ACAMIS Spring Leadership Conference | Association of China and Mongolia International Schools on Glue Up

Overview

The theme of this year's conference is Power of Community. Schools are powerful communities where we have opportunities to work together to support both children and adults throughout their lives. We will explore the opportunities where a community can be developed through buildings, engagement with the larger community, wellbeing initiatives and inclusive practices. The conference sub-themes will be focused on:

Building: Building community through events and also through our spaces.
Engagement: Developing strategies for our school community to engage with the larger local and global community.
Wellbeing: Maintaining a work life balance as adults and supporting our students to care for themselves.
Inclusion: Systems to support all students, staff and families as we build our community.

Call for Peer Presenters!

Peer Presenter Proposals

We are looking for presenters who can share educational designs & processes, innovative programs, transitions and support initiatives, and leadership development ideas.

We are seeking presentation proposals that have a clear link to aspects of this theme, Power of Community – Building, Engagement, Wellbeing, Inclusion.

The conference also hosts planning sessions for ACAMIS Athletic Directors and ACE Coordinators, both focused on providing students with excellent opportunities to compete or exchange in athletics, arts, student leadership, and other student clubs/activities. The content for these strands will be arranged by the Sports and ACE Leaders.

Peer Presenter Proposal Form Link

Presentation Length & Language - Presentations will run for 60 minutes and should be made in English unless otherwise advised.

More than one presentation proposal - If you would like to submit more than one proposal, please make a separate submission for each.

Please make your submission below. We will review your proposal and let you know our decision as soon as possible. If approved, there will be ample time for you to prepare the actual presentation.

Proposal Submission Deadline: Friday, February 7, 2025

Conference Registration/Attendance

If approved you will need to register to attend the conference. Approved Peer presenters receive a 25% discount that reduces the registration fee to US$270 for attending the onsite conference. For those unable to travel to the conference and who are approved to present virtually, the registration fee will be waived.

Important Notes:

Your conference attendance and plan to present must be approved by the relevant authority in your school.
The presentation should preferably be rehearsed among departmental colleagues for quality assurance.
You agree to provide soft copies of presentation materials (e.g. the PowerPoint slides) to participants.
If your proposal is approved, your presentation details, name, school name and photo will be posted on the ACAMIS website and on the Guidebook app that will be seen by participants.

If you have any questions, please contact operations @acamis.org.

Thank you and we look forward to receiving your proposal!

Keynote Speakers

Yigong Shi

President of Westlake University, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Jennifer Abrams

English Teacher, New Teacher Coach, Communications Consultant, Author

Yigong Shi is an accomplished structural biologist who has made significant contributions to the field of molecular biology. He received his Bachelor's Degree with highest honors from Tsinghua University in 1989 and earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1995. After completing postdoctoral training at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Yigong began his academic career at Princeton University in 1998, where he rose to Full Professor by 2003. In 2007, he was named the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology.

In 2008, Yigong made the decision to return to Tsinghua University, where he led transformative changes in the life sciences community. He declined a prestigious offer from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to take on this role. In April 2018, he became the Founding President of Westlake University, China's first new-type research-oriented private university.

Yigong’s research has had a profound impact on understanding programmed cell death, regulated intramembrane proteolysis, and pre-mRNA splicing. He was an early proponent of cryo-EM technology for structural biology and built Tsinghua's EM facility in 2008. His groundbreaking work includes solving the first atomic structure of an intact spliceosome in 2015, the human spliceosome in 2017, and the minor spliceosome in 2020.

Yigong has received numerous prestigious accolades for his work, including being named a Searle Scholar and a Rita Allen Scholar. His awards include the 2003 Irving Sigal Young Investigator Award from the Protein Society, the 2010 Sackler Prize in Biophysics, the 2014 Gregori Aminoff Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the 2017 Future Science Prize – Life Science Award. Yigong is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the European Molecular Biology Organization. He is also an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. More about Yigong’s work can be found at en.westlake.edu.cn/faculty/yigong-shi

Formerly a high school English teacher and a new teacher coach in Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA), Jennifer Abrams is currently a communications consultant and author who works with educators and others on new teacher and employee support, being generationally savvy, effective collaboration skills, having hard conversations and creating identity safe workplaces.

Jennifer's publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicate, Collaborate & Create Community, Hard Conversations Unpacked - the Whos, Whens and What Ifs, and Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives. Her newest book is Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work.

Jennifer has shared her work in other mediums as a featured columnist on growth and change for Learning Forward's The Learning Professional journal as well as contributing to The International Educator (TIE) focusing her writing on adult development and collaboration skills.

Jennifer has been invited to keynote, facilitate and coach at schools and conferences in across North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. Within ACAMIS she has worked with English Schools Foundation schools, Hong Kong Academy, Keystone Academy, Concordia International School Shanghai, American International School Guangzhou and Shanghai Community International School.

She is honored to have been named one of the “18 Women All K-12 Educators Should Know,” by Education Week's ‘Finding Common Ground’ blog. More about Jennifer’s work can be found at her website, www.jenniferabrams.com, and on Twitter @jenniferabrams.

Xi'an Liangjiatan International School, is not-for-profit with a mission to enable confident open-minded, global citizens through life-long learning and a sense of community. This sense of community is the foundation of the school and connects beautifully with the conference theme. The school is an inclusive learning environment where all its members are encouraged to be their unique selves. Being an IB continuum school it desires to further the IB mission to, "develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. XLIS is also committed to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges guiding principles, in particular, "a culture of collaboration that nurtures and supports the well-being of all students". The school is an active member of the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS), with Dr. Liu serving on the board. As a truly diverse and inclusive organization XLIS focuses on delivering high-quality educational services to more than 650 outstanding international students. We extend a very warm welcome to the conference and will do our utmost to ensure you have a positive learning experience.

School Registration - ACAMIS Member

Fee includes lunches and tea breaks.

Member Price$400

School Registration - Non-Member

Fee includes lunches and tea breaks.

Public Price$450

School Registration - Approved Peer Presenters

Fee includes lunches and tea breaks

Public Price$260

Sponsor Registration - GOLD

Fee includes lunches and tea breaks for all attending representatives.

Public Price$1,600

Registration Fee / Sponsorship Fee Refund Policy

If notice of cancellation re the registered participant/sponsor is received:

30+ days pre-event: 80% of fee is refundable
15-29 days pre-event: 40% of fee is refundable
Less than 15 days pre-event: no refund

Online PD Programs - No refund will be granted re participants commencing an online PD program and withdrawing part way through. Course material fees (re DiSC surveys, book fees, etc) are not refundable once access is granted.

Refund Due To PD Event Cancellation

In the event of cancellation of a conference, workshop or online PD program, we will fully refund the registration or sponsorship fee(s) paid. However, we will be unable to refund any travel, visa or accommodation expenses incurred or course material fees where access has been granted.

Association of China and Mongolia International Schools

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