Keynote Speakers
Parents, Educators, and Community Collaboration to Promote Student Success in School and in Life
James P. Comer , MD
In this presentation, Dr. Comer discusses a model that enables parents, educators, and community to collaborate to promote good child development and learning.
Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut. He is known nationally and internationally for his pioneering work in school restructuring, including creation of the Comer School Development Program, (SDP), and as the author of nine books, including Maggie’s American Dream, and Leave No Child Behind.Presentation: Parents, Educators, and Community Collaboration to Promote Student Success in School and in Life
Insights and Strategies for Communicating More Effectively Across Race, Class, Gender and Generation Barriers
Donna M. Beegle, EdD
Dr. Beegle shares her personal experiences of growing up in poverty, illuminating how language shapes our reality, and her research and development of curriculum for improving communication across poverty, race, gender and generational barriers.
Beegle is a recognized national speaker, discussion leader, trainer and author of See Poverty, Be The Difference, an inspirational book for professionals working with people in poverty. She is currently president of Communication Across Barriers, a consulting firm devoted to improving communication and relationships, and the founder and CEO of the new nonprofit, PovertyBridge, which is dedicated to changing lives for people in poverty.
Presentation:Insights and Strategies for Communicating More Effectively Across Race, Class, Gender and Generation Barriers
2008 4-H Family Strengthening Distinguished Lecture: I Am CYFAR (And So Can You): My Favorite Research Implications for Improving Our Work
Don Bower, PhD
CYFAR project staff and other youth development professional struggle continually with resource allocation decision to help meet the needs of the most deserving populations in the most effective and efficient ways. Using the CYFAR rubric of early childhood, school-age, teen, and parent-family, Bower's presentation synthesizes the most important (and perhaps most surprising) practice implications of recent research in each of these areas.
Dr. Don Bower is department head, professor and Extension human development specialist in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, has been selected to be the third annual 4-H Family Strengthening Distinguished Lecturer.
This lecture is sponsored in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which supports the idea that children do better when families do better, and families do better in supportive communities. The purpose of Dr. Bower’s keynote is to share research, especially land-grant university research, that relates to supportive families and communities when addressing youth development.
