This report from the field presents a field-based program designed to prepare teachers to serve diverse children and families by emphasizing the "actual" practices that inform family-teacher partnerships. We argue that collaborative relationships across and among families and teachers can result in "mining gems" of knowledge that reside in students, families, communities, and schools for the enrichment of teaching and learning. We elaborate on the design of case-based, simulated parent-teacher conferences that provide teacher candidates with opportunities to learn to enact productive partnerships with families. Our design process resulted in a fictitious case featuring a Mexican American student, Marco, and his mother, Mrs. Silva. We designed the case such that Marco's academic knowledge is related to his home-based experiences to emphasize that such experiences can support academic learning. To create this authentic case--a goal of this report from the field--we drew upon school-based observations to describe Marco's academic and social experiences. To authenticate the case, we interviewed informants who had characteristics in common with that of Mrs. Silva or whose professional experience aligned with the teaching scenario. The case includes descriptive information gleaned from the perspective (a) of a teacher who observes the student in her class, and (b) of a mother who knows the child holistically. This information is used by a teacher candidate (playing the role of the teacher) and an instructional team member (playing the role of Mrs. Silva) during a 10-minute simulation of a parent--teacher conference.