Annual Conference

Register for the conference: Here

*NEW DATE* Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge

PAR Talks Presenters:

Julia Barfield, Senior Manager, Policy & Programs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Center for Education and Workforce

Paula Polito, Owner/Director of Bear-y Cherry Tree Child Development Center and Chair of the Early Childhood Care and Education Advisory Council for the Louisiana Department of Education

Kenneth Francis, Director, Policy and Child Advocacy, Agenda for Children

Sandy Holloway (Special Guest Respondent), President and District 3 Representative, Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)

Conference & Luncheon Program

9:30 – 10:00 a.m. – PAR Membership & Board of Directors Meeting
10:00 – 11:30 a.m. – PAR Talks
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. -Patron’s Reception (invitation required; Presenting and Gold table sponsors only)
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. – Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

Co-Chairs: Charles Landry & Virginia Freeman Rowan

Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab:

The Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab is an immersive learning experience that combines movie-quality video, special effects, and educational gaming to get kids excited about STEM. Participants climb aboard a custom-built motorcoach bus to experience a futuristic research lab that virtually transports them to outer space and lands on Mars.

The program introduces middle school students to the engineering design process as they must work in groups to design, communicate, and test rovers before they travel to Mars. Once on Mars, students must adapt their rovers to finish their mission, improving initial prototypes using tables and data charts to help construct a finalized design.

The Verizon explorer lab will be making a special appearance at the PAR Conference on September 22. Conference attendees may sign up at the conference for a ten-minute trip to Mars between 10 am and 12 pm.

The explorer lab will also host an open house following the luncheon speaker, from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm.

PAR thanks our 2020 Presenting Sponsors!