Friday, Session 1, 8:30am-10:00am and Friday, Session 2, 10:30am-11:30am (Extended Sessions)

Experience-Based Teaching: How to Engage Students and Ensure Internalization of Concepts

Experience-based teaching—or experiential education—is a powerful instructional technique that is based on learning by doing. We will begin this workshop by building a theoretical foundation for this style of teaching and discuss how it engages students and facilitates internalization of concepts. Participants will have an opportunity to experience the power of this technique for themselves through activities and initiatives that will bring home the theoretical constructs and benefits. We will then explore how this can be applied to educational settings. Time will be given for participants to develop an experience-based lesson plan or curriculum component based on their individual situations. There will be an opportunity for evaluation by fellow participants and the presenter. Participants will walk away with an understanding of this powerful tool, ideas on how to apply it to their situation, and a lesson plan to implement.

Tyler Ludlow is currently the director of Humboldt Adventure, which operates a challenge course and other experience-based programs for youth, families, and organizations. He has taught mathematics for a charter school and attended workshops and trainings led by many of the national leaders in experiential education. One of his dreams is to open an outdoor math school where students would learn mathematical concepts through participation in outdoor activities.

Expanded Session

Alternative & Environmental Education

Teaching in Higher Education    

Harry Griffith Hall 119

Learning and Unlearning the (Dis)Comforting Songs of Hawai'i

How might lessons meant to raise awareness of cultural "minorities" actually reinforce stereotypes? This interactive, hands-on workshop examines the strengths and weaknesses of teaching about differences versus teaching about oppression. Participants will experience sample music lessons, reflect on the discomfort involved in "unlearning," and then design and analyze lessons that they can use in their own classroom when challenging racism, colonialism, and the repetition of the status quo.

Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D., has worked as a teacher and teacher educator in schools and colleges in the United States and abroad, and has facilitated workshops and served as a consultant for schools, school districts, and state and federal agencies. His first book, Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality, was praised as “a milestone” in the field of multicultural education, and his new book, Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Anti-oppressive Pedagogy, has been called “the next benchmark” of this field. He is the founder of The Center for Anti-Oppressive Education, located in the Bay Area of California, which develops resources for members of educational communities to challenge different forms of oppression in schools and society. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Expanded Session

Multicultural Education     

Nelson Hall East 106

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This session will kick off our summit by providing an overview of the entire federal law, with an emphasis on Title I, focusing on how this history-making legislation will affect California's teachers, administrators, students, and parents. We have planned this session to provide you with information in an accessible and dialogic manner, so please come ready to take notes, identify resources, ask questions, and grapple with the implications of this landmark legislation. 

Debbie Rury is Federal Legislative Coordinator, California Department of Education. With the Department of Education since 1988, she has served in the Federal Liaison Office for the past six years as Legislative Coordinator. Debbie has responsibility for monitoring all federal legislative and budget activities related to K-12 education. She has been extensively involved with the reauthorization process of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for the past three years and conducted workshops throughout the state on many of the legislative proposals related to the reauthorization, as well as the provisions contained in the new law, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. She serves as legislative consultant to the Title I Committee of Practitioners and is also the department's liaison to the California-DC Alliance. Previously, Debbie worked in both the Elementary Networks and Curriculum Frameworks Offices of the CDE.

Expanded Session

No Child Left Behind     

Educational Policy  

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum  

The Thinking Skills Project Year IV: Getting Our Students to Take Responsibility for Their Learning

What makes for fair-minded Thinkers? Is it MLE --Mediated Learning Experience? Is it Socratic Literacy? Is it the Community of Inquiry learning environment? Learn about the theory--and experience first hand--Mediated Learning Experience lessons that promote children taking responsibility for their own thinking and learning.

Dan Burritt has over 28 years of teaching experience in both special education and regular education classrooms in K-12, secondary education, and SDC learning environments. He is trained in Levels I-III of Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment. He has presented at the Critical Thinking Conference at Sonoma State University, CMC to the Far North at Asilomar, and the NCTM National Conference in San Diego, as well as at several CMC and Eureka City Schools' workshops.

Lisa Quigley has taught grades 4-6 in Eureka City School district for the past seven years. This is her fourth year working with Dan Burritt to integrate Mediated Learning Experience into the intermediate classroom.

Nelson Hall East 120

Friday, Session 1, 8:30am-10:00am

Bringing Diversity and Service Learning to Center Stage

This workshop will engage participants in deep thinking about how diversity plays an integral role in developing effective service learning projects/curricula that will benefit students, teachers, and the community. The highlights of this workshop will include an interactive theater piece, reflection activities/exercises, and dialogue. The Youth Service California Diversity Initiative strives to build the capacity of school and community partners to embrace and integrate all forms of diversity in all levels of youth service involvement. The Diversity Working Group (DWG), the leadership cadre of the Initiative has developed “The Diversity in Youth Service Programs Toolkit,” designed to support youth service programs in becoming aware of and more knowledgeable about diversity issues within their programs, schools, organizations, and community partnerships. In this workshop, we would like to present the toolkit and engage participants to reflect about their experiences with diversity and service learning.

