Senior Associates Dr. Bob Imholt and Jennifer Imholt along with Search Associates’ Director of Leadership Recruitment and Global Partnerships Dr. Tim Stuart were pleased to attend the 43rd annual Tri-Association Conference in Costa Rica on September 25–27. Organized by Executive Director Dr. Michael Adams and his team, the 43rd annual Tri-Association conference, was hosted on the beautiful campus of Lincoln School. Over 550 participants from around the region, including educators from 62 schools, joined in to make the event a success.
This year’s theme, “Future Ready! Preparing educators and students to innovate and thrive in our dynamic world,” inspired a wide range of presentations centered on curiosity and the transformative potential of AI in the classroom.
Thursday’s keynote, delivered by Ken Shelton of Elevate Education, addressed the risks of using AI in education while also offering some ways that it could be used for the betterment of education.
On Friday, Dr. Sabba Quidwai of Designing School delivered the keynote “Your Human SPARK: The Art of Turning AI Tools into Teammates.” She introduced the SPARK framework, a practical guide for fostering intentional, empathic, and ethical collaboration between humans and AI. As she explained, “This isn’t about doing more with machines. It’s about designing a future where the human advantage wins, through creativity, trust, and meaningful connection.”
Saturday’s keynote “The One Thing Every Classroom Needs: Curiosity” was presented by Trevor MacKenzie with TMac Consulting, author, high school teacher, and inquiry practitioner. Drawing on stories from schools that are “doing school differently,” he illustrated how empowering students to take ownership of their learning can spark innovation and growth. He emphasized the power of inquiry to shift from traditional models toward learner agency, noting, “Inquiry learning provides a solid pedagogical framework for the often-casual methods that we use every day to learn about and explore the world around us.”
As always, a special part of each Tri-Association conference is catching up with Heads of School from around the region and meeting enthusiastic current and future Search Associates (SEARCH) candidates who stop by to say hello! Senior Associate Jennifer Imholt explains,
We absolutely love meeting our candidates in person – which is such a treat when most of our interactions are via email. To put a face with a name and to connect and advise candiddates on a personal level makes these experiences meaningful and valuable.
The SEARCH team also enjoyed reuniting with colleagues old and new to share ideas and connect on a professional level. Former Search Associate Sheena Nabolz, now Co-CEO at The Academy for International School Heads (AISH), facilitated along with Tim Carr the leadership session “Navigating this Liminal Time: Moving Beyond Binary Thinking to Mutual Creativity.” Bob Imholt stole away from the SEARCH table to attend.
Everyone is excitedly looking forward to next year’s Tri-Association Conference—to be hosted by Carol Morgan School in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2026!
