Hill Country Child Care Providers Virtual Conference set for Sept. 12

The Hill Country Child Care Providers Virtual Conference has been slated for Sept. 12.

The event will be hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Gillespie County with offices in Kerr, Kendall and Bandera counties also participating.  

The virtual conference will be from 8 a.m.-noon via Microsoft Teams, so attendees will need to access that platform.

The cost is $18 per person and will be limited to the first 250 people to register and pay.

A link will be sent after registration is received. Online registration is available through Eventbrite, and the registration fee includes four clock hours. The deadline for online registration is Sept. 8.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Albert Wright, a master trainer with more than 20 years of experience in the child care industry. Wright, who has been selected as Trainer of the Year three times, has a bachelor’s degree in child development and a master’s degree in early childhood education.

Wright’s keynote presentation will be “Battling Burnout – How to Win the Invisible War.”

“Burnout is a psychological stress that creates an invisible battle that does not fight fair,” he said. “Burnout can lead to exhaustion, lack of enthusiasm, and feelings of ineffectiveness and frustration. The goal of this keynote is to help every team reach its full potential by stabilizing employee morale.”

Wright said helping employees recognize the signs of burnout and giving effective ways of making war against it can greatly increase productivity.

An additional presentation, “It’s Not You, It’s Me,” will be given by Jodi Nerren, AgriLife Extension program specialist in family and community health, College Station.

This presentation, which addresses the relationship between temperament and behavior will give child educators a chance to reflect on why some children are easier for them to handle than others, Nerren said.