All presenters are affiliated with the Diversity Working Group (DWG) of the Youth Service Diversity Initiative. The Youth Service Diversity Initiative’s mission is to integrate all forms of diversity in all levels of service involvement. The DWG is made up of youth service providers committed to issues of diversity. Serving as advocates and allies for organizational change, members of the DWG come together to provide support to each other, share vital resources and collaborate on innovative projects. The DWG is a learning community; it does not function as a Board of Directors or as an Advisory Committee.

Jen L. Gasang, the Points of Light Foundation California YES (Youth Engaged in Service) Ambassador, currently coordinates the Youth California Action Network (YouthCAN) and the Youth Service Diversity Initiative. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University where she obtained her BA in International Relations with a concentration in European Studies. Prior to her work as a YES Ambassador she worked as a Resident Assistant for the International Community at San Francisco State University. She has served as a volunteer for the San Francisco State University Legal Resource Center, America Reads and the Japanese Community Youth Council / AACE Upward Bound program.

Service Learning     

Multicultural Education  

University Center / Kate Buchanan Room A

Building A Team Of Students

Turn students of all ages into leaders and team players through educational and fun activities that expand team-building skills, stimulate creative thought and develop leadership skills. This 90-minute workshop will offer attendees hands-on participation in dozens of activities that can be used in the classroom with all grades to develop a cooperative group of students. May be taken with following session for in-service credit.

Patti Rommel is the program director for Gateway Partnership in Crescent City, which involves youth in community projects. She is also camp director of the Gateway Youth Education Day Camp, a leadership and team-building camp for youth held each summer on the Smith River. She is a former HSU credential candidate, and is developing a model after school program for Del Norte County.

Jessica Fitch has conducted leadership and team-building workshops for numerous community organizations. She serves as the program director for the Gateway Youth Education Day Camp in Crescent City, a leadership and team-building camp for youth held each summer on the Smith River. She is also the assistant coordinator for an after-school program in Eugene, Oregon.

University Center / Kate Buchanan Room B

Cultural Values and Traditions Reflected in the Visual Expressions of American Indian Artists

The arts provide unique opportunities to create cultural understanding. This presentation of the visual expressions of American Indian artists will highlight relationships among cultural values, traditions, and the creation process.

Linda Scott, Ed.D. is a Lecturer in Humboldt State University’s Department of Education.

Arts & Storytelling     

Native American Issues

Harry Griffith Hall 227     

Grassroots Fundraising and Grant Proposal Writing

Workshop presenters are seasoned professionals from North Coast environmental protection, human services and community development organizations. They'll present the principles, strategies, and "best practices" that guide how they develop financial resources for their organizations, including grassroots fundraising and grant proposal writing.

Tim McKay, executive director of the Northcoast Environmental Center.  The Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), created in February 1971, is one of the most influential and certainly the oldest coalition of environmental organizations: educating, agitating and litigating on behalf of the environment in the Klamath~Siskiyou region of northwestern California. The nonprofit umbrella group of a host of citizen activist groups, the NEC has been at the forefront of every regional environmental struggle for decades--from ancient redwoods, wild rivers and recycling to toxics, energy and endangered species. Operating out of its own building near the central square of Arcata, California, the NEC works on diversifying the once near-monocultural timber economy, on grassroots coalition-building with Native American, fishing and other groups and on information and referral.

Dan Heinen, executive director, Society of St. Vincent de Paul – Redwood Region. St. Vincent de Paul is a non-profit, social service organization committed to serving people in need. A dedicated group of volunteers provide non-judgmental social outreach to those who have fallen upon times of hardship and/or personal crisis. Ways in which SVdP helps include providing food, clothing, blankets, household items, furniture and major appliances, mattresses, housing and utility assistance, bus tickets, counseling and even funeral expenses.

Maggie Gainer has been the executive director for the Arcata Community Recycling Center, for Hospice of Humboldt, for the Center for Environmental Economic Development Fund Development Officer for Adoption Horizons, Resource Development Specialist for College of the Redwoods, president of the California Resource Recovery Association, and served on the National Recycling Coalition Board of Directors' executive committee. She currently chairs the Fund Development Committee on the Bayside Grange Board of Directors. As a private consultant, she has worked with dozens of cause-oriented, grassroots organizations. She is the Research and Grants Information Coordinator at HSU.

Jack Surmani is the Executive Director of Humboldt Habitat for Humanity, an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, International.  His experience includes direct appeals, fee-for-service and building relationships with donors and funders.

