Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Conference Information

2010 MAFCS Conference: "Family and Work: Doing What Counts"February 11-13, 2010
Minneapolis Airport Marriott Hotel in Bloomington MN
Register by February 1 and save a $25.00 late fee.
Details and Registration Form are attached for your convenience.
Professional Development Units will be available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Make your room reservation by January 25 to book our conference rate of just $79 (plus taxes) per night.

Information is also available at www.mnafcs.org and a copy will be in your postal mail too.
Plan to spend a long weekend with your FACS friends and your family at this convenient metro location.
Thursday, February 11
SERV SAFE training available. Colleen Zenk will lead the SERV SAFE training which meets the criteria for Food Manager Certification under the Minnesota Food Code.
Register ASAP for this session as you need time to prepare and receive your materials.

Pre-Conference Educational Tour
The motor coach bus will leave from the hotel at 8:30 AM with a fun day of activities planned. Tour includes: Fresh Seasons Market, a unique grocery store experience; Nordic Ware, manufacturer of kitchenware products including the Bundt pan - stop will include tour of their manufacturing facility and time to shop at their onsite store;
Ferguson Showroom, 18,000 square foot showroom is home to the largest range of plumbing fixtures, lighting and appliance in the area.
Lunch will be at the CRAVE, a fresh, vibrant American Restaurant.

Gourmet Dinner and Keynote Speaker
Thursday will conclude at the hotel with a Gourmet Dinner and Keynote Speaker, Jill J. Johnson; "Clarity: The Secret to Flawless Decision Making."

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Friday, February 12 - Registration opens at 7:30 AM
"FACS in the Big Picture" will be the theme for our opening speaker, Janet Bray, Executive Director of the Association for Career and Technical Education.
Fabulous sessions are planned - please see the attached Conference Schedule file for details.
The day concludes by celebrating with the Minnesota Teacher of the Year - free hors d'voeuvres and cash bar

Saturday, February 13 - Day begins with Announcements and Celebrations and Keynote Speaker Kyle Uphoff, Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), "Minnesota's Changing Labor Market."
More fabulous sessions are planned for the morning - see the Conference Schedule file for details.
Another highlight for the day is Lunch with a quick visit from Senator Amy Klobuchar is planned and Rob Grunewald, Associate Economist will present, "Economic Benefits for Early Childhood Investments."

If you have additional questions, please contact Rachel Pederson, MAFCS Executive Secretary, 763-241-2104, rachelpederson@charter.net,

See the attached files for lots of details - Register NOW!
Linda Keller
Debbie Larson
MAFCS Conference Co-Chairs


Rachel PedersonCustom Desktop Design & Business Solutions13251 180th Ave NWElk River MN 55330763-241-2104Fax: 763-241-8783rachelpederson@charter.net

MAFCS Conference in February this year

Remember that the Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences is in February this year near the mall of America.

The conference is the Friday and Saturday of Presidents week-end and is filled with activities for you to learn and colaborate. Check out the MAFCS web site for more information.

Placemat on Health care link below

Below you will find a link to the placemat for discussion on healthcare. This is a great way for your family to talk about health care in the United States no matter what your views might be.

http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/child-health-reform-holiday-discussion-guide-placemat.pdf

Board of Directors retreat, Aug 3

The board of directors retreat is Aug 3 in southern Minnesota. Please contact Kari if you are interested in attending or being a part of a committee. It is very rewarding to be a part of a professional organization and to help make the Family and Consumer Sciences Programs stay strong.

remember you can go to the Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences web page by searching MNAFCS

While at the national conference Alice, Cherry and I went on a tour of the smokey mountains. Guess what our bus got stuck in the mud and we watched in get unstuck for about an hour and a half......here is a photo of the exciting moment. Ha Ha..

National Conference in Knoxville, TN

The national conference was great fun and a great time for learning and celebrating. This year was very special because of the 100 year celebration. There was a wonderful slide presentation along with a laiser light show.

It was great seeing our own Jean Knack as national treasurer and Kathy Norquist as Chair of the Development committee.

I was honored to represent Minnesota as our teacher of the year and enjoyed my presentations and the lovely teacher of the year luncheon.

Jane and Alice on the bus tour in the Smokey Mountains.

national tests

Today I received an e-mail from FCCLA in regards to national tests for Career Pathways.  There are two tests that are ready to be piloted.  If you have students that can take a test in child development or consumerism please contact Wendy Ambrose at the FCCLA office for more information.

Jane

National Conference/Deb Larson

You can still sign up to go to the national conference of American Association of Family and Consumer Science. The 100 year celebration will be in Knoxville and the board is looking forward to seeing you there.

As those of you that are teachers see the year wind down I hope that you have a good summer and you are able to relax and get yourself ready for another exciting year.

Our very own Debbie Larson did a wonderful Math presentation at the conference and she will be presenting her findings nationally and we commend her for her in depth study using Math in FACS. She is hoping to line up a summer workshop for those of you that want to use Math as a focus in your classroom to highlight the importance of what FACS teachers do to compliment core curriculum courses.

Happy Summer, Jane Hinrichsen