The 2011 Tapestry Conference presenters are all very experienced on the topics they will cover and we are sure that you will find their presentations informative, encouraging and helpful. Breakout sessions marked as lunch do not require registration and will be available on a first-come basis.
Jayne Schooler
Jayne Schooler’s passion for over 25 years has been the training and education of adoption and foster care professionals and families. She has been been a featured speaker at numerous state, national and international conferences and regularly trains foster and adoptive parents. She is the author/co-author of seven books in the adoption field, including her newest, Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact Adoptive and Foster Parents. Jayne and her husband, David, served as foster parents for eight years. They adopted their son, Ray, when he was 16 years old. He is now 44, and their birth daughter, Kristy, is 34 and also an adoption advocate. Jayne and David are both active in international ministries as part of their work with LAMb International in Kyrgyzstan, Poland and Ukraine. They live in Ohio and enjoy their three grandchildren.
Sessions:
- General Session – Keys to Success for Healthy Adoptive & Foster Families
- Breakout Session – What Did You Expect?: Examining Your Expectations to Meet the Needs of Your Child
Mary Flo Ridley
Mary Flo Ridley began 25 years ago presenting a popular parenting seminar in the Dallas area. The original title was “Guiding Your Children’s Sexual Values.” She is the author of Simple Truths with Mary Flo Ridley, a book and video series developed to give parents a plan for shaping their child’s sexual character by giving them simple conversations at an early age. Mary Flo speaks nationally to various parenting venues and medical conferences. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and has been married to her husband, Dave, for 30 years. They reside in Dallas, Texas, and have 3 adult children.
Breakout Session:
- Sooner Than You Think: Equipping Adoptive Parents with Simple Answers to Challenging Questions About Sex and Reproduction
Michael & Amy Monroe
The Monroes serve as leaders of Tapestry at Irving Bible Church, and together with Dr. Karyn Purvis they created and lead Empowered To Connect. They are also the co-authors of Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. Michael and Amy have four children, Miles (11), Grant (9), Kate (7) and Carter (7), each of whom were adopted. Michael is an attorney and Amy is a former elementary school teacher, but their greatest passion is serving adoptive and foster families.
Breakout Sessions:
- Practical Realities of Connecting While Correcting
- Lunch Session: Making Sense of the Cost of Adoption(Led by Michael Monroe)
- Lunch Session: Whatcha Reading? A Survey of Helpful Adoption and Foster Care Books for Adults and Children(Led by Amy Monroe)
Anthony & Kristin Violi
Anthony and Kristin Violi have been married for ten years and have two sons, Luke (7), who was adopted from Russia, and Cade (4) who was adopted domestically. They serve on Tapestry’s leadership team and they also lead Tapestry’s Waiting Family Groups, which meet monthly.
Breakout Session:
- Adoption Myths and Realities
Ira & Valerie Kirkley
Valerie and Ira are adoptive parents. They have two children, Brett (4) and Alexia (2). At the end of 2010 they chose to foster Brett and Alexia’s newly-born brother, Joshua. Valerie and Ira serve on Tapestry’s leadership team.
Breakout Sessions:
- Moving from Checklists to Reality
- Lunch Session: What’s Next?: Stories from Families Serving Orphans and At-Risk Children in Ways Other Than Adoption & Foster Care (Facilitated by Ira Kirkley)
Paula St. John
Paula St. John is the Vice President of International Family Services at The Gladney Center. She has worked with at-risk children and families for 19 years. Paula obtained a Bachelor of Social Work from Texas Tech University and a Master in Social Work from the University of Texas in Arlington. Paula supervises the development of training and education programs for adoptive families in particular working with families adopting at risk children, and is a frequent speaker at national conferences and for various ministries and organizations.
Breakout Session:
- Learning to Parent Again
Alan & Debbie Jones
As educators, Alan and Debbie Jones thought they’d met their match after adopting a troubled son from Romania over twenty years ago, bringing chaos and fear into their family life. The answers they found and the compassion they share for parents on similar journeys led them to form PACT: Parenting Adoptees Can Trust to support and educate parents of at-risk children.
Breakout Session:
- From the Valley to the Mountain Top: Finding Hope and Help in Crisis
Travis Jones
Travis serves as the Family Development Manager for Covenant Kids, overseeing the recruitment, training, assessment, and verification of all prospective foster and adoptive families. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from Dallas Baptist University and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. With a call to ministry guiding him toward a passion for building strong families, Travis finds satisfaction and joy in his career by guiding families toward the opportunity to establish loving, nurturing, healing environments for children who are in need of temporary and forever families.
