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
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.