2025 IBSC Annual Conference

Better Together—Why Middle School Matters
Using Melbourne Grammar School’s journey and current educational research, explore ways to rejuvenate the middle school experience to ensure structures and programming support early adolescents connecting with members of our communities. Given technological, social media, and 21st century complexities, fostering belonging for our young men proves crucial. Middle school matters.
Presenter: Anna-Louise Simpson, Melbourne Grammar School (Australia)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15)
Knowledge Level: Intermediate

Dads Read, Boys Win: Male Mentors and the Power of Shared Reading
Want to get boys excited about reading? Reading can be better together when you recruit dads or other male mentors to take part in a reading competition! Reading for pleasure may decrease as boys enter adolescence. Learn how reading with a male mentor can encourage this valuable pastime and gain insights into implementing a joint reading program in your school.
Presenters: Laura Sabo and Lucinda Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School (United States)
Appeals to: All Ages
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Fostering Discourse in a Digital Age: Empowering Boys with Discussion Skills
Discussion forms the heart of engaged learning. Yet in today's screen-dominated era, boys struggle with purposeful conversation. Short attention spans and inflexible thinking have reduced boys’ ability to listen deeply and engage with diverse viewpoints. The good news? Discussion skills are teachable. We introduce the R.E.A.L.® (Relate, Excerpt, Ask, Listen) Discussion method as a solution.
Presenters: Sumner McCallie, McCallie (United States); Lauren Hamilton, Belmont Hill School (United States)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15), Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Strengthening the Backbone: Strategies for Staff Connectedness and Well-Being
Join us for practical strategies to promote staff well-being in schools. Examine methods to foster a positive and supportive work environment, cultivate trust, and manage workloads effectively. Gain valuable tools and insights to further staff motivation, strengthen connections, and enhance resilience, contributing to a healthier school culture.
Presenters: Penny Weakley and Shereen Le Fleming, Westlake Boys High School (New Zealand)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15), Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: Intermediate

We Need To Talk About… Parents
Bring a coffee and grab a comfortable chair as we discuss providing practical tools to enhance the parent-teacher partnership and build young men by design rather than default. Expound on the verified evidence of the value of deliberate rites of passage, personal and business ethics, and the power of positive masculinity in building good men who serve their communities.
Presenter: Graham Jonson, St. Stithians Boys' College (South Africa)
Appeals to: All Ages
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Handout

Empowerment Through Memory: Building Academic Resilience in Boys
Do you teach boys who aim for good choices but find themselves in trouble for impulsivity? Learn how working memory empowers moral growth. Discover how to work together and unlock students’ understanding of consequences and accountability, thus improving their moral behavior. Join this engaging workshop, working together to empower boys’ moral development and academic resilience.
Presenter: Elaine Ho, St. Augustine's College (NSW) (Australia)
Appeals to: Lower/Primary School (Ages 5-12), Middle School (Ages 12-15)
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Path to Manhood in Lower School: Building Character, Leadership, and Social Skills through Engaging Classroom Activities
Get equipped with practical strategies to develop social skills, leadership, and character in young boys. Through dynamic activities explore fostering belonging, collaboration, and emotional intelligence in all-boys environments. Gain actionable tools to help boys thrive academically and socially while embracing growth and self-reflection.
Presenters: Tracey McKenzie and David Brown, St. Mark's School of Texas (United States)
Appeals to: Lower/Primary School (Ages 5-12)
Knowledge Level: Intermediate

Redefining Masculinity Through Relationships, Engagement, and Character
Boys’ schools have the unique ability to provide boys with a more enlightened and dynamic understanding of what it means to be a boy and a man. Discuss ways boys' schools can equip our students with the skills, habits, and senses of self that will allow them to avoid the traps of masculinity that so often constrict boys' short- and long-term development, health, and success.
Presenter: Tyler Casertano, The Haverford School (United States)
Appeals to: All Ages
Knowledge Level: Advanced

Cultivating Innovation Through Space, Curriculum, and Community
Moeller High School recently opened an Innovation Hub—a 17,000-square-foot campus addition. Join us for a case-study exercise to explore intentional integration of physical space, curriculum development, faculty support, and external engagement. Gain practical strategies to create your own environment for innovation and collaboration—with or without a building addition.
Presenters: Christine Brookbank and Erin Brandyberry, Archbishop Moeller High School (United States)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15), Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Ensuring a Smooth Journey for Families from Inquiry to Enrollment
Marketing a school is challenging in today's competitive landscape. Join us to cover strategies to streamline the journey from inquiry to enrollment using search engine optimization (SEO), ads, social media, and marketing-admissions collaboration. Learn to engage diverse families and create a seamless path to enrollment.
Presenter: Meredith Kaplan, Finalsite
Appeals to:
Knowledge Level:

Making Together! Using STEAM Project Collaborations to Enhance Boys' Learning
The prevalence of maker technology has rapidly increased in recent years in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) fields, but its adoption to non-STEAM curricular offerings has not achieved the same pace. Join us for examples of easily accessible collaborative projects for STEAM and non-STEAM departments and discuss ways you can elevate boys’ learning experiences boys in projects you already use.
Presenter: Matthew Ziff, Belmont Hill School (United States)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15), Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Ensuring a Future for Boys’ Schooling
The future of boys’ schools is a move away from a stand-alone educational institution to a more progressive model of close collaboration with girls’ schools. Boys and girls mature, learn, play, fight, and interact differently and single-gender schools cater to these adolescent differences. Close collaboration and sharing satisfies the call for boys’ schools to become coeducational.
Presenters: Alan Jones and Jamie Foster, Christ Church Grammar School (Australia)
Appeals to: Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: Advanced

How a Portrait of a Graduate Statement Amplifies Your School’s Strategy
A portrait of a graduate statement defines the qualities students should have upon graduation. Describing the culmination of a school’s educational goals, it should align with your mission and set it apart from other institutions. Hear the journey—from design principles, community engagement, marketing, and curriculum integration—that guided Crescent’s creation and implementation of our portrait of a graduate.
Presenters: Sandra Boyes and Lynda Torneck, Crescent School (Canada)
Appeals to: All Ages
Knowledge Level: New to the topic

Learning to Grow
Developing teachers and middle leaders in our school environments can prove challenging amid time pressures, the busyness of the school day, and a reluctance to grow professionally. How can we create a culture of professional learning and development that builds confidence, encourages risk-taking in teaching, and allows for flexibility? Join us to generate ideas.
Presenters: Rachel Peak and Sian Waite, Rosmini College (New Zealand)
Appeals to: Middle School (Ages 12-15), Upper/Senior School (Ages 15-19)
Knowledge Level: Intermediate

Mana in Action: Growing Boys into Purpose-Driven Leaders
Discover how a scaffolded leadership program rooted in service gives boys hands-on opportunities to address food insecurity, housing challenges, domestic violence, and educational inequity. See how these practical experiences foster compassion, resilience, and purpose, empowering boys to lead while making a tangible impact in their communities. Lead with heart!
Presenters: Reuben Hardie and Peter Cassie, Saint Kentigern (New Zealand)
Appeals to: All Ages
Knowledge Level: Intermediate