WINONA LAKE – On Monday, Grace College will host high school administrators, principals, athletic directors and coaches from across Indiana for the first annual TELL Summit.

TELL Summit, which is short for The Educators’ Leadership Learning Summit, is designed to create professional development for those in leadership roles working with high school athletics. It will be held on Monday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Grace’s Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

The summit provides a platform to inspire educators as they work with student-athletes. The summit will bring in several top state educators and motivational speakers to share their experiences in the world of education. It is designed to spark new learning ideas, stimulate deep discussion and provide networking opportunities among attendees.

“This is a great opportunity for educators who work with high school athletics to network and to gain new ideas and initiatives from each other,” said Grace Director of Athletics Chad Briscoe said. “Athletics plays an important role in developing students, and we all need to be encouraged and challenged to grow as leaders.” 

Briscoe has arranged for 14 elite speakers to present in a “TED Talk”-inspired format. Sessions will range from character and leadership training to school traditions and parent involvement. 

Speakers consist of school superintendents, athletic directors, leadership coaches and high school coaches. 

Bobby Cox, the commissioner of the IHSAA, will present on leadership. “The TELL Summit stands as a wonderful opportunity for educators to hear from industry leaders on a variety of topics that will illustrate best practices in the field,” Cox said.

Warsaw Superintendent David Hoffert will also share the “Signs of a Strong Team.” He plans to send many of the Tigers’ coaches to Monday’s summit, adding: “It is going to be an amazing day of leadership development and collaboration for our athletic coaches. It is so critical for these leaders of student-athletes to have this development to positively impact character development alongside the athletic development.”

Beyond Cox and Hoffert, speakers include: Jamy Bechler (John Maxwell coach), Seth Maust (Five Star Life president), Rob Haworth (Elkhart superintendent), Nicole Chisley (Fort Wayne Snider principal), Brad Lindsay (Marion superintendent), Terry Turner (Daleville baseball coach), Deb Brown (Saint Joseph athletic director), Lenny Krebs (Warsaw girls’ basketball coach), Sandy Searcy (NFHS director), Jim Self (Hamilton Southeastern athletic director), Jeff Hester (Columbus North athletic director) and Matt Moore (Fishers boys’ basketball coach).