We have posted all of this year’s conference sessions in a blog format to make it easier for you to find the sessions that interest you. Learn more.
View the Education Sessions, Community/Youth Services Sessions, or Ready by 21 Sessions
Printable pdf of the Learning Sessions
F425 Don MacIntyre, Search Trainer and Principal of Princess Margaret Secondary School
A socially responsible school reflects a climate and culture that supports both academic achievement and personal growth. All of us who work in schools are constantly looking for ways to create and/or extend the positive nature of our school culture. In my work with educators and students I have observed a close connection between Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets and Positive Behavior Support, which offers a broad range of systemic and individual strategies for achieving important social and learning outcomes in schools. This session is designed to review these complementary structures and identify some ways that schools utilize the Asset Development framework and PBS structures to create a more positive school environment. The new three Rs in education are relationships before rigour and relevance.
S517 Dr. James C. Perkins, Benjamin E. Mays Male Academy
In this session, you will learn about important character-building elements to incorporate when teaching urban youth, especially black teen males.
T115 Frank A. DiLallo, Lucas County Educational Service Center/Catholic Youth & School Services
Most everyone can grasp that bullying behavior is a serious problem in schools and has some knowledge of what bullying behavior looks like. The bigger question and concern is “What do we do about it?” This session will give you a specific answer to this question in the form of a school-specific bullying response effort that incorporates asset language. This positive school climate approach consists of three phases: phase one, leadership/citizenship; phase two, interpersonal skill development; and phase three, intrapersonal skill development. Together we will explore both internal and external asset development as it pertains to each of the three phases and how to build on your already existing asset model.
F212 Matt Barnes, Search Training and Speaking
In many classrooms, the teacher or school-wide expectations create a system where some students are expected to succeed and some are expected to fail. By meshing several common practices, there is a clear and simple way to help increase the number of students succeeding in class. Removing the mystery from the grading and assessment process increases hope for students and illustrates a path for success. Learn how to set up a single lesson, unit, or year plan that helps students better understand the classroom expectations and the process of grading. In addition, learn to create a grading policy that treats students and classwork fairly as it works to engage all students. You may even develop a new talent yourself!
S510 Loretta C. Novince, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati
Brain and behavioral science research shows that deficits in moral and emotional intelligence can sabotage the intellect of children and adolescents. This workshop will identify the key ingredients necessary for the development of children’s Emotional IQ and illustrate how the asset framework complements the social-emotional literacy model and programs. Weaving assets and social and emotional literacy into the fabric of the school community reduces aggressive acts, bullying and other risk behaviors. Action steps for developing a comprehensive K–12 plan for creating a respectful school climate will be examined. Learn about the implications for student behavior(s), mental health outcomes, and academic achievement.
F413 Chris Beyer, Marilyn Peplau, and Flora Sanchez, Search Institute
The educational trainers for Search Institute have a unique opportunity during their travels to see examples and hear stories of creative asset building in the educational sector. This session will highlight successful practices that truly bring a school or school district from surviving to thriving. Following a connection to brain development and retention, several stories from trainers will jump-start a partner planning session, small group work, and open microphone for story-telling. The success of the session will depend on participants’ willingness to use their Commitment to Learning and Social Competencies in sharing their Positive Identity!
F330 Dr. Peter Benson, President & CEO Search Institute, Kay Hong, Mary Ackerman, Angie Jerabek, Nancy Tellett-Royce, and Samantha MacDonald, Search Institute
Learn how Search Institute’s Thriving research project informed new work around Sparks and how the concept of Sparks is being applied at two pilot sites. Sparks are the qualities, skills, or interests that light us up and that we are passionate about. This new work is generating curricula, activities, presentations, and other resources, which are being piloted in schools, after-school programs, and youth serving organizations. Come sample activities and learn more about how working with Sparks can re-energize your work and deepen your asset-building strategies.
