2025 SPRING CONFERENCE

Our 2025 conference has two components to choose from:

In-Person Conference – May 20, 21, & 22 – Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday
Hyatt Regency Hotel, New Brunswick
OR
Video Library Conference – Access starting on May 27th to August 21st.

The In-Person Conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency, New Brunswick on May 20, 21, & 22. You can register for one, two or all three days. We have three fantastic keynotes scheduled to present at the conference. Select from many presentations approved for the continuing education requirement. Network with other colleagues! Obtain the latest information on state and national initiatives. Visit and meet with the representatives at our Sponsors & Exhibitors booths to find the latest and greatest teaching tools. Earn PD Hours throughout the day.
You can also enjoy coffee with the sponsors and exhibitors starting at 7:30 am.

The Video Library Conference is a select collection of library presentations you will have access to view starting on May 27th using our conference platform. There is no set schedule. By using your unique login your hours will be tracked so that you can earn PD hours through August 21st. Please note that the Select Collection of presentations will not include the keynotes or special invited guest speakers. There is no Q&A.

Presentation topics will include: General Interest, Content Area Instruction, Bilingual/ESL Pre-K through 12, Higher Ed, Teacher Ed, Adult Ed, & k-12 Administrators, Dual Language/Biliteracy. All interest groups will have presentations all three days.

Justify your attendance: Our in person and virtual library conferences are designed to offer professional development that supports educators of all levels. Does your boss need more convincing? Use our customizable letter to further justify your attendance!

For questions concerning your conference registration status, please contact Gwen Franks at business-admin@njtesol-njbe.org

For other conference questions email Caia Schlessinger at conference-coordinator@njtesol-njbe.org.

Registration for the 2025 Spring Conference is open!

Act quickly to take advantage of our early registration rates and secure a spot. You can register to attend in-person (one, two or all three days) or view select workshops through our Video Library.

Three forms of payment are accepted: credit card, check, or purchase order. For those paying with a purchase order, take note of the UPLOAD feature listed on the second page of the registration form to upload the board approved purchase order & voucher along with the registration forms. Please note, POs and registration form are NOT accepted by email.
Once your registration form and payment are received and processed, an email confirmation will be sent. Please make sure to watch out for this confirmation email.

Call for Poster Session Proposals

NJTESOL-NJBE invites its members to submit a Poster Session proposal for the 2025 In-Person Spring Conference. A poster session is a visual representation of a best practice, successful activity, or researched evaluation to be presented informally to small groups of attendees in the Poster Session area of the conference.

Preliminary Schedule

Here you can view the workshops for each day. Please note that there are still a few changes that will be made, especially additions to the Video Library Conference offerings.

President’s Awards Ceremony & Reception

Join us as we celebrate our Scholarship Winners, Award Recipients & Advocacy Successes at our President’s Awards Ceremony & Reception, that will be held on Wednesday, May 21st starting at 6:00 PM at the New Brunswick Hyatt Regency Hotel. Registration is required to attend this event, and please consider making a donation toward the scholarships.

Awards and Scholarships

Applications for all of the 2025 awards and scholarships will open at the beginning of January for students in 4th, 8th, 12th grade, and college as well as prospective and current teachers in graduate school, a grant for teachers, and the new award Barbara Tedesco award for collaborating educators!

Become a Sponsor – SOLD OUT

We have exciting Sponsorship Packages which include expanded marketing. Showcase your company’s commitment, products, and services. Gain valuable connections and recognition from your prime location. See the Sponsor page for the details or contact Tina Kern at exhibitor-liaison@njtesol-njbe.org.

Become an Exhibitor

We invite companies and organizations that serve educators that teach and support. Visit the Exhibitor page for more information or contact Tina Kern at exhibitor-liaison@njtesol-njbe.org.

Recruiting Booths for Districts

One component of our NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference 2025 is providing booths for Districts interested in recruiting teachers. Districts can reserve a recruiting booth for Thursday, May 22, 2025. Visit the Recruiting page for more information or contact Tina Kern at exhibitor-liaison@njtesol-njbe.org.

2025 Conference Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Keynote Speakers

Alisha De Lorenzo

Tuesday

Alisha De Lorenzo

After decades spearheading groundbreaking initiatives in education, Alisha De Lorenzo has emerged as a guiding force in reshaping the way schools cut through the noise, lean into positive disruption, and solve for the disengagement, disconnection, disparities and declining morale plaguing our communities. Alisha has come to believe that the only way we fight overwhelm and burnout is not by lowering our standards or doing less, but rather, by unleashing the next level of aliveness in our people.

An acclaimed international speaker, award winning educator and therapist, Alisha has shared her insights with over 250 thousand educators from the US to Africa. Her work has been featured on PBS, NBC and NJ Spotlight News while her influence has earned her recognition from the NJ Department of Education, Monmouth University, community agencies, and government officials. In 2023 she received the prestigious Ernest L. Boyer Outstanding Educator Award from NJASCD.

Alisha’s profound understanding of the human spirit sets the foundation for schools to unlock innovation, differentiation and growth to drive engagement, productivity and high performance. Stepping into the realm of the extraordinary requires all of us to create cultures where people feel seen, heard, and valued, and that is the foundation to the aliveness we all seek.

Wednesday

Dr. Patriann Smith

Patriann Smith is a Saint Lucian American expert on language and literacy who serves as professor of literacy at the University of South Florida, Tampa. As a globally recognized educational, inspirational, and motivational keynote speaker (e.g., United Nations, OECS), her research emerges at the intersection of race, language, and immigration, with an emphasis on transculturally, transracially, and translinguistically responsive literacy and assessment practices. She has authored, coauthored, and coedited 5 books, written over 150 publications, and is the recipient of numerous awards (e.g., AERA, ILA, LRA) including the Modern Language Association (MLA) of America Mina P. Shaughnessy Honorable Mention for her 2023 Teachers College Press book “Black Immigrant Literacies: Intersections of Race, Language, and Culture in the Classroom.” Her most recent authored book is “Literacies of Migration: Translanguaging Imaginaries of Innocence” (2024) published by Cambridge University Press.

Thursday

Missy Testerman

Missy Testerman, the 2024 National Teacher of the Year, is a kindergarten through eighth grade English as a second language (ESL) teacher who is a staunch advocate for her students, their families and her fellow teachers. Testerman served as a first and second grade teacher at Rogersville City School in Tennessee, for three decades before taking advantage of the state’s Grow Your Own initiative and adding an ESL endorsement three years ago. She currently works as an ESL specialist at Rogersville City School, where she teaches K-8 students who do not speak English as their first language and supports them in all academic areas.

In her rural Appalachian community, Testerman builds bridges between cultures – families who have been in the area for centuries and newer immigrants – through a curriculum focused on a study of Americans from diverse backgrounds, allowing students to better understand that people are inherently the same and that they all belong.

Missy plans to use her year of service as National Teacher of the Year to empower teachers to advocate for students and fellow educators by using their voices and sharing their experiences with those outside of the classroom. Testerman believes strongly in teachers embracing their role as education experts to inform decision-makers of today’s classroom experiences to meet all students’ needs.