2025 Fall Conference September 22 & 23
The MSSWA Fall Conference is the premier gathering of school social workers, mental health professionals, and student support leaders across Minnesota—and this year promises to be bigger, bolder, and more impactful than ever.
Whether you're a seasoned school social worker or just starting out, this is where passion meets purpose.
✅ Powerful Keynotes – Hear from expert voices in education, mental health, DEI, and trauma-informed practices.
✅ Tailored Breakouts – Choose from dynamic sessions that meet the real-world challenges you're facing in schools today.
✅ Practical Tools You Can Use – Walk away with evidence-based strategies you can implement immediately.
✅ Earn CEUs – Professional development that counts.
✅ Grow Your Network – Connect with hundreds of professionals who get it. These are your people.
✅ Feel Valued & Rejuvenated – This conference puts you at the center. Your wellness. Your impact. Your professional growth.
NEW VENUE!
We are moving the Fall Conference to Mystic Lake Event Center. This beautiful facility will allow us to have more vendors and more breakouts!
If you need a room - we have a block of 15 rooms available at the Mystic Hotel.
Rooms are $139/night and are first come, first serve.
To reserve your room at the conference hotel, call 1-800-262-7799 and follow the prompts to get to reservations.
Please inform them you are with a group and your Group Code is 2509MNNES.
We have put together a PDF to help outline all of the items we'll need from you when you register.
All the breakout sessions are clearly labeled (and some have requirements) - this way you can see what the breakout sessions are, how many CEUs they are, and what category they fall under.
Lastly, there are a couple pages that help you figure out how to 'whitelist' the MSSWA emails in your emails so you hopefully won't miss any of the exciting updates as we send them out.
Monday: Dr. Lori Desautels
Our Journey Through the Developing Nervous System as
We Rewire Our Perceptions of Discipline
In this presentation, we will explore how our nervous systems are impacted by adversity, trauma, and experiences of resiliency through deepened connections and sensory regulation.
Behaviors are only signals or indicators that the brain and body are struggling in survival states of functioning. In our time together, we will explore how we get out in front of the behavior through our procedures, routines, and transitions.
We will begin to share practices that reach the nervous system integrating steadiness and play. We will also explore the differences between co-regulation and coercive regulation which is the foundation of discipline practices that move us through challenging moments while attending to our emotional, social, and physiological health.
Tuesday: Dr. Clay Cook
Low-Burden, High-Impact Mental Health Services
In this keynote, we will explore the critical importance of selecting mental health practices that are both low-burden and high-impact, ensuring that they are practical for implementation while yielding significant benefits.
We'll discuss how high-burden practices, despite their potential effectiveness, often prove too cumbersome for consistent application, while low-impact practices fail to deliver a meaningful return on investment. Attendees will learn how to strategically choose and implement low-burden, high-impact practices within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), with a focus on tangible, actionable strategies at each tier.
This session will empower participants to optimize mental health services in their schools or organizations, resulting in better outcomes for both students and staff.
Monday - September 22nd, 2025
Tuesday - September 23rd, 2025
We would love to have you join us as a sponsor or vendor! Please check out our new options for getting your company more visibility at this year's Fall Conference.
If you can't find anything that really fits you or what you're able to do this year, please reach out to the contact below. We'll be glad to find something that will work.
CLICK HERE FOR SPONSORS/VENDORS
Questions?
Contact:Lindsay MooreOperations & Event Coordinatoroperations@msswa.org
President Julie Campanelli
President Elect Abbey Pierce
Secretary Nadine Rooney
Treasurer Brianna Nelson
Legislative Chair Christy McCoy
Professional Development Chair Abby Refsland
Social-Media Cara McGlynn
If you are having difficulty with your on-line membership or conference registration, please contact msswafandm@gmail.com