2025 MTSS Summit

Let’s bridge the gap between MTSS and mental health to unlock the full potential of every student.

A one-day virtual summit dedicated to transforming how mental health supports academic success in schools. This year, we’re spotlighting the essential connection between Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and mental health—empowering educators and administrators to create systems that prioritize both academic achievement and the well-being of the whole child. When thoughtfully and skillfully integrated, mental health strategies can enhance academic outcomes, ensuring students are ready to learn and thrive.

Through expert-led sessions, actionable insights, and collaborative discussions, you’ll learn how to seamlessly embed mental health into academic and behavioral frameworks to create resilient, high-performing school environments.

At this one-day virtual summit, you will:

Learn from industry-leading experts about proven practices for aligning mental health supports with academic goals in MTSS frameworks.
Explore innovative tools and resources for sustainable integration of mental health strategies.
Gain actionable insights to address mental health challenges in ways that bolster student engagement and success.

Whether you’re a teacher, counselor, administrator, or district leader, this summit will provide you with the tools and knowledge needed to maintain a focus on academics while fostering a culture of mental health support and well-being.

Dr. Tinisha Parker has dedicated her life and twenty-three-year career to educating and supporting young people as they navigate life's challenges. She served students directly as a teacher and counselor; and supports schools and leaders as a district administrator.  She spent seven years supporting school counselors directly as coordinator and director at the district level and was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Student Services for Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Marelenise Phillips-Roberts is committed to being an advocate for students and teachers. A proud product of the Dallas Independent School District, she has served as an educator there for more than 20 years in a variety of district roles, including math and science teacher, district-wide Campus Instructional Coach, and Academic Facilitator. While at John F. Peeler Elementary School, she was named Teacher of the Year.

Krystal Colhoff is the Director of MTSS in Austin ISD. Krystal leads a department that facilitates implementation of MTSS systems across120 campuses in supporting over 75,000 students with academic, attendance, and behavioral needs through a trauma informed lens of intervention.

Kevin Kurtz has worked in the education field for 39 years. During this time he has served as an elementary school teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent, technology director and, currently, as the Director of Continuous Improvement for the Tehama County Department of Education.

Dr. Loretta Whitson is the founder and executive director of the California Association of School Counselors (CASC), the second-largest state association representing school counselors in the nation.

Lezya Weglarz wears many hats in the school counseling profession. She currently serves as a Project Specialist for the San Diego County Office of Education where she supports K12 School Counseling across San Diego County.

Lauren is a school counselor at Cambridge Elementary in San Antonio, TX, a 2019 National School of Character. She is currently in her 17th year as a school counselor and serves as the Texas Coordinator for Character.org.

Matthew McClain has been a school counselor in rural Northeast Colorado since 2005. He spent 10 years counseling at the 5th and 6th grade level, then spent 6 years at the high school level, and is currently at the elementary level since 2021.

Dr. Clay Cook is the Chief Development Officer at CharacterStrong and is an implementation scientist, psychologist, and former paraprofessional and middle school math teacher. He has spent the past 15 years working in partnership with school systems across the country to support the implementation of effective practices that promote better and more equitable outcomes for students. He has been a professor and researcher at three universities (Louisiana State University, University of Washington and University of Minnesota) studying topics such as implementation of evidence-based practices, educator well-being and resilience, social-emotional learning, and youth mental health. He has obtained over 20 million dollars in grant funding for his research and published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles. For his work, he has been invited to the White House and served on expert panels with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Education.

Felisha Santiago recently served in public education overseeing PBIS, Restorative Practices and Social Emotional Learning under the MTSS Framework as a District Climate and Culture Coordinator. Her 14 year expertise ranges from a district secretary, special education aide, teacher at all grade levels, site administrator designee, Department Lead, District Specialist and District Administrator. She led over 25 schools in her district to obtain state of CA PBIS recognition that ranged from Bronze to Platinum. She has a passion for rooting for the whole child work, training staff in effective practices and giving a voice back to our students.