The Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Safe and Supportive Schools Conference earlier this week drew more than 200 people to Manhattan. 

The conference, which took place Jan. 30-31 at the Manhattan Hilton Garden Inn, kicked off with a keynote speech from Manhattan Mayor Mark Hateshol. This was the first time in three years that the conference was held in person. 

The conference offered 25 sessions – everything from “Active Shooter – Preparedness and Response” and “Creating Body-Confident Students” to cybersecurity resources and information on trauma-informed schools, school counseling and human trafficking. 

One of the highlights of this year’s conference was keynote speaker Bill Snyder, a retired football coach and former player. Snyder served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. During the keynote, Snyder spoke about setting goals and the ability to take pride in small steps toward a goal instead of just the end result. 

The Safe and Supportive Schools Conference will merge with the KSDE annual conference in October to create an opportunity for bringing more school personnel to the table when it comes to all aspects of school safety.