The 2025 WELS National Education conference theme, Now You Are contrasts our natural state with the wonderful blessings we have as members of God’s family in Christ. Now more than ever, people are seeking meaning, purpose, and belonging. As Christian teachers our important task is to create a culture in our schools that promotes not only learning, but also our connection to Christ and each other. Bestselling author Doug Lemov and Martin Luther College professor, Pastor Luke Thompson will be featured as our keynote speakers. They will help us develop a better understanding of building culture in our schools.
Our conference is designed to impact learning at your school. In order for professional development to affect what happens in classrooms, teachers need to actively and deeply interact with the concepts. Learning that will last beyond the week of the conference requires practice and coaching. In order to have the biggest impact on students, teachers and schools must hold themselves accountable to practice, discussion, and collaboration.
With these goals in mind, this conference is providing four pathways, or tracks for teachers to invest their focus and leave with high-impact tools for their ministry. In addition, the conference tracks will further develop the concept of culture as we learn the key components of a
- Culture of Assessment – My Students are Learning
- Culture of Student Care – My Students Belong
- Culture of Cultivation – My Ministry is Growing
- Culture of Collaboration – My Team Matters
We have designed the keynotes and sectionals to help you dig into relevant topics. We have instructed presenters to engage and activate their audiences. We have engineered the schedule to promote ample time for reflection and connection with other conference attendees.
Conference Norms
To greater enhance your experience and promote professionalism the following norms will guide your time at the conference:
- Be Present – As professionals, we implore you to diminish distractions. We ask you to respect the organizers and presenters by arriving on time and minimizing both in-person and digital conversations while you attend keynotes and sessions.
- Actively Participate – Take notes, ask questions, contribute to discussions, engage with other attendees, challenge your paradigms, and embrace new learning.
- Presume Positive Intentions – Place the best construction on presenters and fellow attendees as you discuss ideas and challenge the status quo. Hold each other with dignity and respect.
