Closing the Achievement Gap:The 7th Annual Professional Learning Conference for Office Professionals and Classified Staff
Theme: 21st Century Strong
The 7th Annual Professional Learning Conference for Office Professionals and
Classified Staff Agenda
8:15 am ............................................................ Greetings .................................... Dr. Craig Witherspoon Superintendent, Richland School District One
Opening Remarks …………………………………………………..…………………… Ms. Melinda Legette Classified Employee of the Year
Introduction of Speaker …………………………………………………………………. Ms. Regina Reed Co-chair, Classified Professional Learning Conference
Keynote .............................................. “Happy Hour is 8-4” ................................. Dr. Iwana Ridgill Ridgill & Associates
10:00 am – 11:15 am ……………………………………………………………. A Breakout Sessions
11:30 am – 12:30 pm ……………………………………………………..……Lunch Break in Salon A
12:45 pm – 2:00 pm ……………………………………………………………. B Breakout Sessions
2:15 pm – 3:30 pm ………………………………………………………………. C Breakout Sessions
Thank you for participating in our conference today.
7:308:00
8:159:45
10:0011:15 Session A1 Session A2 Session A3 Session A4 Session A5 Session A6 Session A7 Happy Hour is 84  (Q&A)
The Benefits of Leaving  Your Comfort Zone
Best Practices for Office  Professionals: Secrets to  Making the Customer  Experience Magical Now!
TEAMS  Top Five Skills Necessary  to Be Successful in the  Workplace
Slips, Trips, and Falls   The Unreturnable Gift
Managing Stress: Creating  a Sustainable Worklife  Balance
P:  Dr. Iwana Ridgill  P:  Kwamine Gilyard P:  John Formica P:  Heather Daniels P:  Tiffoney Alford P:  Beverley Leeper P:  Valentina Quetglas
Salon A  Salon B  Salon C  Saluda Capital City Congaree  Broad
11:3012:30
12:452:00 Session B1 Session B2 Session B3 Session B4 Session B5 Session B6 Session B7 The Benefits of Leaving  Your Comfort Zone
Best Practices for Office  Professionals: Secrets to  Making the Customer  Experience Magical Now!
TEAMS  Top Five Skills Necessary  to Be Successful in the  Workplace
Dealing With Difficult  People in  the Workplace
Managing Stress: Creating  a Sustainable Worklife  Balance
P:  Kwamine Gilyard  P:  John Formica P:  Heather Daniels P:  Tiffoney Alford P:  E. Lorraine Gardner P:  Valentina Quetglas
Salon A  Salon B  Salon C  Saluda Capital City Congaree Broad 
2:153:30 Session C1 Session C2 Session C3 Session C4 Session C5 Session C6 Session C7 Hidden in Plain Sight The Benefits of Leaving 
Your Comfort Zone Best Practices for Office  Professionals: Secrets to  Making the Customer  Experience Magical Now!
TEAMS  Top Five Skills Necessary  to Be Successful in the  Workplace
Dealing With Difficult  People in  the Workplace
Managing Stress: Creating  a Sustainable Worklife  Balance
P:  Boone & C. Dorrell  P:  Kwamine Gilyard P:  John Formica P:  Heather Daniels P:  Tiffoney Alford P:  E. Lorraine Gardner P:  Valentina Quetglas
Salon A  Salon B  Salon C  Saluda  Capital City Congaree  Broad
Lunch
The Office Professional and Classified Staff PL Conference The Medallion Conference Center, 2/28/2020
Session Times A 10:00-11:15 B 12:45-2:00 C 2:15-3:30
Breakout Session Selections
Session Title: Happy Hour is 8-4 (Q & A)
Room: Salon A Synopsis: Continuation of the keynote speech ---- Does it really matter if people are happy in their jobs? What makes us happy at work? How does your workplace measure up on the happiness scale? Research supports that if you’re happy at work, you’ll solve problems faster, be more creative, adapt faster to change, receive better feedback, get promoted quicker and earn more over the long-term. In this keynote presentation, we’ll take a look at why happiness is important in the workplace, the positive effects of laughter and humor on the job, and five ways to turn happiness into an advantage on the job.
Session C1 Presenters: Deborah C. Boone, McKinney-Vento Office, Richland One & Carolyn Dorrell, USC
Session Title: Hidden in Plain Sight Room: Salon A
Synopsis: School districts are mandated by federal law to identify, eliminate or reduce educational barriers that may hinder academic success for students experiencing homelessness. This session will focus on our district’s efforts to meet this federal mandate.
Sessions A2, B2, C2 Presenter: Kwamine Simpson Gilyard, Human Resources, Richland One
Session Title: The Benefits of Leaving your Comfort Zone
Room: Salon B Synopsis: This session will help attendees understand the need to stretch themselves beyond what is comfortable
in order to grow. Useful tools and resources will be shared about ways to slowly get out of the comfort of the known in order to discover all of the possibilities that exist in the area outside of the “box.”
Sessions A3, B3, C3 Presenter: John Formica, Formica Enterprises, LLC
Session Title: Best Practices for Office Professionals: Secrets to Making the Customer Experience Magical Now!
Room: Salon C (All positions welcomed, but REQUIRED FOR ALL OFFICE PROFESSIONALS)
Synopsis: Have you ever wondered how Disney employees continue to produce a dynamic customer focused model and magical customer experience? Imagine if you could learn how to create that same magic in your organization, just as successfully as Disney. What would that look like?