Young people around the world hunger to explore issues of spiritual development, regardless of their religious or philosophical beliefs or worldview. This highly interactive workshop introduces core elements of spiritual development from a growing body of new research from Search Institute. Participants will leave the workshop with new insights, practical strategies, and effective tools for nurturing the positive outcomes of spiritual development in the lives of youth. They will learn how to create a supportive environment and conversation in which youth can freely share their own spiritual development regardless of their traditions and/or backgrounds.
F430 Matthew Chinman, PhD, RAND Corp.; Susan Savell, Maine Communities for Children and Youth; Tim Duffey, Vision Training Associates; Margaret Jones, Vision Training Associates; Michael Clifford, Vision Training Associates; Nancy Tellett-Royce, Search Institute.
Through a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), twelve Maine communities are engaged in a groundbreaking research study to evaluate the impact of blending the Getting to Outcomes® planning and evaluation process with the Developmental Assets® approach. In this session you will learn the basics of the research design, hear about the cutting-edge research tools being used in the study, and gain insight into early lessons from the substantial technical assistance being provided to the intervention communities in year one of this five-year project.
F428 Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Vice President, Search Institute
Parents play vital roles in their children’s lives and in their communities. But it can be challenging to connect with parents, many of whom feel stressed and isolated. Search Institute is focusing new energy on discovering how it can support parents and those who seek to connect with them in communities. This session will explore what we’ve been learning and developing, including the revamped and expanded website for parents, MVParents.com.
In this session, participants will explore Search Institute’s latest research with parents, including information on parents’ priorities and sources of support; identify ways that an asset-building focus can inform and strengthen how schools, youth organizations, congregations, and other sectors connect with parents; learn how to use the updated MVParents.com asset-building website in outreach to parents; and, finally, influence how Search Institute develops its parenting and parent engagement strategies.
LeighAnn Luttrell
Put the conference theme Surviving to Thriving into action (in your free time). Kids Against Hunger is a Cincinnati based program that supplies nourishing, life saving food to hungry children here and around the world. Thanks to generous businesses who have provided the financial resources for the supplies, you can donate 1 or 2 hours of your time to pack enough nutritional meals to feed a starving child for an entire year! You will receive more information a few weeks before the event.
Thursday, 5:30 PM
Lee Rush and Mary Ackerman
In past conferences attendees have wished for more inter-generational conversations. One of the fabulous ways to think about these conversations is by using a great approach or tool called Appreciative Inquiry. The activity, which includes dinner, is going to give you some familiarity with the approach, a chance to try it out (with someone who is NOT your age!) and a ‘crib sheet’ to take home so you can use the process again. Come and have a great time…and an even greater conversation!
Friday, 5:30 PM
Parents and guardians play crucial roles in the spiritual development of their children and teenagers. But challenging issues can arise as parents seek to nurture their children’s spiritual development, either within or outside of a religious tradition. Drawing on new research from Search Institute, this session will provide opportunities to identify challenges that parents face in nurturing their children’s spiritual development, then identify concrete ways they can create an environment in the home that is open to and supportive of young people’s own spiritual exploration and development.
Saturday, 8:00-8:45 AM
Come share best practices, glean from the experience and creativity of others, or connect with those who may be facing a similar situation as you. This is not a learning session, but a place to find inspiration! Do not be shy, show off those T-shirt designs, handouts, gadgets, and whatever else has made an impact on your work.
Harry Pickens Conducting
Do you like to sing and meet others who do as well? Our resident musician, Harry Pickens, invites you to sing in the official Conference Choir. Harry has composed music especially for this conference, and you’ll be amazed at the music you and your fellow participants will make together. The choir will perform during the closing assembly on Saturday, November 7th! Two practices are required—one of your choice from four options and one on Friday evening.
