Scholarship & Award Winners

Renee’ Demars-Johnson

Retired Director of the Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Education, MDE Reneé DeMars-Johnson has had a more than 30-year career serving young children and families in Michigan and beyond. Early in her career, Reneé taught and managed public and private programs in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Minnesota. After moving to Michigan, she became a consultant with the Michigan Department of Education where she was instrumental in leading the competitive portion of the Great Start Readiness Program as well as supervising Infant-Toddler and Family Programs, Early On and early literacy efforts. In addition, she also took the lead on interagency work to coordinate services for young children and their families. Renee’s work within the department is nationally respected for the thorough and thoughtful way that she approached the complexity of early childhood programs and the divergent populations they served. Renee’s goal was always to provide meaningful experiences and safe, inviting environments for young children and their teachers. The Betty Garlick Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at Friday’s morning’s General Session Keynote.

Chloe Smith Bryan Zeoli Kai Young Mary Turner University of Michigan Health Services Center

COVID-19 POLICY

Michigan AEYC will abide by all federal, state, and local requirements as well as any facility mandates in place at the time of the conference. Proof of vaccination is not required to attend the in-person event. Mask-wearing will not be required, but is highly encouraged. Hand sanitizer and masks are available, and session are timed to reduce the number of individuals congregating or passing through the space at any given time. Refusal to adhere to federal, state, or local government mandates, facility requirements or Michigan AEYC policies in place at the time of the conference may result in immediate removal from the premises and registration cancellation, without a refund. Online conference access is available to all conference attendees for those seeking to participate risk free or who prefer the convenience of online learning. Registrants, exhibitors and presenters must refrain from attending in-person who:

• Are (or have within 10 days prior to the event) experiencing symptoms of COVID-10. • Have been exposed, without a face covering, to a known or suspected case of COVID-19 within 14 days of the event, are experiencing symptoms, and have not received a negative

COVID test within 72 hours of the event. • Have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are not yet cleared as non-contagious by a health care provider or are still under quarantine for any reason.

Specific scenarios or refund requests should be directed by email to Kelsey Laird at klaird@miaeyc.org.