Leadership Forum

2024 Plant a Rainbow Early Childhood Conference > The Conference > Leadership Forum

Motivate! Inspire! Lead!

Friday, March 9, 2018
8:30 AM – 12:30 PM

We are pleased to offer our Friday, March 9th, 2017 Leadership Forum in conjunction with our full conference on Saturday, March 10th!

The Keynote Speaker will be Keith Pentz, National Education Advisor for Kaplan Early Learning Company.

Leadership Session Description:

Individual knowledge, dispositions, learning styles, backgrounds, experiences, and response to authority all influence and determine how teachers and staff will relate to and become empowered by those in leadership roles.  Extraordinary leadership provides positive guidance that motivates and inspires.  Fear, intimidation, and control only result in stress, inertia, and instability.  Collegiality and community help to encourage cohesiveness and ultimately promote a pleasant workplace where innovation, creativity, and profound results occur.  Motivation is crucial.  Inspiration is invaluable.  Great leadership ignites possibilities.

Join us and take your leadership capacity to the next level!

About Keith Pentz:

Keith L. Pentz, National Education Advisor for Kaplan Early Learning Company, has been in the field of education for 30 years. Keith began his career by working in childcare with infants and toddlers. Later, he taught elementary students as well as Kindergarten. Keith spent the remainder of his classroom time teaching Pre-Kindergarten and working specifically with low socio-economic families and inclusion students. Following his experiences in the classroom, Keith moved on to teach at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, and he also was a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.Along with his classroom experience and writing, Keith has been involved in a variety of research and hands-on programs—specifically regarding play therapy and play as a strategy for the development of cognitive processes. Keith is a founding member of Project Play, a developmental, play therapy-based, and behavior intervention program that works with young children who may have difficulties developmentally, cognitively, or socially and emotionally.

The many and varied experiences have provided Keith with a strong knowledge base and he uses that knowledge in his many presentations, keynotes, consultations, and training’s.

Keith speaks to groups at the local, regional, national, and international level. His areas of expertise include:

  • Brain-compatible teaching and learning strategies
  • Cognitive development/child development
  • Early literacy
  • Learning environments
  • Conflict resolution
  • Early childhood curriculum and instruction, and
  • Positive discipline models

With a real passion for quality early childhood education, Keith works for educational reform, creating positive teaching and learning models, and applying best practices, always with the child as the central focus.

Keith has degrees from Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania (BA in Music), the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida (MA in Elementary Education), and post-graduate/doctoral studies in early childhood education curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida.