Friday, May 15, 2026
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SB
Opening Session
SAAABE Board Lead
May 15, 8:00am – 8:25am25 minBexar (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 400) -
Keynote Session
Keynote SessionDr. Miguel Cardona Lead
May 15, 8:25am – 9:30am65 minBexar (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 400) -
Education and Training Pathway at Memorial
Parent, Family, & Community EngagementCynthia Ramirez De Lopez Lead with Marely Garcia
May 15, 9:40am – 10:50am70 minMaverick (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This presentation showcases how future bilingual educators serve as campeones de lenguaje, la cultura, y la comunidad by completing internships in local elementary schools, where they apply dual language and culturally responsive practices. Research affirms that developing students’ first language strengthens second-language acquisition and overall academic success, and that affirming cultural identity is essential for bilingual learners’ engagement and well‑being . Additionally, field‑based experiences deepen preservice teachers’ understanding of dual language pedagogy and strengthen preparation for bilingual/dual language classrooms . By uplifting language, culture, and community through authentic service, these interns embody the spirit of Still We Rise and demonstrate the trans-formative impact of bilingual educator pathways. -
Instrucción estructurada de la LECTOESCRITURA en español
Sponsored by Werling Nexus (Diamond) Sponsored SessionsAlejandra Benitez Lead
May 15, 9:40am – 10:50am70 minMesquite (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
Descubre cómo enseñar la lectoescritura en español de forma explícita, sistemática y efectiva. A través de una secuencia progresiva de habilidades —conciencia fonológica, fonética, fluidez, vocabulario, comprensión y escritura— aprenderás a apoyar a los estudiantes desde las etapas iniciales de alfabetización hasta estudiantes mayores con retos en lectoescritura. Los participantes aprenderán a usar evaluaciones y datos para guiar la instrucción y brindar intervenciones efectivas en aulas bilingües. Saldrás con herramientas prácticas que impulsarán la biliteracidad, la confianza académica y un ambiente inclusivo y motivador para todos tus estudiantes. -
Culture as Curriculum: Belonging Through Story, Culture, and Arts Integration
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyBernadette Peña Lead
May 15, 9:45am – 10:40am55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This presentation guides participants through a culturally relevant, arts integrated approach to teaching that positions story, culture, and community as central to learning in bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms. The presentation introduces key concepts on cultural memory, family stories, and the Mexican American identity. The session demonstrates how culture can function as a curriculum to nurture belonging and multicultural identity. Participants will then engage in a hands-on arts activity that models how storytelling, visual expression, and cultural artifacts can deepen language development, affirm lived experiences, and strengthen classroom community. By the end of the session, educators will leave with practical strategies that uplift students’ linguistic and cultural assets. Participants will experience strategies that position culture as curriculum and create learning environments where students feel seen, valued, and connected. -
Campeones del idioma desde Pre‑K: Conectando hogar, escuela y comunidad
Parent, Family, & Community EngagementDubelsa Lara Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 11:50am55 minMaverick (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This presentation will share practical, research‑aligned strategies to position Pre‑K families as active partners in developing children’s bilingual language and cultural identity in dual language and ESL classrooms. Drawing on over 20 years of classroom experience and a recent Top Family Engagement award using ReadyRosie, the session will model how everyday home routines, stories, and traditions can be transformed into rich language and literacy opportunities that honor students’ linguistic and cultural assets. Participants will leave with ready‑to‑use ideas for communication, family activities, and classroom projects that connect home, school, and community, fully reflecting the theme “Still We Rise: Campeones de lenguaje, la cultura, y la comunidad.” -
MF
Short Constructed Responses Across Various Content Areas
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyMaribel Faz Lead with Ksenia Pircher
