Area educators gathered Monday in Minot to soak up information and refine their skills at a professional development conference that featured more than 30 presenters.

“Connect the Dots” was the theme of the Mid-Dakota Education Cooperative’s fall conference held at Our Redeemer’s Christian School. More than 460 educators from 14 rural school districts participated in large group presentations, small group learning sessions and specialty workshops.

“This is the one chance a year that our teachers in the region get to choose the professional development they want,” said Brittany Upton, professional development director with MDEC. With the wide variety of break-out sessions, educators were able to find workshops that addressed their schools’ needs, she said.

One of the common concerns facing educators has been the rise in behavioral issues in the classroom. In response, MDEC invited Jim Harris, the owner of Opportunities Consulting Services, to address that topic in a keynote address. He has worked with children and families as an early interventionist, parent educator, education consultant and behavioral health therapist. He spoke in large and small group settings to offer advice on working with resistant youth while sharing information about the latest brain research.

“He’s engaging, he’s funny and he also has the background to provide some strategies for getting down to the basics in relationships with kids,” Upton said.

The conference also tapped into the knowledge of North Dakota teachers, including Tara Hartmann of Medina and Mary Eldredge-Sandbo of Des Lacs-Burlington.

Hartmann spoke about ways to incorporate student writing into the curriculum and about programs that aim to determine the level of support and intervention that students need to keep advancing in their learning. Hartmann said she has taken advantage of past trainings to be able to bring the information to other teachers, but she also has experience applying the concepts in the trenches. She uses that knowledge to help other teachers problem-solve and to steer them toward the right resources to address their specific concerns, she said.

“Teachers need to realize they all have something to share,” she said. “I am taking notes as I listen to everyone in the class share. All you can do from that is learn.”

Eldredge-Sandbo, who led a workshop for science teachers, said small schools may only have one or two science teachers so getting the opportunity to meet with a larger group of colleagues to talk about what they love doing is powerful for them. By talking with each other, they can discover what works well, what they can let go and where they can improve, she said.

The 37 break-out sessions included North Dakota geography, illegal drug awareness, disability awareness, brain immersive learning and indoor recess. Workshops also were held for school nutritional staff.

Among the specialty sessions, the conference offered physical activity leader training for health and physical education instructors. Family and consumer science instructors were shown ways to enhance classroom learning with hands-on, chef-inspired recipes focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables. Educators were shown how to interpret student assessment tests and apply the data to classroom activities.

A $25 million, five-year Succeed 2020 grant from Hess Corp. helped fund the conference.