Wings, a faith based organization serving family members of inmates, strives to build quality relationships and strong values in teenagers by connecting inmates’ families to caring people. Using the 40 Developmental Assets ® that are necessary for healthy growth in teenagers, Wings provides an arena for effective ways to rebuild assets in the lives of young people, which can greatly reduce or prevent their involvement in at-risk behaviors. The guardians and caregivers of the inmate’s children have time to meet with church and community leaders and volunteers. Contacts are made that can enable future support for the families. Wings Ministry has been invited to host a Thanksgiving Wings Party at the Warren Correctional Institution (WCI) on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 from 12:30 – 3:30. Wings has offered the party as a special hands-on volunteer opportunity and learning experience for conference participants. For more information, email Ann at AnnEdenfield@WingsMinistry.org
Listening to respected leaders speak to a large group is inspirational, but the chance to interact with them in a smaller group can be life changing. This is your chance to participate in a more intimate exchange concerning trends, movements, and ideas having the potential to facilitate creating a major breakthrough to thriving.
BT 2 Dr. Maria Guajardo Come interact with Dr. Maria Guajardo, who has experienced a remarkable asset journey personally and professionally. She will share her extraordinary journey, which took her from a seemingly asset-void childhood to a Harvard education; today finds her utilizing her broad experience directing city and state asset movements. Dr. Maria Guajardo is a delightful person who will captivate and inspire you as she shares her story.
BT 3 Dr. Peter Benson will facilitate an interactive session that will celebrate breakthrough ideas and emerging trends in positive community and youth development. Current research, like Best Buy’s @15 study, and recent powerful conversations with dignitaries such as the Dalai Lama will provide fertile fodder for stimulating conversations concerning the future. In addition, several voices, including those of Nathan Eklund and various youth who personify new thinking, will be adding richness to the discussions.
F228 Michael Holthouse, Julie Eberly, & John Perez Prepared 4 Life
Sponsored by Prepared 4 Life and its many community partners, Lemonade Day is a citywide program designed to teach children how to start, own and operate their own lemonade business. It promotes building healthy communities using the 40 Developmental Assets and provides an opportunity for families, businesses, schools, faith-based, community and youth organizations to come together for a common purpose – to train the next generation of entrepreneurs through a free, fun, engaging, experiential activity.
Join us and learn how to bring this unique program to your community!
S526 Kristin Johnstad, Search Institute & LeighAnn Luttrell, Asset Builders Alliance, Cincinnati
For the past 4 years, Kristin has adapted and used a research-based process to support Asset Champions in integrating asset building in their own settings. The process has been tested in youth-serving agencies, faith-based, national networks and city-wide initiatives.
At this learning session, you will:
S524 Marty Stanton & Ruth Lindegarde
Learn how to write successful funding proposals utilizing the Getting to Outcomes and developmental assets methods. Be prepared to take advantage of funding opportunities with community assessments and evaluation of attained outcomes of your programs. Fulfill your mission and goals to build capacity in your youth programming.
T122 Ruth Lindegarde & Marty Stanton
Strategic planning utilizing the simple, but critical elements of Getting to Outcomes (GTO). Assessment and evaluation are vital to understanding the work of your organization. You can maximize your results by using the GTO process as a template for your strategic planning efforts. It can be used effectively at the program, organization, or initiative level.
T124 Merita Irby, Rob Schamberg-Forum for Youth Investment; Sharon Adams-Taylor American Association of School Administrators
This session will provide an overview of the Ready by 21 Approach to thinking differently — the critical ingredient behind building broader partnerships, setting bigger goals, using better data and implementing bolder strategies. It will feature Search staff and school administrators discussing the relevance of Ready by 21 for HCHY Coalitions and educators as it relates to the strong education community contingent at the conference.
BT 1 Karen Pittman-Forum for Youth Investment & Gene Roehlkepartain-Search Institute
This session will demonstrate how the new collaboration between the Search Institute and the Forum for Youth Investment can unleash the synergy between the two organizations’ approaches to generate increased efficiency and effectiveness for leaders. Be the first to critique the tools that we both hope will help communities link their grassroots mobilization with broader systems change efforts, and encourage all community leaders to get involved.
