Dr. Rebekah Satcher, Director of Student Academic Services on the Secondary Campus, shared her expertise at the Hattiesburg Clinic’s 21st Annual ADHD & Related Concerns Conference on October 21 and 22. The conference, open to parents, caregivers, educators, therapists, and health care providers, is designed to share more about how to help children with ADHD. This year’s conference theme was appropriately titled, “It takes a village.” When working with neurodivergent students, it truly does take a partnership between all parties involved in the student’s life to ensure success! Dr. Satcher worked with Dr. Jonathon Shook, Medical Director at Hattiesburg Clinic Connections to present a session titled, “How Can Educators Partner with Families and Health Providers to Identify and Optimally Care for Students with ADHD?” Satcher partnered with Dr. Shook in an effort to demonstrate the bridging of gaps between the medical and educational worlds to help find ways that parents, teachers, and medical professionals can communicate with ease.
In addition to presenting, Dr. Satcher and several PCS faculty and administrators attended the annual conference. Satcher expressed her excitement about the conference, “Over the last two days, we [teachers and administrators] have been able to experience a wide range of educational sessions at the annual conference. One of the most meaningful session experiences included a dyslexia simulation where we were able to experience an hour-long reading and phonics lesson as a student with dyslexia.” Other sessions included topics such as enhancing executive functioning skills, understanding ADHD through different seasons of life, and the importance of play therapy.
Heather Tisdale, Director of Preschool, and Ashley Roberts, K4 teacher, participating.
Mr. Jimmy Messer, Head of School, expresses his excitement for the recent rebranding of the learning neurodiversity program at Presbyterian Christian School, “We are proud of our PAWS program. Meeting the needs of all our students is very important to us, and our PAWS program is something we are very proud of. We recently rebranded and reimagined this program and Dr. Satcher’s leadership has been an impactful addition to our staff.” Assistant Head of School for Academics, Dr. Keith Rice, also attended the conference. Dr. Rice was happy to learn about the resources available to neurodivergent students in our community. Rice shared, “The healthcare community in Hattiesburg is very open to partnership with schools to provide the best support for students with learning differences.” One session Dr. Rice attended, which he felt was very informative, dealt with ways we can serve the needs of those students on the autism spectrum. He explains, “It is not a one-size-fits-all approach.”
PCS is fully accredited by MAIS and Cognia