daily commitment. This sentiment is equally true for the students and educators we support. In this session, participants will explore essential elements of fostering strong school cultures, with a focus on student and educator wellness. Discover how effective leadership and wellness structures can create environments where every individual feels physically and psychologically safe, appropriately challenged, and fully supported in their learning and growth journey.  Join us to explore the transformative power of hope in shaping educational experiences that inspire and empower students. Together, we will envision pathways to cultivate thriving school communities where every member can achieve their fullest potential.


3.  Effective Collaboration: Harnessing Student Work to Elevate Adult Practices 
Yaribel Rodriguez, Director of Urban Leadership, AWSA

In this dynamic session tailored for principals and educational leaders, we explore the transformative power of effective collaboration centered around student work. By examining student work with a discerning eye, educators gain invaluable insights into instructional effectiveness and student learning. This session delves into practical strategies for leveraging student work to inform and elevate adult practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Through engaging discussions and real-world examples, attendees will learn how to facilitate meaningful collaboration among staff, harnessing the collective expertise to drive positive change in teaching and learning. Join us to discover how effective collaboration around student work can propel your school community towards greater success and student achievement.


4. Tools and Tips for Communicating in Turbulent Times
Brian Nicol, Partner, Donovan Group

To say that we are living through a time of great change and political turbulence is an understatement. Despite the challenges of our time, we all know that effectively engaging students, staff, parents, and other stakeholders is vital for principals. How do we meaningfully create two-way conversations with our audiences that lead to authentic engagement and build trust? In this session, former teacher and administrator Brian Nicol will introduce a process and set of tools to thoughtfully engage all stakeholders. Participants are encouraged to bring their communications issues and questions to the session. 


5. Bench Warmers or Bench Leaders?  You Can Decide
Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Learning, AWSA

Change is currently the top challenge for school organizations and today’s leaders. This requires a thorough understanding of the changing conditions organizations encounter and how to respond effectively. Leaders need to be able to cultivate leadership teams that, in Leigh Thompson's words, “go through the various storms, the successes, the failures and keep coming out alive.”  This session will have participants consider the many strategies that leaders may have adopted to improve teamwork; while well-intentioned, they are not all that effective, but there are some solid recommendations that can be readily implemented.


6. Well to Lead Well - Supporting Principal Well-Being for Optimized Leadership
Steve Behrendt, Principal and Director of Instruction, Richmond School District  

In recent years, teaching and leadership environments have become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). The World Happiness Report indicates a decline in well-being since 2010. My winter 2023 study of "Midwestern" Principals (240 participants) sheds light on what we can do about it. This session will delve into how positive psychology, the study of human flourishing, can help. In a departure from pathology or deficit models, positive psychology seeks to enhance what is good and right for optimal performance. Participants in this session will learn about and engage with multiple research-backed positive psychology and well-being frameworks. Each participant will leave with a personalized pathway toward their own well-being and examples of how these frameworks can be applied organizationally to lead well.

11:15 - 12:00 PM  |  Lunch & Secondary Principal of the Year

12:00 - 12:30 PM  |  Dessert with Exhibitors 

12:30 - 1:45 PM  |  Concurrent Sessions Round Two

1. Identifying and Supporting Dysregulated Students
Josh Varner, Consultant

Increased mental health challenges are putting additional stress on school staff and students.  During this presentation we are going to learn how to maximize the resources in our school to support these students.  During this training participants will learn classroom interventions to support dysregulated students, school wide supports designed to support students, and student coping strategies that increase regulation and learning.

2. Boosting Morale: Effective Approaches to Staff Engagement
Anthony Pizzo, Assistant Superintendent and Katie Spadoni, Principal, Pewaukee School District

In this breakout session, discover simple, yet effective strategies to invigorate your team and foster a positive work environment. We will explore creative and effective methods to boost morale, enhance communication, and build a culture of engagement and collaboration. Join us to learn how to implement these innovative approaches and transform your workplace into a dynamic and motivated community. You'll leave with actionable insights and tools to drive staff engagement and achieve organizational success.