May 15, 10:55am – 11:50am55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This session focuses on strengthening short constructed responses across content areas in bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms. Participants will explore practical, research-based strategies—such as CER frameworks, sentence stems, and language scaffolds—that support students in developing academic language and expressing their thinking in both English and Spanish. Grounded in research that highlights the connection between oral language and writing development (Cummins, 2000; Zwiers, 2008), this session equips educators to build confident communicators. Aligned with the theme “Still We Rise: Campeones de lenguaje, la cultura, y la comunidad,” the presentation empowers students as language champions, honors their cultural and linguistic identities, and fosters strong classroom communities. -
The Transformative Power of Bilingual and Higher Education
Featured SessionsDr. Jose Luis Zelaya Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 12:05pm70 minMesquite (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
This session provides an interactive and engaging learning experience focused on the transformative power of bilingualism in the lives of newcomer and emergent bilingual students. Participants will explore how bilingualism strengthens cognitive development, academic success, perseverance, and long-term aspirations, while also serving as a foundation for belonging and empowerment in schools. Together, we will examine common challenges educators face when supporting bilingual learners, including limited instructional time, pressures to accelerate English acquisition, and systems that unintentionally devalue students’ home language. Using a strengths-based and research-informed approach, participants will reflect on how to shift classroom practices toward affirming language, culture, and student voice. Educators will leave with practical strategies and tools that can be implemented strategically, including methods to increase academic discourse, elevate multilingual engagement, and create safe learning environments where students’ native language and cultural assets are embraced as essential resources. This session will inspire participants to reimagine English language acquisition as a powerful pathway to leadership, opportunity, and generational success. -
Where Language and Disability Meet: What Districts Must Do Differently
Featured SessionsLizdelia Piñón Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 12:05pm70 minPine (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Where Language and Disability Meet explores how schools can better serve multilingual students with disabilities by rethinking systems that often separate language development from special education. This session challenges deficit-based approaches and highlights how they contribute to misidentification, limited access, and inequitable outcomes for emergent bilingual learners.
Participants will examine how policy, instruction, and collaboration can work together to create more inclusive, asset-based environments that honor students’ linguistic and cultural strengths. The presentation offers practical strategies for equitable identification, bilingual and culturally sustaining instruction, stronger collaboration between multilingual and special education teams, and authentic family partnership.
Grounded in research and real-world district examples, this session empowers educators, leaders, and advocates to move beyond compliance and toward transformative practices. Attendees will leave with concrete tools and a renewed vision for creating classrooms and systems where multilingual students with disabilities are fully included, supported, and positioned to thrive. -
SB
Awards Ceremony
SAAABE Board Lead
May 15, 1:00pm – 1:45pm45 minBexar (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 400) -
VS
“Más que Palabras: Teaching Beyond the Textbook”
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyVeronica Sanchez- Saenz Lead
May 15, 1:35pm – 2:45pm70 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This session explores how secondary Spanish classrooms (Levels 2–AP) can serve as transformative spaces where bilingualism and biliteracy are positioned as assets, not deficits. Grounded in the work of Gloria Ladson-Billings and Django Paris, participants will examine how Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Pedagogy empowers emergent bilinguals to develop academic excellence, cultural competence, and critical consciousness.
Through concrete classroom examples tailored specifically to Spanish 2, Spanish 3, and AP Spanish Language courses, attendees will learn how to design identity-centered projects, community-based research tasks, AP-style cultural comparisons, and advocacy-driven assessments that amplify student voice.
