August
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Transitioning from PECS to Speech Generated Devices (SGDs)
​8/4/2026 - 8:00am - 3:30pm
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Location: Lexington Campus
2331 Fortune Dr. Lexington, KY 40509
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Target Audience: Special Ed teachers, special education instructional coaches, Speech/ Language Pathologists
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Description: This training will provide you with practical information for helping learners successfully transition from The Picture Exchange Communication System® (PECS®) to Speech Generating Devices (SGDs). After mastering vital communication skills such as initiation, persistence in relaying messages, picture discrimination and basic sentence structure, learners often have large repertoires of pictures stored in their communication book. To accommodate larger vocabularies and allow for continued language development, the team may next explore a transition to a dedicated Speech Generating Device (SGD) or tablet with communication app. During this training, we will show your team how to assess current PECS skills and analyze the features of available apps and SGDs in order to make the selection best suited to your learner's needs, ensuring a rapid transfer of existing communication skills. Once we’ve considered relevant options for device or app selection, we will guide you in the detailed lesson planning necessary to teach use of the new device as a functional communication system to ensure SGD users maintain effective communication skills! Whether you are just getting started or you want to enhance your approach to teaching with an SGD already in place, this workshop will give you evidence-based teaching strategies and insights to maximize your learner's transition to and use of an SGD. *Please bring a Speech Generating Device (SGD) or a tablet with an AAC app to the training to use during a variety of activities.
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EILA and CEUs will be available for this in-person session. Contact erica.price@ckec.org with any questions.
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Please Note: This Training Has An 8:00am Start Time
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From Resource to Results: Putting HQIRs into Practice
8/18/2026, 9/15/2026, 10/20/2026, 11/10/2026 - 9:00am - 12:00pm
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Location: Lexington Campus
2331 Fortune Dr. Lexington, KY 40509
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Target Audience: DSC, School Administrators, Instructional Coaches
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Description: This professional learning series is designed for district and school leaders responsible for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Through a sequence of collaborative sessions, participants will explore how to effectively implement and maximize their High-Quality Instructional Resources (HQIRs) to drive improved student outcomes.
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Using the Curriculum Implementation Framework as a guide, leaders will learn how to develop and refine a local curriculum document, utilize the Pedagogical Practices Mapping Tool, and align learning targets, standards, lessons, and assessments to ensure coherence across their instructional system.
Each session will balance learning, reflection, and collaboration, providing opportunities for participants to:
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Examine tools and processes that strengthen curriculum implementation;
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Apply learning to their own district or school context;
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Engage in meaningful discussion and problem-solving with peers; and
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Hear from other districts about their implementation successes and challenges.
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By the end of the series, participants will leave with actionable tools, aligned curriculum structures, and strategies to ensure improved teaching and learning across classrooms.
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8/24-25/2026 - 8:30am - 4:30pm
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Location: Lexington Campus
2331 Fortune Dr. Lexington, KY 40509
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Target Audience: any school or district crisis response team member; school mental health professionals, administrators, teachers
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Description: This 2-day workshop develops the knowledge and skill required to provide immediate mental health crisis interventions to the students, staff, and school community members who have been simultaneously exposed to an acute traumatic stressor. The PREPaRE model emphasizes:
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preventing and preparing for crises
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reaffirming physical health and welfare, and perceptions of safety and security
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evaluating psychological trauma risk
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providing interventions
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responding to mental health needs
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examining the effectiveness of crisis preparedness
NOTE: Registration Deadline is Friday, August 14 at 4:00 pm ET.
Participants must attend the entire day and stay through the end of the day on both days to take the post-test in order to receive a certificate of completion.
This training is offered at no cost by the KDE Stronger Connections Grant! However, due to having to purchase seat licenses ahead of time, anyone who cancels registration after Friday, August 14, 2026 will be billed for the license fee.
6.5 Hours of EILA will be available each day. Participants must commit to attending the entire day on both days and allow for some preparation time prior to the training.
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Transforming Student Writing: Practical Strategies from The Writing Revolution
8/27/2026, 9/24/2026, 10/29/2026 - 8:30am - 3:30pm
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Location: Harrodsburg Campus
1150 Danville Rd. Harrodsburg, KY 40422
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Target Audience: K-12 teachers, special education teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, curriculum coordinators
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Description: This 3-day session equips teachers with easy-to-use tools to improve student writing in any subject at any grade level. Based on Judith Hochman’s The Writing Revolution, this session covers clear, step-by-step methods for building sentence and paragraph writing skills. Teachers will learn ways to help students express ideas clearly, understand content better, and gain confidence in their writing. By the end of the session, participants will have a toolkit of effective, research-based strategies to transform writing instruction and boost student success.
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The registration fee provides each participant with a copy of The Writing Revolution 2.0.
For more information, contact Lindsey Ellis at lindsey.ellis@ckec.org.
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​CKEC Crisis Response Team Cadre
​8/31/2026 - 8:30 - 3:30pm
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Location: Harrodsburg Campus
1150 Danville Rd. Harrodsburg, KY 40422
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Target Audience: CKEC Regional Crisis Response Team members; any school or district Crisis Response Team member
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Description: This day is for all CKEC Crisis Response Team leads and other school/district team members who wish to join.The day will be focused on strategies, best practices, table top exercises, rehearsals, networking, and planning. CKEC Regional Crisis Response Team members are encouraged to bring others from their district/school teams to this meeting.
Cadre meeting dates:
August 31, 2026 (Harrodsburg)
January 11, 2027 (Lexington)
6 hours of EILA.
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