WEMTA 2025 - Ignite and Inspire: Impacting Learning Together: Full Schedule

12:30pm CDT

Open Books, Open Minds, Open Hearts: School Librarians' Perceptions of Inclusive Children's Literature

Sunday March 9, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm CDT

In December 2023/January 2024, I researched Wisconsin school librarians' perceptions of inclusive children's literature by adapting existing validated surveys from School Library Journal. My goal was to learn school librarians’ perceptions of inclusive literature and investigate alignment among school district collection development policies, school librarians’ professional book selection philosophies, and the Multidimensional Framework for Inclusive Literature (MFIL) (Pfundheller & Liesch, 2023). Join this session to learn results and recommendations for our field.

Speakers

Jacqueline Liesch

Dr. Jacqueline D. Liesch has taught students from ages 3 to 18-years old in Wisconsin, Ecuador, South Carolina, and Japan. Teaching students from around the world has enabled me to learn from their perspectives and experiences. Furthermore, by living, studying, volunteering, teaching... Read More →

Sunday March 9, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Early childhood, Elementary, Middle School, High School, Higher Education

Company Advocacy, Culturally Responsive Instruction

1:45pm CDT

IGNITE Your Career with AASL!

Sunday March 9, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

IGNITE your school library career with the American Association of School Librarians! Take your career to the next level by networking with professionals in your field nationally and accessing resources to inform and expand your practice. Apply national teaching and program standards to your instruction and lean on the professionalism of the only national professional membership organization focused on school librarians and the school library community. Participants will understand what the AASL is and offers. Explore member benefits. Learn how to become a member.

Speakers

Kate Olson

AASL Affiliate for Wisconsin, WEMTA

Christine O'Regan is a library media teacher consultant for Kenosha Unified School District. She has worked as a school librarian for 20+ years in elementary, high school and district levels. She is also the AASL state affiliate for WEMTA. The best part of her career are the opportunities... Read More →

Sunday March 9, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Early childhood, Elementary, Middle School, High School, Higher Education

Company Advocacy, Collaborative Leadership, Facilitating Professional Learning

3:00pm CDT

Battle of the Books for All Levels

Sunday March 9, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

Battle of the Books is one of the foundational programs run by WEMTA, and a beloved part of students’ reading lives at schools statewide. Ignite a love for reading, challenge your students, and create a school-wide sense of community over the Battle of the Books reading lists every year! Learn about starting a Battle of the Books program at your school or work with other session participants to level-up your current program.This session is for participants with all levels of knowledge about the Battle of the Books program, and participants will leave with an action plan for the 2025-2026 school year.

Speakers

Kate Olson

AASL Affiliate for Wisconsin, WEMTA

Jeff Carpenter

School Library Media Specialist, Appleton Area School District

Jeff celebrates 35 years serving the AASD as a library media specialist and is a longtime WEMTA member. He earned a Master’s in Library Science (UW-Madison), and a Bachelor’s Degree in elementary education (UW-La Crosse). One of his proudest achievements was receiving the special... Read More →

Sunday March 9, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Intermediate, Elementary, Middle School, High School

Company Facilitating Professional Learning, Literacy

8:45am CDT

Maris Education Spring Update for WEMTA 2025

Monday March 10, 2025 8:45am - 9:45am CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

Join Maris Education to learn what's new for 2025 in K-12 educational media and publishing: new books, new digital resources, and Spring specials direct from our Publishers.

Speakers

Marty Dambekaln

Wisconsin K-12 Reps for Capstone Publishing, Maris Education

Morey and Marty Dambekaln are your Wisconsin K-12 Publishers Representatives for Capstone, FlutterBee, and other top school library publishers. Please contact us through Maris Education at www.mariseducation.com

Morey Dambekaln

Wisconsin K-12 Publishers Rep., Capstone / Maris Education

Wisconsin K-12 Publishers Rep. for Capstone, PebbleGo, and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.Learn about new Content and Functionality for your Capstone PebbleGo subscription-Connect and Create with Classroom-Ready activities and resource links.

Monday March 10, 2025 8:45am - 9:45am CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Intermediate, Elementary, Middle School

Company Budget & Resources, Equitable Digital Access, Students as Creators

1:00pm CDT

TechnoTeachers

Monday March 10, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

Build a teacher technology team by tapping into the talent already present in your school. There's immense potential for growth in developing and leveraging the skills of your current staff. This session will guide you through a step-by-step process to help you unlock that potential and create a strong, collaborative team.