As a former Disney Leader, John will share his incredible experiences, best practices and proven Disney Success Strategies to help your schools and team create a Disney- like customer focused culture and establish a winning team environment. You will learn to achieve extraordinary results right away!
Sessions A4, B4, C4 Presenter: Heather Daniels, EduCollaborators
Session Title: TEAMS Room: Saluda Synopsis: Looking for a place to gather coworkers around common goals and learning? Microsoft Teams is a platform that combines workplace chats, meetings, notes, and attachments to provide a true chat-based hub for teamwork. It provides participants the opportunity to create a more open, fluid, and digital environment.
Note: Times are color coded.
Select one session from each
letter/color.
The Office Professional and Classified Staff PL Conference The Medallion Conference Center, 2/28/2020
Breakout Session Selections
Sessions A5, B5, C5 Presenter: Tiffoney Alford, Human Resources, Richland One
Session Title: Top Five Skills Necessary to be Successful in the Workplace Room: Capital City
Synopsis: Employers want to hire successful, confident employees. Beyond the ability to do the job, employers look for people who fit within the company’s culture and get along with the existing staff. In this class, participants will learn the top skills necessary to be successful in the workplace in the 21st Century.
Session A6 Presenter: Beverley Leeper, Risk Management, Richland One
Session Title: Slips, Trips, and Falls - The Unreturnable Gift Room: Congaree Synopsis: This session will highlight ways to prevent and avoid workplace injuries, causes and effects.
Sessions B6, C6 Presenter: E. Lorraine Gardner, Advanced Academic Programs, Richland One
Session Title: Dealing With Difficult People in the Workplace
Room: Congaree
Synopsis: Conflict within the workplace usually stems from several factors, which include, but are not limited to poor leadership, conflicting goals, poor communication, and confusion about job responsibilities. Sometimes you may see personal conflicts that spill over into the workplace because most people aren’t able to separate personal from business. This session is designed to provide strategies and tips to assist you with recognizing and resolving conflict in your professional life. Sessions A7, B7, C7 Presenter: Valentina Quetglas, Vocational Rehabilitation Session Title: Managing Stress: Creating a Sustainable Work-life Balance
Room: Broad
Synopsis: This presentation will define stress while learning positive skills to cope and find a balance between life and work. Additionally, we will discuss relaxation skills and talk about creating healthy boundaries. Stress is our body’s way of reacting to any change that requires an adjustment or response. We have the choice to respond positively or negatively.
PURPOSE: RCAEOP strives to elevate the standards of office professionals in education by the exchanging
and pooling of information, ideas and ideals, and by providing professional growth activities, thereby
increasing the ability of office personnel to contribute to more positive educational experiences for students.
WE WANT YOU!
INTEGRITY
PROFESSIONALISM
PRIDE
TEAMWORK
RESPECT
DIVERSE
MEMBERSHIP
NETWORKING
EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thank you is extended to our Conference Committee Members. Your dedication is extraordinary; we could not have done this without you.
Laura Anthony Anita Hare
Dawn Hardy Mark Leslie
Stacey Nesmith, Co-Chairperson Regina Reed, Co- Chairperson
A special thank you to our presenters. Tiffoney Alford Deborah Boone Heather Daniels Carolyn Dorrell John Formica
E. Lorraine Gardner Kwamine Gilyard Genova Karate Beverley Leeper
Dr. Iwana Ridgill, Keynote Speaker Valentina Quetglas
A special thank you to our registration team, facilitators, and technical support. Maria Arias
Katrina Barnes Leslie Bracey
Timothy Griffin Nicole Jeter Charles Lane Terri Mayers
Darlene Montgomery Sherry Poole Sheryl Tillman
Nicole Williams
The 7th Annual PL Conference for Office Professionals & Classified Staff 21st Century Strong
Salon C – Sessions A3, B3, C3 Salon B – Sessions A2, B2, C2 Salon A – Sessions A1, C1 Congaree – Sessions A6, B6, C6
Broad – Sessions A7, B7, C7 Saluda – Sessions A4, B4, C4 Capital City – Sessions A5, B5, C5 Parking (Front Lot)
FRONT OF THE MEDALLION CONFERENCE CENTER
Parking
Salon A A1, C1
Congaree A6, B6, C6
Descriptions.pdf
Sessions A2, B2, C2
Sessions A3, B3, C3
Sessions B6, C6
Acknowledgements.pdf
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A special thank you is extended to our sponsors who contributed to this event.
A special thank you is extended to our Conference Committee Members. Your dedication is extraordinary; we could not have done this without you.
A special thank you for our presenters.
A special thank you for our registration team, facilitators, and technical support.
Acknowledgements.pdf
A special thank you is extended to our Conference Committee Members. Your dedication is extraordinary; we could not have done this without you.
A special thank you to our presenters.
A special thank you to our registration team, facilitators, and technical support.
finaldescriptions219.pdf
Session C1
Sessions A2, B2, C2
Sessions A3, B3, C3
Sessions A4, B4, C4
Presenter: Heather Daniels, EduCollaborators
Sessions A5, B5, C5
Room: Capital City
Sessions B6, C6
Sessions A7, B7, C7