Organizing for Change     

Teaching in Higher Education

Nelson Hall East 113     

Integrating Women's Lives in the K-12 Curriculum

Women's Studies faculty and students will share experiences of their K-12 education and discuss ways to incorporate Women's Studies curriculum and pedagogy in K-12 classrooms. Students will discuss the pressures they felt to take up less and less space, physically, emotionally and intellectually (often resulting in an internalization if this pressure by the desire to be thin). In addition, faculty and students will examine the educational experiences that promoted personal growth and academic achievement. They will also discuss specific ways to incorporate Women's Studies—a discipline that places women's lives and experiences at the center of inquiry—into the K-12 curriculum.

Stephany Borges, Ph.D., is Lecturer, Women's Studies at HSU and will present, along with Women's Studies students. Stephany teaches Introduction to Women's Studies along with other classes, such as Feminist Science Fiction and Women Writing Nature. As a prior high school teacher, she has a long-standing commitment to integrating Women's Studies into K-12 classrooms. Participating Women's Studies students plan to be future teachers in K-12.

Gender & Sexuality 

Nelson Hall East 119   

Speaking Out: Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students and Teachers on the North Coast

This session will present the views of several local students, teachers, and administrators on the climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students and the work being done to improve the climate. Participants will discuss and evaluate authentic tools they can use to make their schools and classrooms safer for LGBTQ students and staff. Participants will hear powerful voices of LGBTQ students.

David Orphal received his BA and teaching credential at HSU and has been teaching locally for seven years at Zoe Barnum High School and lecturing at HSU for the past year. He’s the adult advisor for Youth Educating Against Homophobia (YEAH) and is a member of Community United to Reduce Bigotry (CURB). He works locally and nationally to make classrooms safer for LGBTQ and gender non-conforming students.

Nora Wynne is a local high school Spanish teacher who has been presenting LGBTQ student experiences to HSU credential candidates for the past three years. She also provided multicultural diversity workshops for incoming volunteers while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1996-1998.

Gender & Sexuality

Harry Griffith Hall 119

Friday, Session 2, 10:30am-11:30am

A Primer on American Indian Dual Citizenship for Grades 9-12

This session will be structured as a seminar regarding the history of American Indians becoming United States citizens. American Indians are also tribal citizens, thus Indians are dual citizens.

Joseph Giovannetti, Joseph Dupris, and Kathleen Hill teach in the Native American Studies Program at Humboldt State University.

Native American Issues

Theater Arts 17    

Developing a Staff Development Program

This session covers how one district put together an extensive staff development program to meet the needs of certificated staff members as well as the broader needs of the district. Our staff development plan uses multiple funding sources. The session will include a focus on philosophy, funding, personnel needs, and the staff development plan.

Kenny Richards, Superintendent, Northern Humboldt School District; Bob Wallace, Principal, Arcata High School;  Chris Hartley, Principal, McKinleyville High School; Allan Edwards, Staff Developer/Grant Writer, Northern Humboldt School District;  Joan Williams, Staff Developer, Arcata High School; Diana Howard, Staff Developer, McKinleyville High School.Allan Edwards, Staff Developer/Grant Writer, Northern Humboldt School District; Joan Williams, Staff Developer, Arcata High School; Diana Howard, Staff Developer, McKinleyville High School

Nelson Hall East 113

Habitat Restoration Through Service Learning

Learn about Laurel Tree Charter School's community-based habitat restoration project. Participants will have the opportunity to develop a program that will connect the project with the classroom curriculum and activities, explore potential challenges and solutions, and ensure success with limited resources (time and money) and experience.

Dan Equinoss is an educator and director of Laurel Tree's Habitat Restoration Project. He is also a consultant for "Habitat Restoration in Schools" which advises schools in the community about their restoration projects.

Carissa Woods, Jessica Ruprecht, Kaitlyn Poehner, Carolann Aggeler, and Kimberly Poehner are the student leaders at Laurel Tree in charge of the sites restoration project.

Alternative & Environmental Education     

Service Learning  

Charter Schools

Nelson Hall East 115 

Student Transformation Through Reflective Engagement

Through service-learning experiences, students gain leadership skills, and learn about issues facing our diverse community. Discover ways to help students connect their academic and service experiences with issues such as leadership, citizenship, ethics and social justice through reflective engagement.

Anya McDavitt is Program Manager at the YES (Youth Educational Services) House. YES supports Humboldt State University students in creating and implementing volunteer programs to serve Humboldt County.

Service Learning 

Nelson Hall East 116   

Taking the Role of “The Other”: Lessons in Coming Out

This will be an interactive and challenging workshop. Participants will be asked to engage, process and work together to create a safe environment in which to explore some of the realities of the coming out processes experienced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex folks and others. Focus will be on participant experiences, with integration of theoretical information and particular focus to educational classrooms.   This session is especially targeted  to those who think, “I’ve done it before." This workshop will break new ground.