F418 Larry Pasti, Forum for Youth Investment, David Murphey, Child Trends, Shawn Griffin, The finance Project, Jeff Stowell, Community Systems Group, Karen Finn, Results Leadership Group, and Ananda Roberts, nFocus Software
This session will teach leaders to ask more complex questions about who and where children are; how well they are doing; what they are participating in; how these critical supports are being viewed and supported; and how to join forces to get the answers. Many communities have data, but few have the all the right data, linked in the right ways and reported at the right times in ways that support decision-making. Ready by 21 Technical Partners will join three mini-discussions on data for measuring youth outcomes, program and community supports, resources, and public and political will.
F320 Larry Pasti, Forum for Youth investment; Charles Smith and Erica Curry, The Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality and Kristin Johnstad, Search Institute
This session will teach community leaders, program managers, youth workers, and youth about a new research-grounded definition of “point of service quality, ” discuss the evidence for program quality as evidence-based intervention, and learn how the Weikart Center and Search tools can be used to support the improvement of program quality while promoting quality across program settings. Individual case studies on the use of Search Institute’s and the Weikart Center’s quality assessment and program improvement tools will be shared.
F215 Merita Irby and Kiley Bedna-Forum for Youth investment; Deborah Fisher-Search Institute
This workshop will demonstrate the core Ready by 21 tools and provides crosswalks between them. These tools can be used in conjunction with Results-Based Accountability planning and Search Institute’s Assets-Getting to Outcomes planning process.
F427 Corporate Voices for Working Families
This interactive session by Corporate Voices for Working Families will assist nonprofits in creating partnerships with businesses. Participants will learn how to: identify potential business partners, make the business case, overcome engagement barriers, and create mutually beneficial partnerships.
Come and connect with new ideas! Not a learning session, but a place to find inspiration. If you need inspiration come and puruse, if yu haver been inspired, do not be shy, showcase your great idea so others can be inspired. This session will meet Thursday afternoon from 4-5:30 PM.
S509 Dr. Marie Watkins, Director for Nazareth College’s Center for Service-Learning plus adults and students from YVOV/YAR
College students enrolled in Nazareth College’s Community Youth Development course collaborate with teen members of Youth Voice One Vision and Youth as Resources (YVOV/ YAR) and their advisors to engage together in on and off-campus service-learning and academic learning activities. The collaboration involves college students assisting YVOV and YAR members in the planning and implementation of service-learning activities where YVOV and YAR members facilitate class discussions focused on the 40 Developmental Asset and the course text, “All Kids are our Kids” by Peter Benson. The collaboration was showcased in an HCHY Newsletter.
Hosted by Sandra Harris, YMCA Assets Specialist
This session is open to all YMCA staff and volunteers. Come and learn about successful practices in implementing assets into YMCA programs and communities. Ideas, strategies and resources will be presented and shared from the Abundant Assets Alliance and YMCA asset champions from across North America. Connecting with colleagues at all levels of asset building experience will inspire participants to continue to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities. There is no cost for participation.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 5:00pm – 7:00 pm
F328 Cindy Lapinski & Tracey Holland, Strayer Middle School
Children are our future, so how do we get the best from them? We want and need to reach them all, and there truly is a way. By understanding and valuing the whole child, we can engage them in meaningful leadership and service learning opportunities. Combining learning and serving is a powerful strategy not only for strengthening student achievement, but also for building and strengthening healthy relationships along the way. The creative energy and power that is unleashed in young people when we can light a spark and give them a voice is simply an amazing experience for everyone involved in the process. This is only the beginning of what a strong advocacy program can do in schools. Tie in community partnerships, asset development and a social norms campaign, and you’ve just gone from surviving to thriving.
S522 Dr. Chris Peterson and Dr. Nansook Park
Ever wish for a chance to interact with the leaders of the work? Here it is! Dr. Chris Peterson and Dr. Nansook Park will be available to answer your questions, inquiries, and musings. This informal time will be driven by audience participation, so come and pick their brains, engage in dialogue, and ask a question to further dive into the world of positive psychology.
