Parkside Speech Pathologist Stephanie Coffey-Wood takes a selfie during Lauren Rainwater’s seminar.

Educators for Cullman County Schools ended their summer vacation a few days early as they gathered at Good Hope High School to attend the national Nuts and Bolts Conference.

Dubbed the “never-boring conference” by owner Jack Berckmeyer, the goal was to prepare educators for the upcoming school year and teach them ways to inject a bit of fun into their classrooms and lives.

“Education had a very hard year last year. It was difficult for students, teachers, and parents. What we wanted to do was bring fun back and to remind teachers that our kids need to laugh, sing, and play again in school,” Berckmeyer said.

The Cullman County Board of Education previously selected several educators and administrators from each school to send to the conference. But CCBOE Superintendent Shane Barnette said that by hosting the conference they were able to allow all certified employees within the district to participate.

Barnette opened the conference Thursday will a bold statement that he was more excited about the upcoming year than any other in his 26 years in education.

“We are really excited that we can host the conference in Cullman County as part of our teacher institute. All of our certified staff will participate in sessions ranging from teacher strategy to classroom management. At the same time, they are going to be refreshed and energized to start the new year,” Barnette said.

Sessions included information on constructing STEAM —much like STEM labs but with the inclusion of Arts criteria — labs in schools, navigating social media, and stress relief strategies using Neurographic art.

Lauren Rainwater, who will begin her first year at Parkside as its math and science teacher after her time as a second-grade teacher at West Point Elementary, embodied the spirit of the conference with her Teaching Isn’t Fun Anymore workshop.

As CCBOE educators piled into the classroom adorned with cafe lights and pastel pink balloons, Rainwater offered encouragement while also holding educators accountable for their attitudes.

“There are a lot of things we can’t control, but what we can control is our attitudes,” Rainwater said.