2025 GOCSD Innovation Summit: Full Schedule

Access the pages below to learn more about our conference, registration, speakers and sponsors. Visit our Innovation Summit site for details about the venue, food, lodging, purchasing a t-shirt, and more.

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8:30am CDT

BOOM! Leadership Systems That Save Time, Energy, and Your Sanity

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT

Cooper Creek 2

This high-energy BOOM session will walk attendees through four powerful leadership systems designed to streamline operations, empower teacher leaders, and build sustainable structures that save time and reduce stress. Each segment will be fast-paced and full of ready-to-use templates, calendars, tools, and ideas to take back immediately. When the timer buzzes, the next topic begins—whether you’re ready or not! At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to implement at least three time-saving systems in their building or department that support instructional leadership, culture building, and staff empowerment.

Speakers

Veronica Vergara

Middle School Principal, Lebanon R3 School District

Kyle Nelson

Assistant Principal, Lebanon R3

Greg White

Assistant Principal, Lebanon R3

I have a passion for education and giving students experiences that inspire their desire for learning.

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT
Cooper Creek 2

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

8:30am CDT

Is This For a Grade?

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT

Cooper Creek 3

This session invites educators to reflect critically on their grading practices. To do this, teachers will be encouraged to reflect on what they are grading and whether those grades accurately represent what students truly know and can do independently. Through guided reflection and group discussion, teachers will explore strategies to ensure that assessments are meaningful and align with standards. The next time teachers hear, “Is this for a grade?” or “Will I ever use this?” they can provide an answer with confidence.

Speakers

Allison Boyer

Instructional Coach, Logan-Rogersville

Alicea McDonald

Literacy Specialist, Logan-Rogersville School District

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT
Cooper Creek 3

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Intermediate

8:30am CDT

Lead & Learn: Turning Students into Classroom Leaders

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT

Short Creek 1

What if your students took the lead in their own learning—engaging more, thinking critically, and inspiring their peers? In this dynamic session, you’ll discover powerful Leader in Me strategies to transform students from passive learners into proactive leaders in the classroom. Learn how to foster student-led discussions, encourage peer mentoring, and create a culture where everyone has a voice and choice in their learning journey. By the end of this session, you’ll walk away with actionable techniques to empower students to seek first to understand, synergize with peers, and take ownership of their growth. Get ready to lead—and learn—as we cultivate a classroom culture of responsibility, independence, and collaboration that prepares students to thrive both inside and outside the classroom!

Speakers

Niki Dailey

3rd grade co-teacher, Waynesville R-VI School District

Candice Sullivan

District Instructional Coach, Waynesville R-VI School District

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT
Short Creek 1

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Intermediate

8:30am CDT

Press Start To Level Up Your Classroom: Using Gamification To Turbocharge Engagement

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT

Roark Creek

Are you interested in gamifying your classroom but don't know where to start? Gamification can be as simple or involved as you want. Choose from three levels of integration: Easy, Medium, and Advanced. Gamify an individual lesson, a unit, or even a whole course. Zachary Hamby, a 2020 Missouri Teacher of the Year Finalist, will share his own experiences with gamification—including projects such as choose-your-own-adventure writing assignments, Pokemon-style card games, content-related social deduction games, gamified scoring guides, and even a semester-long house challenge and badging system. Teachers will leave with access to free resources for gamifying their own classrooms!

Speakers

Zachary Hamby

High School Teacher, Ava R-1 Schools

For the last eighteen years, Zachary "Zak" Hamby has been a high-school English teacher in rural Missouri, and in 2020 he was a finalist for Missouri Teacher of the Year. Zak is also the author of a variety of textbooks: the Mythology for Teens series, the Reaching Olympus series... Read More →

Rachel Hamby

High School Teacher, Ava R-1 Schools

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT
Roark Creek

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School
LEVEL Any

8:30am CDT

Effective Co-Teaching leads to Meaningful Interventions

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT

Short Creek 3

Co-Teaching is growing and knowing how to effectively co-teach is not easy. We will go over the co-teaching model with how to effectively use it from the Regular Educator and Special Educator perspectives. Effective Co-teachings leads to effective interventions with all struggling learners and we will model examples of effective interventions. Co-taught or not you will leave with ideas to improve your teaching and make more effective interventions in your classroom/school for the 2025-2026 school year.

Speakers

Dr. Hadlee Goldberg

Special Education Teacher, Ozark High School

Brandi David

Mathematics Specialist, Hand2Mind

Friday August 1, 2025 8:30am - 9:15am CDT
Short Creek 3

Breakout Session-Tier 1 Sponsor Showcase: Partnering with Member District

AUDIENCE Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

Fact & Fiction: Integrating Literature with History for Deeper Learning

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Roark Creek

Should content areas be like foods sectioned off on a cafeteria tray—complementary but never touching—or blend for richer learning? While history deals with facts and literature with fiction, both express important truths about the past. History grounds literature in reality while literature gives history a voice. This session will demonstrate how literature and history can work together to provide students with a richer, more immersive learning experience. In this session, Zak and Rachel Hamby will share practical strategies and resources for incorporating history into everything from ancient literature to modern classics.

Speakers

Zachary Hamby

High School Teacher, Ava R-1 Schools

Rachel Hamby

High School Teacher, Ava R-1 Schools

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Roark Creek

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Middle/Junior High, High School
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

From Stigma to Strength: How Student Leaders Are Revolutionizing Mental Health

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Short Creek 3

Picture this: A high school where students thrive as mental health ambassadors, breaking stigmas and transforming their school’s culture. That's exactly what's happening at Branson High School, Missouri's leader in mental wellness classes. In this eye-opening session, dive into the journey of how they’ve turned traditional mental health support on its head by putting students in the driver's seat through partnerships with Burrell Behavioral Health and Sources of Strength. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to communicate the benefits and barriers to such programs and create a plan to launch within their own campuses.

