The 27th annual Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 (IU13) education conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, 1600 Book Road, Lancaster. Registration will remain available online until Thursday, May 30. Educators and school district personnel who sign up prior to Wednesday, May 1, will receive a discounted price.

The theme of this year's conference is "Game Changers ... Strengthening Your Playbook." Throughout the day, attendees will hear from guest speakers and participate in breakout sessions, which will relate various educational topics to sports and athletics. "Any educator can be a game changer in students lives," said Linda Murr, program support liaison for IU13. "Every year, our committee chooses a new theme to promote a positive message. We decided to incorporate sports because of the 2024 Olympics."

Registration will begin at 7:45 a.m., and guests will be offered a continental breakfast and door prizes until 8:30 a.m. After a few opening remarks, keynote speaker Ben Hartranft will give a presentation from 8:40 to 9:40 a.m. Morning breakout sessions will occur from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and additional door prizes. Afternoon breakout sessions will be offered from 1 to 3 p.m., and the event will conclude with evaluations from 3 to 3:30 p.m.

Fourteen separate breakout sessions will take place during the morning and afternoon sessions. All guests are invited to attend the keynote presentation, but participants are encouraged to register for one breakout session in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each session will highlight a different topic to provide resources for educators and parents, such as artificial intelligence, what teachers should know about social media, and current substance abuse trends among students.

Hartranft was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old, and he will discuss his experience navigating life and overcoming challenges as a now-25-year-old man. After becoming actively involved in fundraising efforts for the Eagles Autism Foundation, a nonprofit created by the Philadelphia Eagles CEO Jeffrey Lurie, Hartranft was invited to be a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to raise awareness for autism. Following his debut television appearance, Hartranft created Benergy1 Presentations to share his story and advocate for inclusion at schools and businesses across the country.

"This conference is one of my favorite parts of my job," said Murr, who has helped organized the event for the last 24 years. "This is after the school year, and it isnt mandatory for teachers; they attend because they want to be there. The atmosphere is always very upbeat."

For more information, visit http://www.iu13.org.