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How Massachusetts Spends its Money

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth Hosting ‘Creating Safe and Supportive Environments for LGBTQ Students’ Hybrid Conference on Feb. 25

This conference will feature education professionals and LGBTQ activists exploring how school staff can advocate for their LGBTQ students and provide a comfortable learning environment for everyone.

WHEN:

Tuesday, Feb. 25

Registration: 8:15-8:45 a.m.

Conference: 8:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

WHERE:

Montachusett Regional Vocational High School, 1050 Westminster St., Fitchburg, MA, 01420

WHAT:

A hybrid conference — Creating Safe and Supportive Environments for LGBTQ Students — will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Montachusett Regional Vocational High School and via Zoom for those who wish to participate remotely. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

School staff are key to fostering environments where LGBTQ students can feel safe, supported, and affirmed. At the conference, leading voices from the Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ students, student leaders, families, and education professionals will share best practices to create affirming spaces across schools, classrooms, and extracurricular programs.

Participants will also learn about the current laws designed to protect LGBTQ students and hear how school staff can take the lead in implementing impactful, inclusive practices. Attendees will walk away with actionable tools and resources to make their school a place where LGBTQ students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

At MPY’s hybrid conference, speakers include:

• Jason P. Wheeler, Director of the Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students
• Sheila Kelly, M.A., LMHC, School Counselor, former Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Advisor, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
• Tony Leone, Program Director of the North Shore Alliance of GLBTQ Youth (NAGLY)
• Catherine Lyons, Esq., Lyons Law Group
• Jai Madden, MSW, LCSW, Adjunct Professor for the Bridgewater State University School of Social Work
• Gabrielle Montevecchi, M.Ed., CAGS, Principal of the Hannah Elementary School in Beverly Public Schools
• Cinzia Solari, Ph.D.,Parent, Associate Professor of Sociology for the University of Massachusetts Boston
• Anna Solon, M.Ed., Math, Science and Technology Coordinator and GSA Advisor at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
• Nadene Stein, Ph.D., Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Services for Waltham Public Schools
• Matt Wilder, Founder and Principal of Wilder Strategies

In-person registration for the event closes at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19, but virtual registration remains open on MPY’s website, mpyinc.org, until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 24. To register for a webinar or conference, use the “Webinars & Conferences” tab at the top of the website, or click here to register for the Feb. 25 conference.

Every MPY conference is recorded and available to registered participants through a link that remains live for 10 days.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved Professional Development Points (PDPs) and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered at no additional cost to participants who attend this conference and who already attended the Feb. 11 conference, Recognize, Respond, Survive, then Thrive: Eradicating the Culture of Microaggressions in the School Community (and Beyond).

About the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides training, fosters collaboration and develops programming to increase the health and safety of students. MPY is committed to bringing cutting-edge information and high-quality trainings to constituents and endeavors to provide solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to reducing and ideally eliminating risky behaviors for youth. MPY programming reaches nearly 6,000 educators per year in Massachusetts, spread across approximately 300 districts, with more than 150 webinars and over a dozen conferences.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth is governed by a Board of Directors made up of school superintendents, police and fire chiefs, and other community leaders who work closely with MPY staff to deliver this mission. To learn more, visit: massachusettspartnershipsforyouth.com.