Our 2013 conference will be held on November 9th in the Garden Room at the North end of Thanksgiving Point. The conference will go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8:30 sign in) and includes lunch.
Our conferences are meant to have broad appeal within the mission and principles of our organization. Please visit our home page for further information about what we stand for and why our organization is called Agency-Based Education.
Attendees at our 2012 conference rated it a 9.5 on a 1-10 scale. Here’s a few comments from attendees:
“This conference was fabulous! I loved all the different perspectives for those of us who are still resisting home school. I don’t think it’s a one size fits all, so it’s nice to know that there are real options available for my family and that there are people who have already pioneered the way. I have SO many great resources!”
“I left the conference feeling more confident that I direct my child’s education in a home school or private school setting. I loved the ideas and resources that were provided!”
“The presentations were all so informative. The variety of perspectives gave insight to the depth of the options we have as students, parents and teachers to truly impact the future of this country through the education of the up and coming generations.”
“Excellent low cost conference. I was glad to be able to hear all presenters.”
2013 Conference Speakers:
Senator Aaron Osmond
Compulsory Education versus Parental Choice and Accountability
Compulsory Education law is one of the most divisive topics in public education. The fundamental element of choice, with the natural accountability and consequences that come with that choice, is missing from this law. I believe the time has come to replace compulsory education law with a more effective parental choice and accountability law to allow for more parental/student freedom, while also holding parents/students accountable when using public education resources.
Aaron Osmond has been serving as State Senator for District 10 since April 2011. Aaron, his wife Nancy, and their 5 children live in South Jordan. In his professional life, Aaron is working as the VP – North American Sales for Certiport (based in American Fork), a high stakes test development and delivery company serving the academic market. Aaron has demonstrated a willingness to be engaged and accountable to the people of district 10, through regular quarterly meetings, monthly newsletters, and proactive communication about his views on policy issues and upcoming legislation.
Lynn Stoddard
The Great Brain Project
The Great Brain Project is one of the strategies that was invented to help students grow in the powers of greatness, especially the power of Inquiry. Students can become “specialists,” “experts,” “masterminds,” or “geniuses” in topics of their choice through diligent study to find answers to their own questions that grow as they probe deeper and deeper into a topic. A parent, grandparent, other relative or neighbor serves as the child’s guide and research partner. At the end of the project, the child gives a presentation of what s/he has learned to classmates and other invited guests and is recognized in the “Great Brain Hall of Fame.”
Lynn Stoddard is a veteran educator with 36 years as a teacher and elementary school principal. He retired “early” to promote a different philosophy of education in which parents and teachers unite to help students grow in seven major dimensions or powers of human greatness: Identity, Inquiry, Interaction, Initiative, Imagination, Intuition and Integrity. His 12 children all attended public schools in Davis County. He lives in Farmington and can be reached at efhg.org and lstrd@yahoo.com.
Audrey Rindlesbacher
From Opinions to Principles
When speaking on such controversial topics as education and the role of government, opinions are prolific but if we truly want to build bridges and find solutions that last, we must understand, teach and support the principles. Only through true principles can we unify in our quest for better education and only through their application will we create lasting solutions. So what is the difference between opinions, applications and principles? And how do we engage in the quest to seek and promote principle-based solutions? We must learn the characteristics of true principles, how to discern them and ways to discover appropriate applications of them. Come and learn how to move “From Opinions to Principles” in your educational endeavors!
Audrey Rindlisbacher has a liberal arts Bachelor’s degree and is pursuing a Master of Arts in Education at Harrison Middleton University. She currently teaches study skills and literature at George Wythe University. She has spoken often about governmental and educational issues on radio programs, at rally’s, conventions and other venues. She is the author of the popular “Principles of Liberty” course and the Lost Educational Principles articles. Audrey is also the co-founder of the Ten Boom Institute which helps individuals and families “Build Character Through the Classics” with their “What to Read” video blog, “How to Read” Video Trainings, and Character Building Reading Programs.