Speakers

Sonja Pupovac

Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Coach, Milwaukee Public Schools

Monday March 10, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Early childhood, Elementary, Middle School, High School

Company Collaborative Leadership, Collaborative Spaces, Facilitating Professional Learning

3:00pm CDT

Reinvigorate the Library: Leverage Differentiated Texts to Boost Reading Motivation and Literacy Gains

Monday March 10, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

In today’s libraries, providing students with engaging, vetted, and accessible content is more important than ever. Newsela Library empowers librarians with over 17,000 leveled texts across 20+ genres, including videos, multimedia, infographics, and more. These resources are designed to foster student motivation and understanding, support collaboration with classroom teachers, and promote digital citizenship.

This session will highlight:
How Newsela can increase student engagement and motivation
How to curate and customize content for teachers to support background knowledge in novel and book studies.
Ways students can actively engage with Newsela Content and Tools
How to locate and save relevant content on Newsela including resources for digital citizenship, curriculum complements, and more.

Speakers

Danielle Rivera

Patrick Gaffney

Monday March 10, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Elementary, Middle School, High School

Company Culturally Responsive Instruction, Instructional Partnerships, Literacy

8:15am CDT

GINGO! A Bingo-Themed Exploration of Google Tools and Chrome for Educators

Tuesday March 11, 2025 8:15am - 9:15am CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

GINGO! is a fun, interactive session where educators explore Google Workspace and Chrome tools in a game-based format. Modeled after a Bingo board, GINGO! challenges participants to complete activities and discover new ways to enhance teaching and learning with Google tools. With each square focusing on a different Google feature, Chrome extension, or teaching strategy, educators will walk away with hands-on experience, tips, and resources they can implement right away.

Speakers

Tricia Louis

District Technology Integration Professional, Richland School District

Tricia Louis is an #edtech advocate. In her position as the Technology Integration Professional at the Richland School District, she brings individual & group training to the 200+ staff employed there. Tricia is proud to be a part of the Google For Education Certified Trainer, Apple... Read More →

Tuesday March 11, 2025 8:15am - 9:15am CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Intermediate, Early childhood, Elementary, Middle School, High School

Company Facilitating Professional Learning

9:30am CDT

Wisconsin Adventures - Roll for Initiative!

Tuesday March 11, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

Proven education foundations and dragon-slaying go hand in hand! Wisconsin Adventures combines the myths and legends of Wisconsin’s past with the deep learning opportunities of fantasy roleplaying games (RPGs). Engage your students with this unique place-based learning opportunity.
Wisconsin Adventures presents a Wisconsin filled with the legends of our past. A werewolf on the prowl; a lizard-like creature that feasts on livestock; a knight errant on a quest; and more.
This dynamic, play-based learning resource opens new strategies for educational engagement. Interactive storytelling lets anyone become the hero of their own narrative. Empowerment builds self-confidence, and the cooperative nature of RPGs develops the interpersonal skills that students need to succeed.
In our session you'll learn how Wisconsin Adventures came to be, why this model can work for your school, go through the history behind the game, and get started creating your very own Wisconsin Adventures.

Speakers

Kurt Griesemer

Manager of PK12 Education Initiatives, Wisconsin Historical Society

Kurt Griesemer has been involved in education for over 20 years, teaching in public and private schools, creating classroom media for television and the web, and currently as the Coordinator of Primary Education at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Kurt has produced several video... Read More →

Tuesday March 11, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Elementary, Middle School, High School

Company Collaborative Spaces, Literacy, Students as Creators

10:45am CDT

Story Stuffy Kits: Introducing 4K to new friends

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Hilton Garden Room A

For the past 3 years, the 300 4K students in Kimberly School District have been borrowing an unconventional item from their school library: stuffed animals. While the thought of this might strike fear in some, these unconventional library items are cleaned after every single use, affordably acquired, well-maintained in backpack kits, and the most popular library item among students and parents alike. If you're working with younger library students, especially those in preschool, and looking for a unique collaboration option within your district, check out this session!

Speakers

Erin Wedemeier

Library Media Specialist, Kimberly Area School District

Erin Wedemeier is currently the 4K-8 Library Media Specialist at Kimberly Area School District. After teaching middle school language arts for 6 years, she earned her Masters degree in library science and her role switched to middle school library and reading intervention. Her role... Read More →

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Hilton Garden Room A

Beginner, Early childhood, Elementary

Company Instructional Partnerships, Literacy