2026 MCEA Fall Conference: Full Schedule

arrow_back View All Dates

1:30pm CDT

Beyond the Language Barrier: Masterful Collaboration with Professional Interpreters

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT

Language access is a cornerstone of community equity. This session provides a practical roadmap for collaborating with professional interpreters and accessing translation services. By understanding our District’s Language Access Plan and mastering the "how-to" of service requests, you will learn to remove barriers and build stronger, more inclusive connections with the multilingual families you serve.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways

Navigate Support Systems: Successfully use district workflows to request professional interpreters and written translation services.
Implement Best Practices: Apply professional communication standards during interpreted sessions to ensure accuracy, clarity and understanding.
Language Access Plan: Utilize the District Language Access Plan as a guide for maintaining equitable communication with multilingual families.

Speakers

Miguel Benjamin

Coordinator of Interpretation Services, Rochester Public Schools

My name is Miguel Benjamin, and I am the Coordinator of Interpretation Services for Rochester Public Schools. With a background in community engagement, interpreting in Spanish, and program coordination, I have worked extensively with multilingual populations, organizing cultural... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

2:45pm CDT

Best Practices for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) in Community Education

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

Join the MCEA Equity Committee to explore our new DEIAB Best Practices Guide for Community Education. In this interactive session, we will introduce the guide’s core frameworks, share actionable strategies for your programs, and facilitate collaborative feedback discussions to shape the continued development of this guide.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Effectively navigate the guide as a resource for improving DEIAB in their own CE departments.
Provide meaningful feedback to help refine MCEA’s Best Practices Guide.
Identify at least two practices from the new guide to apply within their own community education programs.

Speakers

Tiffany Weeks

School-Age-Care Supervisor, Anoka-Hennepin Adventures Plus

Tiffany is the Supervisor for the Anoka-Hennepin Adventures Plus School-Age-Care Program overseeing the program's implementation at 24 site locations. She has 29 years of experience working in the field.

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

4:00pm CDT

Community Care as Resistance: Healing, Grounding, and Solidarity in Difficult Times

Wednesday October 21, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT

Suite 104 - Lower Level

Community Care as Resistance offers a trauma-informed space for grounding, reflection, and practical coping during times of war, authoritarianism, immigration trauma, and dehumanization. Participants will explore community care, solidarity, and accountability while practicing strategies that support healing without re-centering whiteness or placing additional burden on marginalized communities.

Outcomes / Key Takeaways

Practice trauma-informed grounding and coping strategies for difficult social and political moments.
Explore how Community Education can function as public care infrastructure.
Identify ways to support healing, solidarity, and accountability without re-centering whiteness.

Speakers

Dr. Leonardo E. Candelario-Perez

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Castor MN

Dr. Leonardo E. Candelario-Perez (they/them) is a Latinx, queer, bilingual clinical psychologist licensed in Minnesota and the Board President of Castor MN. Dr. Leo brings more than a decade of clinical and community-based experience, including specialized work supporting transgender... Read More →

Stephen Keeler

Director of Community Education, Fridley Public Schools

Stephen Keeler (they/them) serves as the Director of Community Education for Fridley Public Schools and Co-chair of the MCEA Equity Committee. Stephen is a justice-centered Community Education leader whose work focuses on anti-racism, decolonized practice, disability justice, gender-inclusive... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Suite 104 - Lower Level 30 Civic Center Dr SE, Rochester, MN 55904, USA

DEI

2026 MCEA Fall Conference

1:30pm CDT

Miguel Benjamin

2:45pm CDT

Tiffany Weeks

4:00pm CDT

Dr. Leonardo E. Candelario-Perez

Stephen Keeler

Get help with the event