Participants will leave with ready-to-implement strategies that integrate proficiency-based instruction with culturally responsive teaching practices, creating inclusive and affirming learning environments where students rise as champions of language, culture, and community. -
DS
From Parents to Professionals: Fortaleciendo las capacidades en nuestras comunidades
Parent, Family, & Community EngagementDenise Segura Lead
May 15, 1:45pm – 2:40pm55 minMaverick (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This session highlights the transformative journey of a Salado DLI Academy that has moved beyond traditional parent involvement to a robust parent capacity-building model. We will share how our district empowers families by providing ESL and GED classes, as well as specialized pathways for parents to earn their Instructional Assistant and Substitute certifications. By investing in our parents' professional growth, we have cultivated a resilient ecosystem where bilingualism serves as a bridge to career opportunities and school leadership. Attendees will learn how this model has effectively eliminated our LPAC parent shortages and substitute teacher gaps, creating a sustainable cycle of advocacy and support. We will provide a roadmap for participants to replicate these certification pathways, demonstrating how bilingual education empowers families to rise above systemic challenges and become the primary voices for their classrooms and communities. -
When Bilingual Education Programs Meet the Magic of Music
Parent, Family, & Community EngagementDr. Gilberto D Soto Lead
May 15, 2:55pm – 4:05pm70 minMaverick (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
The main objective of this presentation is to provide principles and strategies of how music and movement can be related to the expressive and developmental needs of dual language programs for children from their early childhood stages. These music activities and/or curriculum materials presented are intended to increase the enactive, iconic and symbolic learning experiences when creating lesson plans. Group music experiences and activities for children will also be covered. This presentation is mostly hands-on, so be ready to sing, move and dance! -
Still We Rise: Teaching Hispanic Leaders Through Culturally Sustaining Practices
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyAngélica Nieto Lead with Dr. Claudia Treviño García
May 15, 2:55pm – 3:50pm55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Participants will explore instructional strategies that move beyond traditional textbook-based instruction through the use of student-centered, interactive social studies learning centers. These centers engage students in investigating influential Hispanic figures while developing literacy, critical thinking, and cultural awareness.
The session will feature a classroom-ready example that demonstrates how inquiry, discussion, and culturally relevant texts can foster deeper engagement and affirm students’ cultural and linguistic identities. Participants will also learn how to design cross-curricular lessons that integrate social studies with literacy development in bilingual and dual language classrooms.
Educators will leave with practical strategies for creating culturally sustaining learning experiences that elevate historically underrepresented voices and empower emergent bilingual students to see themselves as leaders, scholars, and advocates within their communities. -
Cultivating Bilingual Teacher Leaders in Community
Administrator/ AdvocacyDr. Karina Villa Lead with Dr. Lorena Claeys, Mpa, Ms. Christina King, M.a., Mrs. Renee Tondre-garza, M.a., Lpc Dr. Claudia Garcia-treviño, M.a. Sr. Alejandra Treviño, Fma, M.ed
May 15, 2:55pm – 4:05pm70 minMesquite (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
This session invites participants to rise together as champions of language, culture, and community by exploring the Culturally Efficacious Signature Teacher Residency (CESTR) pathway developed through the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center at UT San Antonio. Participants will learn how the pathway creates accessible routes for paraprofessionals, teaching assistants, and community members to become bilingual certified educators through residency-based clinical experiences, mentorship, and culturally sustaining pedagogies.
Presenters will share practical resources and tools that support aspiring bilingual teachers, including TExES preparation strategies, career transition guidance, and mentorship supports that strengthen educator readiness and confidence. The session will also highlight how Grow-Your-Own partnerships between universities, schools, and communities fortify bilingual teacher pipelines while affirming the linguistic and cultural assets emergent bilingual students bring to the classroom.
Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for designing culturally sustaining teacher pathways that empower educators to champion language, culture, and community in their schools. -
TB
Accelerate Learning with Footsteps2Brilliance & Foster Calm Learning with Friendzy!
Sponsored by Teaching Counts! (Silver) Sponsored SessionsTerri Balderrama Booker Lead
May 15, 2:55pm – 4:05pm70 minPine (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Discover how to accelerate literacy and support emotional wellness for Emergent Bilingual students through engaging, research-based strategies and resources. This session combines innovative bilingual language and literacy tools with practical approaches to help students thrive academically and socially. Learn how to bridge school and home learning with culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate English and Spanish resources that promote Kindergarten readiness and 3rd grade reading proficiency. Explore how the brain responds to stress and how language and culture influence behavior, while gaining strategies from the Regulate–Respond–Relate framework to create calm, focused classrooms. Walk away with ready-to-use bilingual tools—including visual supports, sentence stems, and routines—that empower students, strengthen connections, and eliminate learning gaps. Attendees will receive access to free resources, including a trial opportunity and materials to immediately implement in their classrooms