2022 SCECA-SECA Regional Conference
Keynote Speakers
Featured Speaker: Jackie Kops
Jackie will be presenting on Thursday and Friday during the conference
Jackie is an enthusiastic preschool teacher with over fourteen years of classroom teaching experience in both full-day and half-day settings. She is from Missouri where she earned a Masters and Bachelors in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Maryville University.
Her goal is to help you unleash your teaching superpowers! Jackie's passion is to inspire you with play-based activities, themed centers, and supports that nurture and challenge little learners in a caring classroom community. In addition to teaching, she is the teacher-author and CEO behind Pocket of Preschool (www.pocketofpreschool.com) and loves to share her passion with other educators.
Thursday: The incomparable Crystal Campbell!
KEYNOTE
Crystal Campbell is a retired educator from the State of South Carolina School System. She has held numerous teaching and supervisory positions within school districts all over the State, to include being a Teacher Specialist with the State Department of Education, Early Childhood Specialist in Dorchester District Two, Senior Instructor at the College of Charleston and an Adjunct Professor at Midlands and Trident Technical College. She received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Caanan Bible College in Charleston, SC. She is also “ABD” at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Early Childhood.
She has her own consulting business (CYC Educational Consulting, LLC.) where she provides DSS training hours for child care providers and teachers and presentations at conferences around the State. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Dorchester County First Steps in Summerville, SC.
Friday: The wonderful Dr. Rebecca Isbell from Tennessee.
Dr. Rebecca Isbell is an international speaker and prolific writer in Early Childhood Education. She served as the Director of the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development and Professor at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee where she was honored as an “Outstanding Teacher.” She is the author of thirteen books related to creativity, learning environments, play, literacy, and the arts. Her most recent book is Nurturing Creativity: An Essential Mindset for Young Children's Learning published by NAEYC.
Dr. Isbell has years of diverse experiences in the field of early childhood including: teacher of young children (2-8), director of a lab school, music teacher (k-5), supervisor of early childhood students, and program developer. These varied experiences have provided her with many stories that demonstrate the amazing capabilities of young children and dedicated people who work with them.
Dr. Isbell has presented Keynotes and Featured Sessions throughout the United States. She has also spoken at International Meetings in Denmark, Singapore, China, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and India.
Saturday: Christian Moore
KEYNOTE
Christian Moore is an internationally-renowned speaker, licensed clinical social worker, and advocate for youth. He is the author of The Resilience Breakthrough: 27 Tools for Turning Adversity into Action. He was a commencement speaker in the School of Education at John Hopkins University, and spoke at a White House convening for the Reach Higher Initiative.
Christian found his passion in social work. He created the Why Try Program, which has been implemented in over 25,000 organizations. Christian has flown over 6 million miles and reached over 3 million kids.
He lives in the Rocky Mountains with his wife, two sons, and their dog, Bandit.
“Resilience is not the path of least resistance. It takes place in the striving, not the accomplishing. And it only dies the moment you give up. I’ve learned that lifelong resilience is nothing more than a series of small and large comebacks—it’s making the effort to pick up the ball every single time you drop it.”