A professional development day for educators was hosted by the school district on November 6 at Newtown High School, when schools were closed on Election Day.

According to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Jean Evans Davila, who oversaw the day, out of the 405 certified staff in the district, 354 educators and administrators attended the event, along with 25 secretaries and paraeducators.

Near the start of the day, Ms Davila walked between handing out swag bags — filled with a lanyard, donated books by author and CEO of The Tapping Solution Nick Ortner, a folder, a portfolio for notes, and a pen — at a table and the school’s gymnasium, where a vendor and community partner fair was set up.

“It was a great day,” Ms Davila said after the event.

Leading up to the conference, Ms Davila sent out e-mails to everyone who had signed up to participate. Through some of the e-mails, the educators were encouraged to sign up for different workshops. As one e-mail described, the educators could build their own, “What I Need” professional learning agenda, which is why the event was called the WIN Conference.

“Our staff needs to feel okay taking care of themselves,” said Ms Davila, while offering a swag bag to one educator on November 6.

Ms Davila said she has held events like the WIN Conference in the last three districts she has worked.

“What I wanted to do was make sure we pay attention to our health and wellness,” she added.

The conference had four sessions, and educators could choose to attend different presentations during those sessions.

Ms Davila said she witnessed smiles throughout the day as the educators attended presentations or visited the vendor and community partner fair, which had 42 booths. Ms Davila visited two of the presentations, one of Mr Ortner’s workshops and a workshop presented by Ben’s Bells Regional Manager Cody Foss. The NHS Project Adventure course was showcased to 25 staff members as one workshop, according to Ms Davila.

“I’m just really looking forward to us forging some of these connections,” said Ms Davila, about the vendors and community partners that attended the event. According to Ms Davila, that portion of the day was held to help foster new working partnerships.

Ms Davila said she began organizing the conference in September.

“It read and it felt like a true conference experience that they would have gotten anywhere else,” said Ms Davila.