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# RCOE's Excellence Through Education Conference Returns to Riverside Convention Center
- URL: https://www.raincrossgazette.com/rcoes-excellence-through-education-conference-returns-to-riverside-convention-center/
- Published: 2026-09-10T01:00:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-10T01:00:09.000Z
- Description: The two-day event Sept. 16-17 will draw roughly 800 educators from 18 districts back to the venue where it began in 2014.
- Author: Gazette Staff
- Tags: Education

The Riverside County Office of Education's 13th Annual Excellence Through Education Conference returns to the Riverside Convention Center on Sept. 16-17, bringing the event back to the location where it started in 2014 after 12 years at desert venues.

The conference will bring together an estimated 800 educators from school districts, campuses, and community partners, offering evidence-based practices aimed at strengthening school systems and closing gaps in student support.

This year's theme, "Creating Possibilities: Imagining More. Designing Better. Measuring What Matters," reflects the same mission RCOE set when it launched the first conference more than a decade ago.

"The mission of the very first conference in 2014 remains at the core of this year's Excellence Through Education conference theme," Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edwin Gomez said in a statement. "Our theme is a call to action for the education community: to create unlimited possibilities for our students, we must imagine new ways to serve, design better systems, and ensure that student success is what matters most."

Educators from 18 school districts, three counties, and multiple charter schools, colleges, and universities have registered for the two-day event.

Beyond keynote addresses and breakout sessions, the conference will include student performances, dedicated time for district participant teams, wellness activities, a scavenger hunt, and networking events.

Featured keynote speakers this year include Tommie Mabry, Ph.D., an author and consultant who has spoken about overcoming a difficult childhood to become a teacher in the same district that once expelled him; Candy Singh, Ed.D., a former superintendent and university professor who now works as a leadership speaker and coach; Ernesto Mejia, founder of CoolSpeak, who works as a bilingual speaker on family engagement and student success after overcoming temporary paralysis as a teenager; and Tony Plana, an actor and arts advocate who has appeared in more than 80 feature films and co-founded the East L.A. Classic Theatre and Transforming Arts & Minds.

Past keynote speakers at the conference have included Alberto Carvalho, Tavis Smiley, Gregory Boyle, Ron Clark, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Pedro Noguera, Chris Emdin, Michael Bonner, and Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch.

LEGO Education is the conference's presenting sponsor. Platinum sponsors are CharacterStrong and FranklinCovey Education; silver sponsors include Molina Healthcare of California, Erickson-Hall Construction Company, Imagine Learning, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Instructure, NextGenMath LLC, and Silver Creek Modular; and bronze sponsors include the Association of California School Administrators, Alliant University, MOSAIC Legacy, SchoolShare Investment Board/CalKIDS, Class Solver, Summit K12, digiCOACH, Benchmark Education, Elevo, HMH Education Company, Amplify, SitelogIQ, ANEW Project, SameGoal, Woodcraft Rangers, Western Governors University, PowerSchool, School Wellness Solutions, Curriculum Associates, UC Scout, Catapult Learning, SafeRide School, STEAM on Demand, Kagan Professional Development, Standards Plus Associates, Code Ninjas Eastvale-Chino, Think Education, and Joy School English.

More information: Registration and conference details are available at [rcoe.us/excellence-through-education](http://rcoe.us/excellence-through-education?ref=raincrossgazette.com).