Breakout Session:
- Loving Well in the Face of Loss: Preparing Foster Families for When a Child Leaves
Greg & Tracey Fields
The Fields live in Greenville, Texas, where Greg serves as Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church, (PCA). They have four daughters, Abby, Ellie, Lucy Grace and Zoe. Greg and Tracey are learning how to deal with the everyday challenges of living in a small town with a racially diverse family. They love uninterrupted sleep, The Office, and strong coffee.
Breakout Session:
- The Practical Gospel: Re-Discovering Our Call to the Adoption or Foster Care Journey
Kathryn Veazey
Katherine is a foster mother and the mother of two boys, both of whom she adopted from foster care. She co-leads Tapestry’s Adoptive & Foster Single Parents Group, which meets on the third Sunday of each month at Irving Bible Church.
Breakout Session:
- What’s Missing?: Helping Single Adoptive and Foster Parents Provide Everything That’s Needed (Presenting with Jill Silvey)
Jill Silvey
Jill is mom to Melia, who she adopted from Guatemala in 2009. She co-leads Tapestry’s Adoptive & Foster Single Parents Group, which meets on the third Sunday of each month at Irving Bible Church.
Breakout Session:
- What’s Missing?: Helping Single Adoptive and Foster Parents Provide Everything That’s Needed (Presenting with Katherine Veazey)
Amy Curtis
Amy is a Licensed Social Worker and a Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern. She has worked in the field of child placement since 1984. Amy, who is an adoptee, has a passion for working with adoptive families, birth families, foster families and children. She also leads Tapestry’s adopted teen group. She has two amazing children — ages 21 and 17.
Breakout Session:
- Making Sense of It All: Helping Adopted Children Understand Who They Are
Kristin Mathis
Kristin Mathis and her husband Chris have four children, three adopted as infants domestically and one adopted as a toddler from Russia. Kristin was previously employed as a pediatric occupational therapist for Early Childhood Intervention, has been fascinated by the sensory issues of adopted, foster and at-risk children for many years and is currently parenting two children with significant sensory issues.
Breakout Session:
- Understanding the Connection Between Sensory Processing and Difficult Behaviors (Presenting with Shelley Fletcher)
Shelley Fletcher
Shelley and her husband, Chance, are the proud parents of two boys, both of whom were adopted. They serve as trainers for Empowered To Connect and have been involved in Tapestry for the past five years.
Breakout Session:
- Understanding the Connection Between Sensory Processing and Difficult Behaviors (Presenting with Kristin Mathis)
Cathy Sones
Cathy is the founder and Executive Director of Generations Adoptions, providing domestic infant adoption as well as international adoption programs. Cathy, an adult adoptee and a graduate of Baylor University, is also a licensed Child Placing Administrator in Texas.
Breakout Session:
- Opening Up About Open Adoption
Al Blankenship
Al graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Howard Payne University. He began his professional career in adoption over seventeen years ago with Child Protective Services and has served as a senior administrator in the field of adoption since 2002.
Breakout Session:
- Fueled Up or Burned Out
Melanie Chung-Sherman
Melanie Chung-Sherman is a licensed Master level social worker and a licensed child placing administrator with the State of Texas. In 1999, she began working in the field of international adoption and also child welfare. She worked as a child abuse investigator with the Texas Department of Protective and Family Services in Dallas, Texas before returning to the field of international adoption in 2002. She and her brother were adopted from South Korea in the 1970’s. She is also a co-leader for Tapestry’s Adult Adoptee Group.
Breakout Sessions:
- Multi-Session Adoptee Track – Beyond Reality TV: The Truths Behind Search and Reunion
Heather Ellis
Heather Ellis was adopted as an infant through a private agency in Dallas, Texas in the early 1980’s. She grew up in the Dallas area with her younger brother, who was also adopted as an infant. Heather and her husband have been living in the south Dallas area since moving back from New Mexico in June 2007. Heather is a licensed master social worker and has gained experience working in foster care and adoption since 2002. She is also a co-leader for Tapestry’s Adult Adoptee Group.
Breakout Sessions:
- Multi-Session Adoptee Track – Beyond Reality TV: The Truth Behind Search and Reunion
