Join us for the 2022 Fall Conference
September 20-22, 2022
Grand Traverse Resort
We’re celebrating your courage and perseverance this Fall! Join your colleagues for three days of professional learning in beautiful Traverse City and get inspired by keynote speakers Jamie Vollmer and Colin Seale. See more of the agenda below.
*Note: This conference will be held Tuesday-Thursday, rather than the usual Wednesday-Friday. We will return to the usual Wednesday-Friday schedule moving forward.
Review our COVID-19 Mitigation Policy
Cost: $450
RSVP for Receptions
Come up to the conference early and meet fellow district leaders who are new to the job at our New Superintendents Reception.
Join us at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 19 at the Grand Traverse resort for food and drink, and the chance to network with other new superintendents and MASA staff. This event is open to all new superintendents in Michigan.
Note: This event will be held the night before the conference starts.
Hotel Information
Several condos are still available at the Grand Traverse Resort. Hotel rooms are sold out. Reserve your accomodations with the MASA room rate online using this link, or use the offer code MAS2022 on the resort’s website or when booking through a reservations agent.
Overflow Hotels
Comfort Inn Traverse City
460 Munson Ave. US HWY 31
Traverse City, MI 49686
$169 overnight rate
Call (231) 778-8000, and give group number JS21CO for the group rate.
Cutoff Date: August 27, 2022
1492 US 31 North
Traverse City, MI 49685
Rate: $114/night
Click here to book an overnight room
*Sold Out* Sleep Inn
5520 U.S. 31 North
Acme, MI 49610
$129 overnight rate
Call (231) 938-7000 (mention you are with MASA block) for the group rate. You can also book online by using this direct booking link: https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/XF50P7
Cut-off date: August 22, 2022
After this date, the rooms will be released back to general inventory. If you need to cancel your reservation, do so no later than 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid cancellation fees.
Conference Agenda
To access the conference agenda and see learning session descriptions, visit our Fall 22 Agenda Page.
Keynote Speakers
Jamie Vollmer, Author and Champion/Defender of Public Schools
Jamie Vollmer is defender and promoter of public education. He works to increase support for America’s public schools and for the millions of educators who heroically strive to ensure student success.
Jamie is the author of the book, Schools Cannot Do It Alone, proclaimed by the American School Board Journal to be one of the “Top ten books of the year.” He received the Learning and Liberty award from the National School Public Relations Association in recognition of his success in strengthening school/community partnerships.
With a background in law and manufacturing, Mr. Vollmer entered the education arena in 1988 as a founding member of the Iowa Business Roundtable. At the time, he was president of the Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company, declared by People magazine to make the “Best Ice Cream in America!”
Once a harsh critic of America’s public schools, over the last thirty years he has become an articulate champion, working with educators, parents, business and community leaders to remove the obstacles to student success.
Vollmer holds a Juris Doctor from Catholic University, and a B.A. from Penn State. He is married to his college sweetheart. They have three grown children who they love, but they love their two granddaughters way more.
Colin Seale, Critical Thinking Evangelist, Founder and CEO of thinkLaw, and Author
Colin Seale was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where struggles in his upbringing gave birth to his passion for educational equity. Tracked early into gifted and talented programs, Colin was afforded opportunities his neighborhood peers were not. Using lessons from his experience as a math teacher, later as an attorney, and now as a keynote speaker, contributor to Forbes, The 74, and Education Post and author of Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students (Prufrock Press, 2020). His most recent book, Tangible Equity: A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence in and Beyond the Classroom, shows how you can overcome barriers and create sustainable pathways to realizing equity for your students. Colin founded thinkLaw, a multi-award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and REACH all students, regardless of race, zip code or what side of the poverty line they are born into. When he’s not serving as the world’s most fervent critical thinking advocate, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer to his two young children.