A festival of the minds.

A festival of the minds. The photo essay at the right offers a glimpse of the manyhighlights of the 2006 Annual International Conference & Exhibitionin San Antonio San Antonio(săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , April 12-15. This year's theme was "Embracinga Confluence of Cultures in the Education of Children." The AnnualConference is the one opportunity each year that most of us have to meetface to face with ACEI ACEI Angiotensin Converting Enzyme InhibitorACEI Association for Childhood Education InternationalACEI Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland friends and colleagues and, in so many caring andfulfilling ways, renew our steadfast commitment to the child-centeredgoals and purposes of the Association that, since 1892, have served toguide the work of ACEI members worldwide and Headquarters staff. The San Antonio Conference Committee, including Barbara Hatcher,General Chair; Dianne Pape and Priscilla Hoke hoke?tr.v. hoked, hok��ing, hokes SlangTo give an impressive but artificial, false, or deceptive quality to: hoked up some phony allegations. , Program Co-Chairs; MaryRuth Moore This article is about the author Ruth Moore. For the American bacteriologist, see Ruth Ella Moore. Ruth Moore (1903-1989) was an important Maine author of the twentieth century. and Susan Miller Susan Miller is the name of: Susan Miller (Playmate) (born 1947) Susan Miller, Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (born 1954) Susan Miller (producer), founder of Mixed Media Group, Inc. Susan Miller (astrologer) , Local Arrangements; and Suzanne Winter,Publicity, working side by side with Lisa Wenger, Director ofConferences, planned a truly outstanding meeting and professionaldevelopment opportunity for everyone. One has only to spend a fewmoments reviewing the Call for Presenters (published on the Web and inthe Spring issue of Childhood Education well in advance of the May Ideadline) to see the careful attention that goes into the development ofthe symposia sym��po��si��a?n.A plural of symposium. topics to appreciate the huge effort that the localconference committee, Headquarters staff, and others put forth each yearto develop the conference program. Conference planning is a three-yearprocess. Judging from the feedback that we received following theconference, attendees thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from theexperience. The work of the Conference Committee is, in my opinion,indispensable to the fulfillment of ACEI's overall mission forchildren and those who work and care for them. The conference officially began with the Opening General Session,featuring Joe L. Frost, a Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of Texas at Austin “University of Texas” redirects here. For other system schools, see University of Texas System.The University of Texas at Austin (often referred to as The University of Texas, UT Austin, UT, or Texas . Among our most highly regarded andrespected members, Dr. Frost, a past president (1979-1981) and recipientof the Patty Smith Hill Award (2005), is known internationally for hiswork in early childhood education and children's play and playenvironments. His address, titled "The Changing Culture of Childhood: APerfect Storm," explored what Dr. Frost so appropriately describedas the "perfect storm" that he sees brewing in the educationand development of children, the elements of which, like the seriousdisturbance of any element of nature, are having a profound impact onthe culture of childhood. What are some of the conditions or elementsthat all of us need to be more aware of that are sweeping through oursociety? The No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB (IPA: /ˈnɪkəlbiː/), is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 ; the high stakes High Stakes is a British sitcom starring Richard Wilson that aired in 2001. It was written by Tony Sarchet. The second series remains unaired after the first received a poor reception. of standardizedtesting A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" [1] ; the loss of spontaneous play and recess, which issystematically being deleted from schools; the correlation betweenglobal poverty and education; litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute.When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. that is replacing common sense;and the serious shortage of highly qualified teachers were some of theelements highlighted. Whenever you get several of these particularlydamaging elements together, Frost said, "You have a very damagingsituation"--indeed, the perfect storm. Conference week continued with 225 other truly outstanding andinformative presentations, including the following, to mention just afew: Culturally Responsive Partnerships for Inclusive Classrooms, aninnovative session that provided conferees with the tools and knowledgeto build more effective partnerships between families, communities, andschool to help preschoolers succeed in the classroom; Technology and theYoung Child: Addressing Issues of Culture and Developmental Awareness,an in-depth review of classroom software in terms of developmental andcultural appropriateness; Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy forChildren by Children, which featured perspectives from children on thegreat importance of advocacy; Sharing Cultural Knowledge Through VisualArts visual artsnpl → artes fpl pl��sticasvisual artsnpl → arts mpl plastiquesvisual artsnpl → , a special presentation sponsored by the Intermediate/MiddleChildhood Committee on the use of the visual arts to promote culturalunderstanding; and The Power of Collaborative Teacher Research inConfronting the Challenges of Diversity in Complex Times, a dynamicstudy that focused on the challenges of addressing diversity in theclassroom. More information about each of these presentations and manyother wonderful concurrent sessions, virtual presentations, and researchforms can be found on ACEI's Web site, www.acei.org. The Closing General Session on Saturday featured Steven B. Silvern sil��vern?adj.1. Composed of silver.2. Resembling silver; silvery.[Middle English, alteration (influenced by silver, silver) of Old English silfren ,Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Auburn University Auburn University,main campus at Auburn, Ala.; land-grant and state supported; opened 1859 as East Alabama Male College, reorganized 1872 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama; became coeducational 1892; renamed Alabama Polytechnic Institute 1899, .His keynote address keynote addressn.An opening address, as at a political convention, that outlines the issues to be considered. Also called keynote speech.Noun 1. , titled "Educating Mind and Spirit: Embracing aConfluence of Cultures in the Education of Children," quiteliterally stirred the minds of everyone in the audience, helping us tounderstand and embrace awareness of the culturally universal role ofspirit and mind. Each of us, Dr. Silvern explained, has the power toaccomplish great things and to teach others, and the way that we can bemost effective and have lasting change is to raise up the"spirit" that is in every one of us. Spirit resides not in themind but in the heart, and we learn by heart. Dr. Silvern called on theaudience to "Put your heart to it, not your eyes, not your mind....Spirit exists in everything, it is what connects all forms of life, allreligions, all beliefs, all languages, and all races. It is theawareness of new meaning in life. It is transcending and it iseminent." Those of us who had the good fortune to hear Dr.Silvern's address came away with the understanding that we all needto be more aware of our surroundings and self before we can begin toraise consciousness, and thus spirit, in others. By raisingconsciousness, which has been shown to be an effective educationalpractice, we come to realize that everyone in the world is [or could be]connected--which is why Dr. Silvern said, "We need to educate bothmind and spirit." Both Dr. Joe L. Frost and Dr. Steven L. Silvernhave been invited to share their wonderful presentations in a futureissue of Childhood Education. I hope that you can come to the Annual Conference next year when wetravel to Tampa, Florida “Tampa” redirects here. For other uses, see Tampa (disambiguation).Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, on the west coast of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County.GR6. . The theme of the 2007 Conference is"Education for Transformation: Impact on the Children of theWorld." --Jerry Odland, Executive Director