Jennifer F. Taylor, Ph. D. earned her Ph. D. in Counseling Psychology in 1999 from Washington State University and has been teaching at Humboldt State University since 1998. Her research interests lie in multicultural education, gender identity development & social justice issues. In addition to conducting research and teaching, Dr. Taylor recently opened a counseling practice located in Arcata and also provides organizational consulting.

Gender & Sexuality 

Art 25   

The Joys and Challenges of Teaching in Isolated Rural Schools

What’s it like to spend all or part of one’s teaching career in an isolated rural school? So much of the educational debate in our nation focuses on large urban districts; what’s it like to teach in a one-room or two-room schoolhouse in the year 2003? How does one develop resources for teaching, curricular enrichment and professional development? What headaches are teachers spared when they teach in small rural districts?  What pleasures and successes do they enjoy?

Chris Magarian has taught K-3 at Junction Elementary School, a two-teacher, K-8 school in the mountains of Siskiyou County for 20 years, sharing in administration from time to time.  She is anxious to share the joys AND challenges of teaching, living and growing old in a small, isolated community.

Nelson Hall East 118

Youth Making a Difference Through Service Learning

Put the power of youth to work in the community through service learning.  This 60-minute workshop will demonstrate methods for empowering your  students to make a difference in their communities, including project  planning, service learning ideas and resources. May be taken with the  preceding session for in-service credit.

Patti Rommel is the program director for Gateway Partnership in Crescent  City, which involves youth in community projects. She is also camp director of the Gateway Youth Education Day Camp, a leadership and team-building camp for Del Norte and Humboldt counties youth, held each summer on the Smith  River. She is a former HSU credential candidate, and teaches after school programs at Joe Hamilton School in Del Norte County.

Jessica Fitch has conducted leadership and team-building workshops for numerous community organizations. She serves as the program director for the Gateway Youth Education Day Camp in Crescent City, a leadership and team-building camp for Del Norte and Humboldt counties youth, held each summer on the Smith River. She is also the assistant coordinator for after-school programs in Eugene, Oregon.

Service Learning

University Center / Kate Buchanan Room B

Friday, Lunch, 11:30am-12:30pm

American Indian Curricular Resources

This session will consist of a tour of the Indian Teacher & Educational Personnel Program’s (ITEPP) Curriculum Resource Center (CRC), including an orientation to resources and support that are available to community members, students, teachers, and administrators. Participants will view collections of articles, books, videotapes and microfilm, and the CRC Coordinator will respond to questions. This will be an excellent opportunity for local educators and future teachers to quickly become oriented to this rich source of curricular materials, with a strong emphasis on local tribes.

Marlette Grant-Jackson is ITEPP’s Curriculum Resource Coordinator (Yurok and Karuk) and a 2001 graduate of Humboldt State University.

Native American Issues

House #83 / Spidell House on Harpst Street, next to Harry Griffith Hall

Tour of HSU's Campus Center for Appropriate Technology

See Education In Action! Tour Humboldt State’s Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT).  CCAT serves as a campus resource, educating individuals on alternatives towards sustainable living. We accomplish our mission by showcasing technologies which contribute to a healthy environment.  If you have ever wondered what environmentally viable solutions look like in practice, join us in an inspiring tour that will expose you numerous ways to incorporate appropriate technology into your classroom and personal life.

Nadia Raza is a graduate student in sociology at Humboldt State University and employee of CCAT, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology.

Morgan King is a graduate student in the Environment and Community Program at Humboldt State University and a CCAT employee.

Alternative & Environmental Education

Buck House, behind Natural Resources Science Building

Friday, Session 3, 12:30pm-1:30pm and Friday, Session 4, 1:45pm-3:15pm (Extended Sessions)

Becoming an Anti-Racist Teacher: Addressing Whiteness in the School and Classroom

In this session, largely framed by critical pedagogy, participants will be lead through a series of activities designed to address the ways in which whiteness impacts what goes on in the school and classroom. Participants will first define whiteness as a cultural script for themselves. Next, through role-play, poetry, autobiographical narrative, and dialogue, participants will explore the complex and often contradictory cultural scripts that they draw on to make sense of certain educational contexts, and to develop their own practice. They will then look at the ways in which these cultural scripts are an expression of whiteness. Finally, participants will share their ideas as to the collective and individual action they may take to address whiteness in the school and classroom.

Dr. Virginia Lea is an Assistant Professor at Sonoma State University. She teaches courses in Multicultural Education and the Social Sciences, The Reflective Educator, and School and Society. Virginia coordinates “Project Quest,” an alternative, integrated American Multicultural Studies degree and elementary credential program, offered by Sonoma State in collaboration with Solano Community College. Virginia is also the co-founder and executive director of the Educultural Foundation, a California nonprofit organization that teaches critical thinking about social and cultural issues through the arts.

