This year’s conference will be held in Bangor, Maine, at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday, March 20, 2026, with a special Pre-Conference Poetry Night on Thursday evening, March 19th, at the Penobscot Theatre Company in downtown Bangor.
Detailed information about the conference and our pre-conference event, Poetry Night @ Penobscot Theatre Company, can be found on our website. Click here.

Keynote Speaker: Sawsan Jaber
Dr. Sawsan Jaber, NBCT, is an award-winning global educator, presenter, equity strategist, curriculum designer, community activist, and keynote speaker with over 20 years of experience. She has held a variety of leadership positions both in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Jaber is currently a high school English Department Chair, District Equity Leader, and teacher at a High School in Illinois. She founded Education Unfiltered Consulting and works with schools nationally and internationally. She completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on inclusion and belonging of students from marginalized communities, particularly Arab American students in historically homogenous communities.
- High School English Teacher & Department Chair
- 2024 English Leadership Quarterly Best Article Award Recipient
- 2023 Cook County Co-Regional Teacher of the Year
- 2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year Finalist
- 2023 CEL Teacher Leader of Excellence Award Recipient
- 2023 ISTE 20 to Watch Award Recipient
- 2022 IDEA Teacher of the Year
- Co-Author of Pedagogies of Voice
- NCTE Arab Caucus Chair
- NCTE Committee Against Racism & Bias in Teaching of English Member
- NCTE Secondary Section Nominating Committee Chair
- ISTE Community Leader
- Book Love Foundation Advisory Board Member
- Pulitzer Fellow