Speakers

Hannah Banderman

High School ELA Teacher, Branson Public Schools

Josh Cheezum

High School Social Studies Teacher, Branson Public Schools

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Short Creek 3

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

The Elephant in the School: Efficacy Development to Shift Learning in Your System

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Boston Ferry

We all want efficacy in our schools, but are we willing to do what it takes to create it? Are we creating the necessary time and space to design for the sources of efficacy? Are we manipulating the structures we have control over to ensure that talent is maximized and turnover is minimized? Explore one district’s attempt to reorganize time and space to create a collaborative climate and culture that maximizes staff efficacy development by paying attention to the sources that create it.

Speakers

Garrett Lowder

Assistant Superintendent: Academics, Marshfield R-1 School District

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Boston Ferry

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Pre-K - 2, Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

The Power of CONNECTION CODES: Building Better Teams, Stronger Students, and a Thriving School Culture

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Short Creek 4

Discover how the CONNECTION CODE can transform your school’s culture from the inside out. In this engaging session, Dr. Jarad Rinne and Mrs. Angela Loughridge share real-world strategies for using CONNECTION CODES to strengthen staff collaboration, enhance student relationships, and improve behavior across campus. Learn how understanding personality styles leads to more productive teams, empowered students, and a thriving educational environment.

Speakers

Jarad Rinne

High School Principal, Licking R-8

Angela Loughridge

JH Principal, Curriculum Director, Licking R-8

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Short Creek 4

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

Think Big: Transforming Special Education Math with Building Thinking Classrooms

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Short Creek 3

In this hands-on session, explore how to apply Peter Liljedahl’s 14 Building Thinking Classrooms principles in a special education setting. Engage in dynamic thinking tasks that reveal student thought patterns, provide meaningful practice for consumer math, and build student confidence. Discover how these fun, semi-structured tasks promote problem-solving and communication while offering creative opportunities for earning low-stakes points. Walk away with practical strategies to foster deeper mathematical thinking. At the end of the presentation, participants will have the tools to implement thinking tasks that encourage risk-taking, promote productive struggle, enhance math confidence, and uncover valuable student insights.

Speakers

Rubecca Wilson

Special Education Math Teacher, Republic High School

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Short Creek 3

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

To Infinity and Beyond: How to utilize AI in the classroom.

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Room Location TBA

One of the most common concerns among teachers is feeling overwhelmed by the countless tasks they are expected to complete. With growing class sizes and the diverse needs of each student, keeping up can be challenging. Many of the most meaningful aspects of teaching are limited by time and energy constraints. My goal is to change that by helping teachers use AI to eliminate tedious tasks from their schedules, allowing them to focus on the most important part of teaching—building relationships with students. I will be giving a presentation over some of the most powerful AI tools available today, and explain how they can save you energy and time. We will get hands on with these tools; please bring a charged laptop.

Speakers

Josh Welborn

El Specialist, Branson Public Schools

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Room Location TBA

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Pre-K - 2, Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Beginners

9:30am CDT

White Walls, Bright Lights, and Other Bad Decisions

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Cooper Creek 3

What if there is a way to increase engagement and achievement without a new initiative or costly curriculum? Companies spend millions each year improving employees' workspaces because employee comfort is directly tied to their productivity and the company’s bottom line. Engagement and achievement are our bottom lines, but we rarely examine the impact of students’ working conditions in high schools. This session merges research from psychology and architecture with education and draws on original research with responses from 120 schools. Participants will be able to make tangible, practical changes to high school classrooms that increase student engagement and achievement.

Speakers

Dr. Jamie Higgins

English Teacher and Speech/Debate Coach, Clever R-V School District

Dr. Higgins spent most of her childhood in Pennsylvania before moving back to the Ozarks as a teenager. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in English Secondary Education, her Master of Arts degree in Teaching, and her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership in Curriculum... Read More →

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Cooper Creek 3

Breakout Session Offered 1x

AUDIENCE Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators, Professional Developers, Instructional or District Specialists
LEVEL Any

9:30am CDT

Taking Care of Priority One - Our Students!

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Cooper Creek 1

Learn how school districts can build a culture that empowers teachers and school staff to meet their students' health, hunger, and hygiene needs so they can succeed in school. This session explores how Care to Learn helped Republic School District build connections and community by meeting students' basic needs.

Speakers

Krystal Simon

Chief Executive Officer, Care to Learn

Matt Pearce

Superintendent, Republic School District

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Cooper Creek 1

Breakout Session-Tier 1 Sponsor Showcase: Partnering with Member District

AUDIENCE Pre-K - 2, Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators
LEVEL Beginners

9:30am CDT

GOSPED Roundtable: Networking Opportunity for Educators with an Interest in Special Education

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT

Hensley Ferry

**Networking Roundtable for Educators & Administrators** Join us for a dynamic networking roundtable where educators and administrators from all grade levels (PreK-12) can come together to share resources, ask and answer questions, and exchange innovative ideas. This collaborative space offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, learn from each other’s experiences, and build a strong professional network. Whether you're seeking solutions to challenges or looking to inspire new initiatives, this roundtable is your chance to engage in meaningful conversations with fellow educators. Don’t miss out on this chance to grow and learn together!

Speakers

Christina O'Neill

Special Education Teacher, Nixa Public Schools

Friday August 1, 2025 9:30am - 10:15am CDT
Hensley Ferry

Roundtable Session

AUDIENCE Pre-K - 2, Elementary, Intermediate (4-6), Middle/Junior High, High School, Administrators
LEVEL Any