Dr. Erma Jean Sims is a Lecturer at Sonoma State University. She teaches the graduate course, Multicultural Education and the Social Sciences, and the undergraduate course, Teaching in a Changing World. Erma Jean also works with the Teacher Diversity Project and with Virginia in Project Quest.

Expanded Session

Multicultural Education     

Teaching in Poor White Communities

Nelson Hall East 106     

Beyond It’s Elementary: Educational Practices to Disrupt Homophobia

Educators are sometimes at loss as to how to handle Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) issues in the classroom. This session explores teaching practices that disrupt homophobic messages and actions in education. Our intention is to share lessons, teaching strategies, results of a research study, and materials beyond the award-winning video It's Elementary, that specifically focuses on how to address LGBTQ issues in classrooms. Not only will we share our experiences and reflections, but participants will have the opportunity to explore teaching materials, share their experiences, and collaborate on how they can use lessons, strategies, and materials in their teaching practice.

Penelope Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Single Subject Program at California State University, Chico. Her research has focused on service learning and curriculum and instruction. She earned her Ed.D. from Northern Arizona University.

Anita E. Fernandez is an Assistant Professor in the Single Subject Program at California State University, Chico. Her research has focused on the use of autobiography and story within anti-racist multicultural education as well as issues of whiteness in teacher education. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

Anne René Elsbree is an Assistant Professor in the Multiple Subject Program at California State University, Chico. Her research topics include: how teacher educators address homophobia, a review of multicultural education research from 1990-2001, and how to use democratic approaches in teacher education courses. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Expanded Session

Gender & Sexuality

Harry Griffith Hall 227     

Friday, Session 3, 12:30pm-1:30pm

A Primer on Tribal Sovereignty for High School

This session will provide a short history of tribal sovereignty in the United States and discuss the relationship of Indian tribes to the state and federal governments.

Kathleen Hill, Joseph Dupris, and Joseph Giovannetti teach in the Native American Studies Program at Humboldt State University.

Native American Issues

Forestry 105     

Developmentally Appropriate & Health-Related Physical Education

What should physical education look like? An elementary class will demonstrate how physical education can better serve the needs of elementary students. Additional emphasis will be placed on developing health-related components in elementary physical education. Following the elementary physical education lesson, discussion will center on the important aspects and how they apply to improving children’s experiences in physical education.

Dr. Rock Braithwaite is Assistant Professor in the Department of Health & Physical Education at Humboldt State University.

Dr. Nick Parker-Ortiz is a professor at College of the Redwoods and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Education at Humboldt State University.

Megan Lynch works with the Department of Kinesiology and is an HSU teaching major who will be entering the credential program next year.

Forbes Complex, West Gym

Making History and Geography Come Alive

This is an inter-active session using web sites and other resources to add to a social science teacher's educational "tool kit." The session will emphasize hands-on learning, group work and that geography and history go together synergistically.

Joseph S. Leeper is Professor of Geography at Humboldt State University and formerly served as co-director of Redwood Area History-Social Science Project.

Founders Hall 179

One-on-One Teaching: Opportunities for the Use of Office Hours in Higher Education

In this workshop, we will take a closer look at office hours in the college setting. We will begin by pooling our current knowledge in a group setting, followed by an interactive lecture focused on increasing your effectiveness in office hours. We then wrap up with discussions focused on unique case studies of challenging office hour situations. We encourage people from a variety of educational backgrounds to participate.

Greg Gibson is a graduate student in Humboldt State University’s Sociology Department and is interested in theory and research methodology.

Jenn Tarlton is a graduate student in the Natural Resources Department at HSU, with an interest in environmental education.

Julia Remmenga is a graduate student in HSU’s biological Sciences Department with an interest in aquatic insect ecology.

Teaching in Higher Education 

Nelson Hall East 115   

pARTners—Impacting Student Learning Through Project-Based Learning with Arts at the Core

In this session, participants will learn of an effective non-profit organization that supports the arts in K-12 education. The pARTners program, initiated in 1995 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is a partnership between the school district, artists and arts organizations supporting project-based learning using the arts as the core. We provide teachers, artists and students the resources needed through mini-grants, staff development and demonstration programs such as "Driven Creative to Meet the Standards." We have been recognized by the Harvard based program "Project Zero/ArtsSurvive" as a "promising arts education program." The workshop will include a presentation, a short documentary film, participatory activities, and the opportunity to apply new skills to your classroom. Participants will leave with a booklet filled with project ideas that meet academic standards in many content areas and for many grade levels using project-based learning with arts at the core. Come be creative and get inspired to include the arts in your classroom!

