ABOUT
We hope you will join us from Monday, August 29th, through Wednesday, August 31st in person at the San Marcos Conference Center or virtually! The Texas Education for Homeless Children and Youth (TEHCY) Program Summit equips education professionals with cutting-edge tools and resources to make a difference in the lives of students experiencing homelessness. This year’s theme, Creating Connections, Building Bridges, will inspire attendees to strengthen school and community partnerships in order to provide the necessary reinforcements for systems that uphold student success.
Join us for specialized training on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the opportunity to earn approximately 11 CEUs, develop new skills, network, and engage with other education professionals from across Texas!
Last year’s summit welcomed over 1,000 education professionals from over 400 school districts across Texas, empowering new connections across the state. Read about last year’s summit on our blog post, Exploring the Road to Impact During TEHCY 2021.
Youth Engagement
TEA and Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) believe we can best support students experiencing homelessness by elevating their voices and experiences. Guided by this principle, the TEHCY Program Summit engages youth and young adults as speakers, consultants, and facilitators throughout the summit. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to learn directly from youth and young adults with lived experience, putting the power of youth-adult partnerships into action.
We are pleased that this year’s conference is in partnership with TNOYS’ Young Adult Leadership Council (YALC). The YALC is a paid leadership development program for youth and young adults ages 16 to 25 with lived experiences in homelessness and other areas such as foster care and juvenile justice system involvement. Learn more about the YALC and TNOYS’ approach to youth engagement on the Youth Engagement page.
TOPICS & CEUs
The summit will feature professional development tracks that are geared toward TEHCY subgrantees, school districts, charter schools, Educational Service Center (ESC) staff, and stakeholders.
Training Topics Include:
- McKinney-Vento fundamentals
- Connecting students to community services
- Advancing equity for special student populations
- Promoting academic success
- Trauma and resilience
- Collaborating with partners, state agencies, and other programs
- Case management
- Leadership training
- Best practices for program implementation
- American Rescue Plan implementation
- And more!
SPEAKERS & AGENDA
We’re excited to announce the first confirmed keynote speaker for the 2022 TEHCY Program Summit! Stay tuned, and the full lineup will be announced soon.
Gabe Salazar, Motivational Youth Speaker
Motivational Youth Speaker Gabe Salazar overcame poverty, gang influence, and homelessness to become a successful entrepreneur. He’s a highly, sought-after keynote speaker who has been inspiring teens, families, teachers and school administrators with a message of hope and dreaming big for more than 15 years.
After being mentored by his high school principal in South Texas, Gabe was rescued from gang influence and became the first in his family to go to college. He graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, TX with a Bachelor of Science. He began his career as an inclusion specialist for special education and behavioral students at an intermediate school in San Antonio, TX. He soon discovered his unique talent to speak to teens and families after performing a motivational assembly at his school. Today, he’s a professional speaker who travels all over the world to schools, teen conferences, churches and camps.
Gabe has spoken to millions of teens throughout his career including national tours for Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, U.S. Air Force Family Services, and Ford Salute to Education. Popular Hispanics Magazine recognizes him as America’s #1 Latino Youth Speaker.
Gabe lives in Dallas, TX with his wife, Nancy and four children.
EXPERIENCE
After two years of hosting the TEHCY Program Summit virtually, we are thrilled to announce a hybrid experience for this year’s event! Participants have the option to join in-person, or log on to our virtual platform to watch the full conference from anywhere.
As planning gets underway, the health and safety of all attendees is our top priority. The TEHCY Program Summit team is adopting preventative measures to protect against COVID-19, and we will follow all applicable health and safety recommendations throughout the event. Additional details and guidance will be shared on our website and with registrants as the conference date gets closer.
All attendees will have access to the complete range of recorded sessions and workshops, and the hybrid format will allow for representations across every Texas region.
American Sign Language interpreters will be available for the summit. Please contact us at summit@tehcy.email to request interpretation services.
HOTEL
The TEHCY Program Summit takes place at the San Marcos Conference Center, which is within the Embassy Suites at 1001 E McCarty Lane, San Marcos, Texas. Summit attendees may book reservations through the TEHCY Program Summit reserved room block. You may also book reservations by calling 1-800-445-8667.
A discounted room rate of $159 + tax per night is available Sunday, August 28 – Wednesday, August 31 for summit attendees. Registrants are responsible for making their own hotel reservations through the reserved room block, which is available until Friday, July 29 or until the room block is full.