President’s Welcome to IATE 2023 Conference

President’s Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the 2023 IATE conference at Millikin University. We are thankful to be back at our institutional home for the second year under the leadership of our Executive Secretary Kaitlin Glause. We are so grateful for the hospitality and support we’ve received from the university and its staff.

Kim Kotty, our conference chair, has developed a program to celebrate and embrace “authenticity in action.” Through enlightening sessions that promote authentic classroom practices, this conference aims to help us meet the ever changing needs of our students and the world they will enter after they leave us.

Our conference this year affords many opportunities to learn, network, and grow in our profession. We are so happy to have you here with us this weekend and with us in our profession as well. I encourage you to find ways to get involved in IATE at the state level or within your home district. Let me know if I can help guide you to leadership opportunities, and enjoy the conference!

Jennifer Gouin

IATE President 2022-2023

Return to 2023 Conference Program

2022 Fall Conference Hotel Information

Instructions: Please click the Illinois Association of Teachers of English link (here or below) and, once at the Holiday Inn site, fill in the dates of October 21 and/or 22 to get the special group rate. The conference rate is also available for the day before and after the conference–that is, it is available for any of the days, from 10/20—10/23. (NOTE: You may also call the hotel directly and mention the group name to get the conference rate.):  


Pace Hospitality LLC.
Holiday Inn & Suites / Burger Theory
5150 N Wingate Dr,
Decatur, IL 62526.
Phone: 217 542 5400
Fax: 217 542 5401

Pandemic Processing and Mindful Solutions

an IATE Professional Development Session


Please join us on November 9 at 7 p.m. on Zoom for a one hour workshop designed to give you some space to process your own experiences as well as offer some concrete strategies for how to help students process theirs. The workshop will be facilitated by Sandra Montes, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and owner of In Motion Counseling.

Sandra Montes

Sandra Montes is bilingual and Latina, and has worked with children, adolescents and adults in a variety of settings from inpatient units to community mental health settings. She has worked in both suburban and urban high schools, helping students reach their full potential. Using a trauma-informed lens, Sandra has helped clients with depression, anxiety, and stress management. She works with educators, healers and other high stress professionals. Sandra is a firm believer in strength based perspective and cognitive behavioral therapy and also believes in a spiritual and holistic perspective in therapy. She has a focus on behavioral activation or “moving,” helping clients become motivated to move their physical bodies to feel relief for their emotional state.