Cheri Witz lives and works in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and has been the chairman of pARTners for the last seven years. She has been an educator for 25 years and has experience as a principal (elementary and secondary/alternative), director of school improvement, staff development coordinator, accreditation coordinator, educational resource specialist, and special educator. She is committed to infusing the arts and project-based learning into K-12 classrooms.

Arts & Storytelling

University Center / Kate Buchanan Room  A   

Removing the Barriers to Educating Homeless Children and Youth

This session will raise awareness of homelessness and show how it impacts the school experience of children and youth. Participants will learn about a program in the Eureka City Schools—The Homeless Education Project—and hear how it helps homeless students enroll, attend, and succeed in school.

Maureen Chase is Project Director of the Homeless Education Project, Eureka City Schools.

Rachel Jensen is the Educational Liaison for the Eureka City Schools

Teaching in Poor White Communities

Nelson Hall East 116    

Student-Centered Learning in a Test-Centered World

Even in the face of the trend in education to test-test-test, the importance of the student as human learner cannot be forgotten. In this session, we will learn a variety of ways, applicable to any curricular area, to keep that human at the center of the learning process. We will learn this through activities that involve writing, discussion, and group work.

Suzanne Samberg is an English Teacher and the Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (S.E.E.D.) Leader at South Fork High School in southern Humboldt County. She loves teaching and thinks that teachers can and do make a difference.

No Child Left Behind

Nelson Hall East 120  

Technological Literacy in the Age of Information

Technology is at the center of our personal, political, and professional lives. What is technological literacy? What skills, knowledge, and philosophies are needed to be effective agents in an increasingly complex world steeped in technology? This session will explore the role, meaning, and nature of technological literacy and the need to address these issues in preparing students to meet the challenges of the information age.

Eric Van Duzer is Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University.

Harry Griffith Hall 203

The 2003 Reauthorization of IDEA: What Will it Mean for North Coast Schools?

During the past 12 months, the discussion regarding the pending reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) has spawned significant debate and controversy, stimulated discussions between and among various constituencies in education and special education, and generated several key proposals for change. Specifically, the recommendations from the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education, and the related requirements associated with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, No Child Left Behind may offer opportunities and challenges for parents and educators of children with special needs. On January 18 in Sacramento, 120 representatives from 40 statewide organizations representing parents and educators convened a statewide Summit, designed to identify issues of consensus regarding the proposed reauthorization. The result of the Summit will be a position paper that will form the basis for testimony to be given in Washington in March, for the start of proposed federal hearings. Come hear about the results of the Summit, and the implications for reauthorization of this critical legislation for all children, parents and educators.

Brent Duncan, Ph. D. is a Professor in the Psychology Department & Director of HSU’s School Psychology Training Program. Dr. Duncan is currently President of the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP), and participated in the IDEA Summit representing more than 3,000 school psychologists in California. He has been instrumental in the development of the summit, and the CASP Board position regarding IDEA.

No Child Left Behind     

Education Policy

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum    

The Democracy Project: The Role of Higher Education in Developing Democratic Citizens

As educators, we all bear the responsibility for developing in our students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will best prepare them for their role in protecting and maintaining our democracy. Working on a Well-Educated Teacher Initiative grant from the Institute for Educational Inquiry, the California State University, Chico, Department of Education initiated a series of leadership workshops for Education Department and Arts and Sciences faculty, as well as K-12 educators, to explore issues of education for democracy and the preparation of teachers. One goal of the leadership workshop series has been to encourage participants to reflect about their views of democracy and to explore how democratic principles can and do infuse their pedagogy and emerge in their instructional practices.  It is the intent of this workshop to provide an overview of the work done thus far on the CSU, Chico Department of Education’s Democracy Project, to engage the participants in a series of activities designed to assist them in exploring their own notions of democracy and the democratic principles that are reflected in their instructional practices and to share exemplars from our Democracy Project workshop participants illustrating how they have created or revised a course or an instructional activity or project to better reflect the ideals of education for democracy.

This workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Maggie Payne and Dr. Debbie Summers, both Assistant Professors of Education and co-coordinators of the Single Subject Credential Program at CSU, Chico. Maggie Payne taught for 15 years in public high schools in Los Angeles and Oklahoma. Ongoing projects include her work with the Northern California Foreign Language Project and consulting on curriculum development for international educators. Her teaching and research interests include foreign and second language methodology, curriculum and instruction, and diversity issues. Before receiving her doctorate at the University of Southern California, Debbie Summers taught for 15 years at the high school level. Debbie holds both multiple and single subject credentials. She currently teaches Literacy and Fundamentals of Teaching as well as supervises credential candidates.