Dr. Jesse Meeks
Agency-Based Education in a Public School
Great teachers never give up on their students regardless of what environment they find themselves in! The realization that each one of my students is a genius and has a unique purpose in life they are particularly suited to, drives my decision making and teaching style. I do not prefer the format of the charter school I work in but I am making it work and helping students take charge of their education in meaningful ways and will share those ideas, as well as ideas about how class time could be structured differently if certain barriers were removed.
Dr. Jesse Meeks loves teaching. After 15 years as a full time chiropractor he decided to enter the world of education full time. He opened, taught in, and administrated a private school for 3 years, he is in his 4th year of teaching in the Charter School system, he serves on the Board of a new Charter School in the Rose Park area and is an educational consultant for a private school working in teacher development and curriculum.
Aneladee Milne
You Don’t Have to “Go It Alone” at Home
If the state of education today feels desperate, cheer up – it really has gotten much freer over the past forty years and it is only going to get better. Although the free, compulsory education provided by the state is convenient and comfortable; and some find it hard to break the habit of accepting the free handout, we can change if we are willing to get uncomfortable. There are many options available. One inexpensive, community building option is the New Commonwealth School. Learn about some creative, inexpensive options to going it alone at home.
Aneladee Milne holds a B.A. in statesmanship and an M.A. in Education from George Wythe University. She is passionately dedicated to the quest for knowledge and understanding, so that wisdom about freedom can be spread to all seekers of truth in the world. She is the author of The New Commonwealth School and the co-author of an exciting new book series: Homeschool Heroes – The Lost DaVincis, a mystery written for young home-schoolers.
Kristen Chevrier
I’ve thought about homeschooling but where the heck do I start?
Research. Reflect. Relax. Rejoice! Homeschooling is not public schooling at home. The options for learning are as varied as the students who use them. You are the one who is best tuned in to the needs of your children. You can direct your child’s education and do it better than anyone else. Please join me for a quick overview of how to get started on a wonderful homeschooling adventure.
Kristen Chevrier loves learning and teaching. She has thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling for 18 years (now has three children in college and two at home); has studied multiple teaching styles and curricula; and teaches group homeschool classes in history, literature, composition, government and theater, and teaches adult workshops in parliamentary procedure, political activism, homeschooling and naturally leavened bread making. Kristen blogs about homeschooling and surrounding issues at homeschoolwise.com.
Janet Summit
Setting up a Community School
At the 2012 ABE conference, Janet spoke about what a community school is and what their school does. It was a fascinating presentation about how a community can organize educational efforts. This conference is “part 2” where she will be explaining how to establish one of your own with other families in your community. Her community school is a totally volunteer, family-based school that serves about 100 children of all ages. Everything is run, organized, and taught by the families or people in the community who volunteer their time. The students are thriving, involved, have wonderful learning opportunities, and love their classes. It is an agency-based school. This can be a model that can be implemented in any community, and truly does provide wonderful options for students.
Janet Summit has been teaching her ten children and many other students in public school, private school, and homeschool situations for over 25 years. She knows that children learn much better when learning is family and community-based.
Pamela Openshaw
Brilliant Government
Our original Constitution was a vibrant, brilliantly balanced document, but it has been altered. Unless our children know and love the Constitution, we cannot preserve our liberty. Our government system gave us the greatest prosperity the modern world has ever seen, as we produced 50% of the world’s goods with 5% of its population. Education, locally controlled by parents, stood at the center of that prosperity to teach the principles of freedom and personal responsibility. We can regain prosperity if we teach freedom, balanced government, and the Constitution to our children.
Pamela Romney Openshaw is the author of Promises of the Constitution: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and the two Lessons of the Constitution books that create a home school or family study program from her original book. She writes the weekly conservative column “Get it RIGHT” for the Daily Herald and blogs at promisesoftheconstitution.blogspot.com . Pam gained her love of things political as a Nebraska delegate to President Jimmy Carter’s White House Conference on Families in 1980. She is a BYU graduate, former (disillusioned) elementary school teacher, entrepreneur and former consultant and small business owner who now devotes her time to writing.. She and her husband, a retired Air Force officer, are the parents of 8 children and grandparents of 29.
