MAEA Conference Day 1

Well we got here! It took a lot of work, but we made it!

First, of all...the free bags, the pride and joy of the conference are AMAZING!

We began our day with a Keynote Speaker, Betsy Abeel and her very touching stories that her and her daughter have been through throughout their lives. Her daughter had learning disabilities but worked very well in creative writing. This is where she excelled and she ended up working with a local artist and together they collaborated to create a book that soon became a booming inspiration for many students across the world.


We had planned to present at 11am this morning and 5pm on Saturday, but the schedule got somewhat messed up. So today, we hung out and just experienced the conference for what it was. Tomorrow, now, we have to present twice, 11 and 5. We have practiced and hopefully it goes well!

As our presentation got cancelled, there were some who did want to see us. In this case, we met someone who seemed very important, Bob who is the President of the RAEA (Retired art educators association). He gave us a lot of information regarding scholarships and a lot of opportunities that lie ahead of us in the future and we cannot wait to be involved with them someday.


Today was most of our first times at the MAEA conference. There were a lot of art educators, but not as many students as I had hoped. The workshops and events are very fun and insightful to use for small ideas in our classrooms. As a student sponsorship awardee, I had to volunteer at the MAEA student chapter table and I met quite a few fun people there and got some great ideas. We thought of some more ideas for some future workshops as well!

More to come tomorrow!