OVER 1,000 PACK DOZENS OF WORKSHOPS AT NORTH COAST EDUCATION SUMMIT!

Some of the most popular workshops at the Summit focused on service learning in the community.

More photos of the 2003 Summit 2003 Keynote Speakers & Special Guests Media Releases Books by Speakers & Workshop Leaders

The organizers of this year's North Coast Education Summit were surprised, delighted, and at times overwhelmed by the huge outpouring of interest and support for the three-day summit, held February 7-9 at Humboldt State University.

"We never expected so many people to attend this event," said summit coordinator Eric Rofes, a professor of education at Humboldt State University. "We'd ordered 1,000 nametags and printed 1,000 program books, but, frankly, we expected to have about 300 left over of each. By Friday afternoon, we realized we'd be running out of materials and had to scramble to deal with the large numbers of walk-in registrants. Clearly our workshop presenters and keynote speakers had huge appeal to local educators and activists, but we hadn't expected large numbers of people to come from outside our area. A huge contingent of community organizers and teachers came down from Oregon, and we had over 100 people travel from as far away as Wisconsin, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Clearly this summit is starting to have wider appeal than we'd initially anticipated."

Among the highlights of the summit were:

• U.S. Teacher of the Year Chauncey Veatch's powerful and deeply personal account of the satisfactions he finds working with challenging students--special education students, kids from migrant families, students who scored poorly on standardized tests--and his powerful endorsement of HSU's teacher credential programs as he explained why he'd demanded his school hire Robert Woods a recent HSU credential program graduate to replace him during his year of travels associated with winning Teacher of the Year status.
• Ray Raphael, author of "The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord," sharing historical evidence of ordinary people working in a democratic fashion to take principled stands against British colonialism and encouraging members of the audience to understand linkages between that era and contemporary attacks on civil liberties, due process, and freedom of speech.
• Author and activist Dorothy Allison's closing keynote in which she shared her own struggles as the mother of a child bullied in school and exhorted teachers to work earnestly to create safer classrooms and forge forward despite current educational politics.

Cathleen Rafferty, director of the Center for Educational Renewal at HSU and the summit's co-coordinator seemed most excited by the intense discussions and debates going on in hallways and over lunch during the summit. "It felt great to watch local teachers and administrators engaging in impassioned dialogue about topics ranging from current cuts in education funding to school choice to new testing and standards. I found California State Board of Education President Reed Hastings refreshingly candid and knowledgeable about the issues we're facing in school throughout the state. Even though many of us disagreed with some of what he said, I think we all appreciated having a top-level policy maker travel to Humboldt and present his perspectives and field our questions."

Patty Yancey led a popular workshop on the artistic symbol of the Mandala.

Social critic Alexander Cockburn of The Nation spoke powerfully about "War, Dissent, and Democracy" on Saturday afternoon.

Among the workshops that attracted great interest from large numbers of summit participants were Alexander Cockburn of the Nation's workshop on "War, Dissent, and Democracy"; a session organized by Chris Magarian and Denise Berading--teachers from Somes Bar and Happy Camp in Siskiyou County--on "The Joys and Challenges of Teaching in Isolated Rural Schools"; University of San Francisco professor Patty Yancey's workshop demonstrating the use in K-12 art classes of the historical and cross-cultural symbol of the mandala; and a very popular workshop focused on science and literacy presented by Jeff White, a professor in HSU's Department of Biology.

Bill Bigelow a high school teacher in Portland, Oregon handled overflowing crowds in his two workshops focused on "How the Columbus Myth Teaches Children to Be Racist," and "Rethinking Globalization." Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity," watched over 65 participants fill her workshop focused on "Confronting the Consumer Society." And over 70 registrants attended a session organized by Linda Scott, an HSU lecturer in education, on "Cultural Values and Traditions Reflected in the Visual Expressions of American Indian Artists," featuring Paula "Pimm" Allan (Yurok/Karuk), Traditional Resource Specialist for United Indian Heath Services and Tayshu Bommelyn (Tolowa/Karuk), Elementary Education Credential Candidate, Humboldt State University.

Debbie Rury traveled from Sacramento and the California State Department of Education to train North Coast educators on No Child Left Behind, the new federal education law.

Debbie Rury, Federal Legislative Coordinator of California's Department of Education presented a three-hour training on new federal education laws, titled "The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." And Linda Inlay, the director of The River School, a charter school in Napa focused on student-centered curricula, was joined by teachers, parents, and students from her school in presenting three workshops on their unique program. A workshop titled "Inventing 'White Trash': The Making of a Stereotype," drew nearly 100 people--a workshop directed by Matt Wray, sociology professor at University of Nevada, as he discussed the historical evolution of our national understandings of poor white people. And Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross left the audience spellbound by her powerful and poignant (and sometimes humorous) tales of the vital importance of balance and respect for all living things.

Summit participants enjoyed a civil disobedience training on Sunday.

Crispin Hollings, a community organizer and political activist who traveled to the summit from San Francisco said, "I came up to Arcata because this summit had such a great series of workshops on activism and social justice. I was really excited to see sessions focused on environmental sustainability, fighting racism, sexism, and homophobia, and organizing against the pending war in Iraq. I'm not a teacher--I'm a mechanic--and I don't have kids in schools, but I believe strongly that public schools are the sole remaining public institution capable of reinvigorating democracy. Bringing activists and teachers together for three days was terribly exciting. This summit rocked!"

Summit organizers announced plans for North Coast Education Summit 2004, scheduled for February 6-8, 2004, again at HSU. People interested in becoming involved, serving on the organizing committee, or providing financial support should contact summit coordinator Eric Rofes at er7@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-3735.