3. Accelerating Impact:  You as a 100-Day Leader

Joe Schroeder, Associate Executive Director, AWSA

It has been commonplace in education for decades to say that systemic change is a 3–5-year process.  But we now know that change can happen much more rapidly – and, in fact, is typically the product of a series of robust, short cycles of progress. This session will leverage the work of thought leaders such as Michael Fullan and Doug Reeves as well as examples from principals across Wisconsin to help you conceptualize a 100-day challenge, identify entry points, and develop means for interventions that render clear results. In short, participants will leave the session with concrete approaches they can apply to become impactful, 100-day leaders by taking deliberate action of short-cycle impact.

4. Markers of a Coaching Culture
Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Learning, AWSA

Does your school have a culture of feedback?  Are teachers hungry to sit with another colleague and talk about their successes, their blunders, and their impact? This session will allow participants to reflect on and consider ways to assess the markers of a coaching culture in the school and identify ways to ensure it is a place where people of all ages thrive on trust and feedback.

5. Legislative Update

Dee Pettack, Executive Director, WI School Administrators Alliance 

In this session, SAA Executive Director, Dee Pettack will provide a flat-and-straight update on this legislative session including the development of the 2025-27 State Budget.  The legislative session begins in January 2025, and this will be a crucial legislative cycle for public education.  Dee will also provide an outlook on the uncertainties surrounding the 2024 elections.  Please join Dee for this important update on  the policy and fiscal challenges facing our state, your district, and the students you serve.


6. The 5 Voices:  How to Communicate Effectively with Everyone You Lead
Dennis Pauli, Superintendent, Edgerton School District

Everyone has a leadership voice, whether they know it or not. From the most quiet to the most gregarious, we all have the ability to lead others. The 5 Voices is designed to help every individual discover their leadership voice and be empowered to use it effectively. Teams and whole organizations can be transformed when everyone operates securely in their own voice and learns to value the voices of others.  Principals lead, advocate, and collaborate to promote equity and access for all students. Principals face the challenges of managing today's public school realities while fighting to stay healthy, hopeful and high performing across all circles of influence (self, family, team, organization and community). The 5 Voices serves as an important lever to develop new skills and support the ever-changing school environment.  During this fast paced and interactive workshop participants will leave with the tools to inspire others and maximize your influence.

 

1:45 - 2:05 PM  |  Break In Expo Hall 

2:05 - 3:20 PM  |  Concurrent Round Three

1. Blueprints for Success: Building Your Building Leadership Team

Julie Skelton, Principal, Kewaskum Middle School 

Join us at the "Blueprints for Success: Building Your Building Leadership Team" conference session, where we delve into strategies for fostering growth and capacity within your team. Learn how to cultivate a cohesive leadership unit, set actionable goals, and effectively utilize them as guiding principles throughout the year. Discover the tools and techniques necessary to empower your team to reach new heights of effectiveness and impact. Don't miss this opportunity to construct a solid foundation for leadership excellence within your organization.   

2. Engaging Students Through Creative Expression

Darren Ellwein, Principal (2017 Principal of the Year), Mathew Dick, Teacher, Harrisburg Middle School, Harrisburg, South Dakota

Learn how to engage every student through the power of innovation by empowering student voice, designing creative learning experiences, and leveraging the power of media.

 

3. Creating a Positive School Climate: Building Powerful Teams for Tier 2 Behavior Support
Yaribel Rodriguez, Director of Urban Leadership, AWSA

This session is tailored for principals seeking effective strategies to address Tier 2 behaviors through a culturally responsive lens. By fostering inclusive problem-solving approaches, educators can create supportive environments that empower both students and staff. Join us as we explore practical techniques for forming powerful teams dedicated to supporting student and educator success. Through examples, case studies, and discussions, participants will gain insights into reducing disciplinary incidents and the need for intensive supports.