F226 Peter Block, Keynote Speaker
Ever wish for a chance to interact with the leaders of the work? Here is your chance! Peter Block will be available to answer your questions, inquiries, and musings. This informal time will be driven by audience participation, so come and pick his brain, engage in dialogue, and ask a question to further clarify or challenge his ideas.
We have posted all of this year’s conference sessions in a blog format to make it easier for you to find the sessions that interest you. You can find sessions in one of the following ways:
PC 7 Patsy Roybal, Search Institute
Every young person has a spark. . .something that is good, beautiful and useful to the world. Attend this new workshop based on Dr. Peter Benson’s book, “Sparks: How Parents Can Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers”, and learn how to help your community understand why sparks matter and how they can help youth develop from the inside out. After attending this Trainer of Trainers workshop, attendees will be able to:
• facilitate a five-step training module designed to help adults ignite teenager’s sparks;
• deliver presentations of varying lengths on the Power of Sparks
• help adults understand the connection between sparks and building deep and sustained relationships with youth; and
• help parents recapture the joy of parenting.
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
$299, includes training materials and Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers book.
PC 6 Deborah Fisher, Search Institute
This special one-day workshop walks you through a high-level view of a ten-step planning, implementation, and evaluation process grounded in Developmental Assets research and proven prevention strategies. Youth program and community initiative leaders can use this workshop to develop an understanding of how to create change and measure success in a variety of ways that meet widely-accepted accountability criteria. You’ll learn about
• the latest research on what’s working in asset building and prevention;
• how to infuse assets, cultural competence, and sustainability into your efforts;
• critical asset-based measures being tested in other fields such as education, prevention, and health; and
• practical field strategies others are using all along the ten-step continuum.
If you want to bring your work into an asset-based plan, this workshop can help you get ready. Trainer facilitates some pre-training preparation to aid in the development of participants’ own plans. Prior knowledge of the Developmental Assets framework is useful but not required.
Learn more at www.assetsgto.org.
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
$249, includes training materials and Getting to Outcomes with Developmental Assets book at a dramatically reduced cost only available through this training.
PC 5 Flora Sanchez, Search Institute
This interactive workshop* is designed to enable participants to recognize and identify the asset-building they are currently doing as part of good teaching practice as well as provide tools, strategies, and resources to strengthen and expand their impact with students. Educators, in particular secondary educators, will leave feeling affirmed and inspired to use every moment with students to create the conditions for optimal learning. Participants will:
Prior knowledge of the Developmental Assets framework is not required.
Wednesday, November 4, 8:30-4:00 pm
$249 includes training materials, including: Powerful Teaching: Developmental Assets in Curriculum and Instruction book.
*Note: For participants of Building Developmental Assets in School Communities workshop, please be advised that Powerful Teaching contains some overlap in content during the first part of the workshop.
PC 3 Chris Beyer, Search Institute
This one-day workshop describes the connections between Developmental Assets and student achievement; shows participants how to build assets for every student; and empowers educators to initiate, increase, and strengthen the asset-building efforts that already exist in their school. During this training, participants will
• learn about the connection between the Developmental Assets framework and academic success;
• explore powerful strategies for moving students toward raising standards of achievement levels;
• begin to implement the Developmental Assets framework in a school community; and
• commit to building relationships with students that are mutually respectful, caring, and genuine.
Tuesday, November 3, 9:00 am–5:00 pm
$249, includes training materials and Great Places to Learn book and You Have to Live It video at a dramatically reduced cost only available through this training.
This session is recommended for school administrators, teachers, counselors, school board members, parents, students, and youth development professionals.
NOTE: Session PC 1 (above) is the Training of Trainers component of this workshop. PC 3 is the one-day workshop only. You must register for PC 1 to be trained to deliver this workshop yourself.