Reinvigorating Democracy

University Center / Kate Buchanan Room B    

Friday, Session 4, 2:00 pm-3:15pm   

A Conversation on Accountability, School Choice, and No Child Left Behind with Reed Hastings, President of the California State Board of Education

So often local parents, teachers, and administrators wonder what's going on in Sacramento.  How are decisions made that improve the well being of our state's students?  Why does the state take on new policies that seem to undermine effective teaching?  Who makes these decisions anyway?   Reed Hastings has been a leading policy-maker and involved in many of the critical debates about accountability, standards, school choice, and exit exams.  We are delighted Reed would visit the summit and speak with local citizens about the evolving politics of education in our state.  Please join him for what promises to be a lively and thought-provoking conversation.

Reed Hastings is the President of the California State Board of Education, a founding member of NewSchools.org, and the board member of Aspire Public Schools. He led the successful drive in 1998 for a revised charter school law in California and in 2000, joined with the California Teachers Association, Governor Gray Davis, and others to win the battle for easier passage of local school construction bonds. He is currently CEO of NetFlix, a subscription DVD movie service.

No Child Left Behind     

Education Policy

Nelson Hall East  / Goodwin Forum     

A Documentation and Assessment System: the Missing Link to Sustaining High Quality Learning

Experience a documentation and assessment process that can be imbedded into your service-learning work, environmental and/or place-based projects to create a cycle of continuous improvement. This process, developed by the Rural School & Community Trust, in partnership with Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Harvard University, was developed and field-tested in 10 sites around the nation over a two-year period. The system can serve as an internal self-assessment process or as an external evaluation system. It draws upon data and information that you're already gathering and puts it into a useful framework. Participants will engage in a step-by-step, hands-on process, see examples and hear stories from developers/practitioners (including students) and discuss how it fits with No Child Left Behind.  Teachers and students from the North Coast Rural Challenge Network in Mendocino County who were part of the original design team will share their experiences with the portfolio system.

Sylvia Parker is a Steward with the Rural School & Community Trust and works with schools and communities throughout the West and Southwest. She has worked in both curriculum and staff development and has done extensive training.

Elaine Salinas is Steward with the Rural School & Community Trust and works with schools and communities in the upper Midwest. She also heads the Native Sites Working Group.

Ginny Jaramillo has worked as a teacher, counselor, school director, and director of the Colorado Rural Charter Schools Network. She was one of the developers of the Place-based Learning Portfolio and is working to tie the system to No Child Left Behind requirements. She is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Rural Trust.

No Child Left Behind    

Nelson Hall East 116

Congolese Dance for the Elementary Classroom

This workshop will offer an introductory class on Congolese Dance techniques. Participants will enjoy a warm-up, short dance combination, and cool down period. Movement will be fun, easy, and energetic. Perfect for teachers and their students.

Marianne Disney teaches Congolese Dance at Humboldt State University through the Department of Theatre, Film, and Dance. She also assists in Creative Dance for the Classroom.

Arts & Storytelling     

Multicultural Education 

TBA  

Gifted Student, Ordinary Teacher…Or Is It the Other Way Around?

This session tackles a consideration of affective development of gifted children (emotional, social, moral, etc.) and/or affective characteristics of gifted adults and meaningful ways of interacting with the ordinary IQ’s in life. Participants will explore ways to deal with giftedness in a full-range classroom.

Lelia Mercill, one-room school expert, is accustomed to dealing with the broad range of student abilities in a multi-grade classroom. She is a Seventh Day Adventist educator in Hayfork, California.  She will be joined by Mary Elaine Mercill.

Nelson Hall East 118

It’s Such a Privilege

This workshop examines the impact of privilege (our own and that of other people) on who we are. Whether we are coming from a position of privilege or not, that position--in terms of race, gender, sexual identity, and class--affects our teaching, our students’ learning, and our school’s climate. We will address this issue through group activities, art, writing, and discussion. Applicable for any grade level.

Suzanne Samberg is an English Teacher and the Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (S.E.E.D.) Leader at South Fork High School in southern Humboldt County. She loves teaching and thinks that teachers can and do make a difference.

Multicultural Education     

Teaching in Poor White Communities

Harry Griffith Hall 204    

Mandala

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore the concept of the mandala as an historical phenomena, a symbol common to many cultures and ethnicities, an artmaking activity, and a means of understanding other concepts such as metaphor, relationship, and duality. Inexpensive tools, materials, and found objects will be used in the lesson to emphasize that artmaking can be incorporated into any K-12 classroom or after-school program. The California content standards will also be highlighted to show how teaching the primary concepts of the arts (i.e., line, shape, space, color) can introduce, reinforce, and extend foundational skills and concepts in reading, writing, math, and science.

Patty Yancey, Ph.D. is Director of the Arts and Education Collaborative in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco and an Assistant Professor in the International Multicultural/Teacher Education Department. Prior to her career in higher education, Yancey worked as a graphic designer/illustrator, an arts educator in K-12 schools (dance and visual arts), and in non-profit arts management in California and Alaska. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education at the University of California at Berkeley.