4. Providing Impactful Professional Learning and Making It Stick!
Joe Schroeder, Associate Executive Director, AWSA 
 

“There will be no sustainable improvement in student results and no elimination of the achievement gap until leaders and teachers succeed in building a particular organizational culture.” This powerful, research-based statement by Jon Saphier of Research for Better Teaching, Inc. (RBT) describes the 12 Visible Practices of a Strong Adult Professional Culture, two of which include public teaching and non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relation to student results. This session will connect such research with examples of Wisconsin schools that are growing these practices deliberately so that professional learning is gaining traction and deepening impact on student learning at impressive levels – and cultivating a strong adult professional culture in the process. You will leave this session with a vision and pathway for potential next steps of related action in your school.

5. Tools and Tips for Communicating in Turbulent Times
Brian Nicol, Partner, Donovan Group

To say that we are living through a time of great change and political turbulence is an understatement. Despite the challenges of our time, we all know that effectively engaging students, staff, parents, and other stakeholders is vital for principals. How do we meaningfully create two-way conversations with our audiences that lead to authentic engagement and build trust? In this session on a timeless topic reprised from last year upon request, former teacher and administrator Brian Nicol will introduce a process and set of tools to thoughtfully engage all stakeholders. Participants are encouraged to bring their communications issues and questions to the session. 

6. Student Cell Phones: How to Clearly and Effectively Set Your Students and Staff Up for a Better Learning Environment
Dan Marien, Principal, Northland Pines Middle and High School and Jill Lybert, Principal, Medford Senior High School

Cell phones have become one of the biggest challenges in schools today, posing both distractions and disruptions for teachers and administrators.  In this session, we will share how two schools became cell phone-free, each taking a different path to achieve success.    You'll learn how to clearly inform and educate your students and families on what is occurring in your building, what you've observed over the past few years, and what you envision for the future of your school.     By involving families and students in the process, you'll be able to reduce resistance and foster understanding when key decisions are made by building or district administration. Be ready to learn and share as we tackle this pressing question: "Should we continue trying to educate our students on how and when to appropriately use their cell phones, or is it time to ban them altogether?"

4:30 - 5:30 PM  |  Reception Sponsored by Jostens 


Friday, February 7, 2025

7:15 - 8:15 AM  |  Optional Fellowship Breakfast 

Joe Schroeder, Associate Executive Director, AWSA

School administrators support the boundless needs of those they lead and serve. But who supports them -- especially in ways tending to the heart and spirit? Join AWSA’s Associate Executive Director, Joe Schroeder, and administrative colleagues from across the state in this Christian fellowship breakfast option that, now in its eighth year, is proving for many to be an annual highlight of encouragement and assistance for the next leg of the leadership and life journey. Please note: We will adjourn the fellowship breakfast in time to attend the Legislative Update Session in full that will follow this breakfast.

8:00 - 9:00 AM  |  Breakfast Program: Investing in Principal Excellence: Our Commitments, Current Realities, and Next Steps

Joe Schroeder, Associate Executive Director, AWSA
For over a decade, AWSA has been building an array of team-centered and individual leadership academies and networks, often with coaching support, to build high-impact learning leaders across Wisconsin.  This session will provide an update about the results of these efforts to date amid a host of challenges and barriers.  Before concluding, we seek your individual and collective input regarding current realities and next steps for AWSA's professional learning, which members have consistently conveyed is the most important and valued of AWSA supports.

 

9:15 - 10:30 AM | Concurrent Sessions Round Four

1. Moving the Needle: Small Steps to Create Big Opportunities

Tom Sauve, Principal, Elmwood School District & Megan Challoner, Principal, Frederic School District

Moving the Needle" is a dynamic session tailored for PK-12 educators seeking impactful strategies to drive positive change in their schools and districts. By focusing on incremental yet transformative actions, this event empowers educators to enhance professional capacity, refine hiring practices, nurture leadership, and promote goal setting and reflection. Attendees will leave with concrete examples of tried-and-true practices employed by our districts.

