Day 1: A Soaring Start

The 2025 Joint Annual Conference got off to a flying start on Friday, November 21, as school board members, superintendents, school business officials, and other members of the public education community gathered in Chicago.  

Hundreds of school board members attended the Friday Focus Workshops, which offered morning and afternoon sessions featuring high-level views of collective bargaining, real-life scenarios, trust and teamwork, finance, and engaging conversations. A special invitation was extended to student board of education representatives for the Student Board Member Leadership Summit and "Tiny Moments, Big Impact: Leveraging Everyday Interactions to Build a Thriving Culture," featuring Phil Boyte.

Student voices were heard in a morning session with ISBE’s 2025 Student Advisory Council, which presented its findings on issues from the past year, including student mental health and gifted and talented education. Advocacy was also on the agenda, with legislative insights from State Superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders, Ed.D., and members of the Illinois General Assembly.  

Meanwhile, IASA and Illinois ASBO held seminars for their members, as did the Illinois Council of School Attorneys.  

Everyone gathered at the end of the day for the Conference’s First General Session, hosted by IASB and led by IASB President Mark Harms. The General Session featured students, as the Mundelein High School Jazz Ensemble welcomed attendees with a lively performance, the Danville High School JROTC presented the colors, and the Wheeling High School Mariachi Ensemble lit up the room with its rendition of the National Anthem.  

Speaker and leadership coach Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour offered a high-flying (literally and figuratively) message, combining stories from her service as the first Black female combat pilot with words of wisdom, delivering to the school leaders in attendance that they are “one mission, one goal, one team” and that they “have permission to engage,” when facing today’s challenges.