PC 2 Jim Conway, Search Institute
Do you want to spread the asset message in your communities and organizations? Inspire and support asset-building individuals and organizations in this Training of Trainers event that empowers you to deliver two core Search Institute community-centered training workshops:
• Everyone’s an Asset Builder, a training that introduces the Developmental Assets framework and the powerful role of individual asset builders in the lives of youth.
• Sharing the Asset Message, which trains community members and groups to deliver a variety of asset-building messages to multiple audiences.
Special training features include instruction for innovative and effective training strategies; resources, including interactive, hands-on designs, as well as a complete training curriculum; and personal coaching from a Search Institute master trainer.
Tuesday, November 3, 9:00 am–4:30 pm
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 am–4:30 pm
$999 session fee (on-site registration $1,048). Includes Training Master Curriculum and one Resource Library٭ (a $1,019 value)
OR
$599 session fee (on-site registration $649) and one Training Master Curriculum only (a $654 value)
*One Resource Library may be purchased per individual, or a team from the same organization may share a library. The complete list of library contents is available here.
**PC2 is not recommended for people new to Developmental Assets. Continuing Education Units are available.
PC 1 Chris Beyer, Search Institute
Are you committed to a strength-based approach to student success? On the first day of this two-day Training of Trainers, you will attend a brief training introduction before experiencing the Building Developmental Assets in School Communities (BDASC) training. Day two will provide opportunities for practice and feedback concerning conducting your own BDASC. Participants will
• learn to successfully facilitate the popular one-day asset-building workshop for school staff, Building Developmental Assets in School Communities;
• examine how to accurately and effectively respond to questions about asset building in school communities;
• practice training delivery; and
• receive trainer input and peer feedback on key training components.
Tuesday, November 3, 8:00 am–5:00 pm
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 am–4:30 pm
$949 session fee (onsite registration $999). Includes Training Master Curriculum and one Resource Library* (a $970 value).
OR
$549 session fee (onsite registration $599) and one Training Master Curriculum only ($604 value)
You may view the contents of the Resource Library here.
٭*PC1 is not recommended for people new to Developmental Assets. Continuing Education Units are available.
T120 Marilyn Peplau, Search Institute
Two best practices in education, cooperative learning and learning centers, will be combined to help you dive collaboratively and interactively into the Developmental Assets framework. Be prepared to be divided into groups of eight people, assigned a role on an A(sset) Team, and rotated among all eight learning centers to complete an activity for each asset category. In addition, team roles have been modified to embed the language of assets within them. You will leave with an innovative way to experience the assets.
T118 Georgina Williams, LMHC, Los Alamos Public Schools
You will leave this session with practical ideas fro using survey data to create programming and policy that improves services to youth in your community.
T117 Sonia Noyola, National Council for the Social Studies: 2008-09 Secondary Teacher of the Year & 2008-09 Cable in the Classroom Leaders in Learning Award National Finalist
Danny Noyola, Sr., 2008-09 Cable in the Classroom Leaders in Learning Award National Finalist
Daniel Noyola, Jr., 2008-09 Cable in the Classroom Leaders in Learning Award National Finalist
Come find out what LAUGHs stands for and how it provides school personnel and community leaders with the ability to engage first-generation, low-income, and at-risk youth in a variety of low-cost civic opportunities which foster self-efficacy.
T116 Christi Bello, Northfield Elementary School & Veronica Walsh-Cluster Nurse, Northfield Elementary School
Participants will learn the tools and assessment techniques for igniting sparks in at risk or socially challenged youth. We have developed a process for identifying the needs in our youth/school, and have developed and currently utilize a hands-on tool box for empowering our youth, increasing attendance, and creating leaders, while infusing assets to create a healthier school and community. Come and learn how to create a tool box that can serve as a change agent in your population!
T114 Nathan Eklund, Search Institute
Many who are called to serve others do so at the expense of their own health. Come discuss why this issue is so prevalent and learn practical ways to combat it. Retaining and recruiting talented people into your organization is at stake. Your own health and wellness is at stake.