2. Navigating Tough Conversations: Implementing the RESIST Protocol for Accountability and Student Success

Yaribel Rodriguez, Director of Urban Leadership, AWSA

Join us for an enlightening session tailored for principals seeking guidance on facilitating difficult conversations essential for accountability and student success. Inspired by the RESIST Protocol developed by Anthony Muhammad and Luis Cruz, this workshop equips participants with practical steps to address challenging situations effectively. Through interactive exercises and role-playing scenarios, attendees will learn how to navigate crucial conversations with confidence and empathy. Gain invaluable insights into fostering a culture of accountability while ensuring that practices align with student needs and aspirations. Leave prepared and empowered to engage in meaningful dialogue that propels your school towards greater equity, excellence, and student persistence.

3. Becoming a High-Performance Culture for All Students: Collecting and Monitoring Instructional Practice Data
Joe Schroeder, Associate Executive Director, AWSA

For over a decade, I have asked scores of leaders (representing hundreds of Wisconsin schools and districts) to engage in a five-minute survey that identifies the degree to which ten attributes of a high-performance culture describes their school. On 90% or more of the occasions, leaders identify their biggest gap as this one: “My school routinely collects and shares data on adult practices to ensure deep implementation of specific strategies and to support all adults toward improving student learning.” The good news:  in the past few years, we have evidence of more Wisconsin schools than ever who are addressing this gap and, thus, making encouraging progress on student growth and learning. In this session, we will share Wisconsin-based approaches and examples for addressing this nearly universal challenge so that you can leave with next steps for closing these gaps in your school’s performance culture and levels of student learning.

4. Rhetoric Reality Gap: Changing our Commitments
Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Learning, AWSA

Schools could make a long list of reasons they are not successful for ALL students. But the truth of the matter is, that there is often a gap - the difference between what we say are our priorities and what our behavior says about our priorities. This session will focus on how to lead a school through a process of identifying commitments (norms) that lead to a high-performing culture and further identifying the need for healthy conflict in order to socialize those commitments in all spaces, whether the leader is present or not.

 

5. A Systems-Based Approach to Leadership for Educational Equity
Amy Level, Principal, Whitefish Bay High School


The social and systems intelligences required to be an effective school leader are not only varied and complex, they are further nuanced by the local context of the school community in which a leader finds themself.  Culture matters and is often interconnected with systems and traditions that have been built over time. Leading for equity requires a keen eye to the challenges outlined in Lewis and Diamond’s Despite the Best Intentions.   A process and commitment for detracking, an understanding of the resources that can be leveraged, a consistent UBD model for equitable classroom instruction and grading, the elimination of sacred cows, and the importance of recognizing and navigating the opportunity hoarding that arises in times of change will be talking points of this session. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to identify and prioritize areas of need, pitfalls to be avoided, and the importance of having allies in this work.

10:30 - 10:45 AM  |  Break 

10:45 - 11:45 AM  |  Closing Keynote:  Finding the Swing      

Colonel Art Athens, Former Director of the US Navy’s Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership

The sport of rowing provides organizations with a paradigm of how to work together to achieve remarkable results. Using the 1936 University of Washington crew team as an example, as portrayed in the best-selling book Boys in the Boat, this presentation will examine the three keys for an organization to find “the swing”... a rowing term for a crew that achieves the perfect rhythm and harmony required to move the crew shell with optimal efficiency and consistent success. 

11:45 | Adjourn


Vendor Information 

Photo of Part of Vendor HallBooths for this year's 2025 Middle and High School Principals Convention are available! 

Each year AWSA's Middle and High School Principals Convention brings in hundreds of administrators from across the state of Wisconsin. Vendors will have the opportunity to engage in unique face-to-face interactions throughout the convention. Table Top registration is $400. Advertising opportunities are also available.

 


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 (1/26/25) prior to the start of the event. If you cancel between 1/27/25 and 1/31/25 you 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.