Nathan Eklund, author of How Was Your Day at School? Improving Dialogue about Teacher Job Satisfaction will lead this discussion about the places in which you work and your attitudes and behaviors you bring to your career and life.
T102 Steve Brady, Ohio State University Extension
Be introduced to and receive a hands-on demonstration of Real Money, Real World, an active simulation experience in which young people make lifestyle and budget choices similar to those they will make as adults. Through partnerships with schools, businesses, and communities, a simulation is created in which youth participants create budgets, receive salaries, and track expenses. The “real-life” experience helps students make connections between their income and lifestyle choices!
S521 Nathan Eklund, Search Institute
Over the past three days, your head has been filled with new ideas, new information, and perhaps even a new view of your work. Come to this “wrap up session” to start unpacking your ideas and to get ready to enter your organization on Monday morning ready to start something amazing.
This session is open to all, but especially directed towards school administrators and program directors who will be facing the joys and challenges of organizational change work.
S511 Jennifer Roush, Got Assets? Youth and Adults United for a Healthy Community
Come join other program coordinators from across the world as they share about their programs and diverse experiences, inspire one another, and broaden their professional networks.
S506 Charles E. Reichel, National Creative Society
Beginning with a story illustrating the importance of discovering their unique life purpose, “sparks,” this interactive workshop will help participants learn the “POW!” factor and how the creative artist’s perspective can help them learn more quickly and improve personal productivity. Dr. Reichel will combine his experience in helping to inspire and prepare over 2,000 youth for college entrance exam success with the latest brain/heart/learning research to provide resources for community and classroom use.
S504 Danielle Jay and Pete Bryant, The Abuse and Rape Crisis Shelter of Warren County and Vineyard Community Church
This session focuses on efforts made by Stand for Peace, a group of high school students who are committed to creating a nonviolent culture in their communities and schools. Learn about their biggest project, Re-Do (Respect Everyone Despite Odds) Day, an in-school retreat that provides students with activities that reveal the potential for connectedness, peace, and equality in their lives through the celebration of diversity, truth, and free expression, utilizing a model titled “Be the Difference.”
S502 JoAnne Pinkerton & Kelly Rapp, Wadsworth City Schools
How does one start to develop an engaging and comprehensive program based on the Developmental Asset philosophy? By attending this session! JoAnne will share the experiences she has had with Captain’s Table, her asset- and service-based program that brings students and community member together on a monthly basis. The goal of Captain’s Table is to honor students and encourage them to develop their strengths, build positive relationships, serve others, and feel a sense of belonging.
F419 Michele Timmons, Care Team Collaborative
Schools are experiencing the tightest budgets in over 20 years and every penny counts. At the same time, best-practice research shows that school climate is directly related to academic achievement. Learn cheap, easy, and even free ways to use the asset framework to improve school climate for students and staff.
F416 Karen Allen and Amanda Chada, Mitchell School District 17-2
Leave with a toolkit of strategies, ideas, and activities to inspire your students to become STARS. This session concentrates on equipping students by utilizing a strength-based character approach to build the solid foundation needed for success in school and life. Character-building opportunities focused on building the 40 Developmental Assets are channeled through peer mentoring, service-learning, and youth leadership in an effort to reduce risky behaviors and improve academic performance.
F415 Dr. Steven L. Walts and Students L.E.A.D. Team Members, Prince William County Public Schools, VA
Virginia’s Prince William County Schools has “Asset Fever.” Follow and learn from one school superintendent who spread the fever across two major school divisions. Dr. Steven L. Walts, with assistance from staff, community members, and students, offers strategies to ensure that Developmental Asset building becomes contagious in your schools and community.
F414 Sara P. Crum, Shangri-la Therapeutic Academy of Riding
This session will introduce you to some of the initiatives taking place nationally and locally that incorporate creative ways to reach children and adolescents with mental health and academic challenges through the power of the horse.