Arts & Storytelling     

Multicultural Education

Harry Griffith Hall 227    

Stairway Academy

This session covers one district’s grant-winning staff development summer program for teachers, students, and student teachers. The academy utilizes a lab model with curriculum, lesson planning, and pedagogical skills development. The students receive quality lessons and provide feedback to staff members regarding their lessons. The program uses observation, planning, reflection, and application in the staff development.

Allan Edwards, Staff Developer/Grant Writer, Northern Humboldt School District; Diana Howard, Staff Developer, McKinleyville High School; Patrick Clancy.

Nelson Hall East 119

Standardized Tests: Winning and Losing

A subcommittee of the Well-Educated Teacher Project was formed two years ago to address concerns among educators and community members about the “high stakes of high-stakes testing.” This session will provide, in a Power Point presentation format, an overview of standardized testing in California focusing on some of the significant—and often detrimental—effects of high-stakes testing on teaching, learning, and teacher education. Participants will be given the opportunity to hear the views of a panel of educators and community members, to share their perspectives about problems related to high-stakes testing, to affiliate with others who share their concerns and want to develop a plan of action for ameliorating these problems.

Jan West is a kindergarten/first grade teacher at Trinidad School and a former Humboldt County Teacher of the Year. She serves on the Humboldt County Readiness Task Force and is concerned about the effects of standardized testing on the primary curriculum. Jan is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Afghanistan with a special interest in multicultural education.

Laura Rose taught for 25 years in grades K-8 in the Humboldt County area. She has worked with elementary, secondary, and special education credential candidates at Humboldt State University for the past ten years. She has written six books promoting student creativity and success in language arts. Laura's teaching career has been based on her belief that children are active problem solvers and seekers of meaning, rather than as empty vessels waiting to be filled with facts.

Dave Orphal graduated in 1996 from Humboldt State University's Teacher Credential Program. A Social Studies teacher at Zoe Barnum High School, Mr. Orphal has seen how students already marginalized in the public schools grapple with this additional barrier between them and graduation. Mr. Orphal is the author of “High-Stakes Testing and the Dominant Culture,” which appeared in the March 2001 issue of Alternative Network Journal.

No Child Left Behind     

Education Policy 

Founders Hall 206   

Stories They Won’t Sit Still For

This session introduces a twist on Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA), a comprehension exercise of use to 4th-12th grade classrooms. Participants from last year’s Middle School Conference loved this session. It includes a lesson you can take back to your classroom and use the next day, plus a strategy you’ll apply over and over again.

Aleen Arbaugh is a former teacher for the California Reading and Literature Project and a Redwood Writing Project member and presenter. She has been a trainer of trainers for Richmond and Santa Rosa School Districts and a middle school teacher for twelve years.

Arts & Storytelling

Nelson Hall East 115    

Teaching Compassion: Trusting the Children, Trusting Ourselves

This workshop will combine lecture, discussion, and experiential learning activities. Discussing the experiences of Holocaust rescuers and the views of a death-row inmate whom the presenter interviewed, participants will learn about and brainstorm ways in which we can nurture compassion in ourselves and others, especially our children and students. Workshop activities will include participants pairing up to role-play and discussing workshop-related themes in small group settings. During these activities, participants will have a chance to practice and test out what they will have been learning in the workshop. Our ultimate goal in the workshop will be to envision and then see how we might create educational settings in which genuine compassion and trust flourish. During this part of the workshop, we will learn about successful and long-running models of learner-centered educational approaches from the world of alternative education to discuss how and why these approaches work and to brainstorm ways in which educators from across the spectrum of educational approaches can work together to help construct a society of compassionate citizens.

Richard J. Prystowsky is the author of Careful Reading, Thoughtful Writing (HarperCollins, 1996), a college-level writing text.  He is a former professor of English and Humanities at Irvine Valley College and currently is the Dean of Academic and Transfer Programs at College of the Redwoods. He is also the editor of Paths of Learning: Options for Families and Communities, a magazine devoted to exploring ideas and practices from a wide range of educational perspectives, especially those associated with alternative educational approaches to teaching and learning.

A regular columnist for the magazine Paths of Learning, Don Trent Jacobs, Ph.D., Ed.D. (Four Arrows) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, Northern Arizona University, and is a faculty member at Fielding Graduate Institute. Former Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College and part Cherokee/Creek, Dr. Jacobs brings to his presentations an American Indian worldview. Don is the author of eleven first-of-a-kind books on subjects relating to critical thinking, rethinking schools, authentic character education, social studies education, peace making, adventure education and wellness education. His most recent book is Teaching Virtues: Building Character Across the Curriculum (An American Indian Perspective), (Scarecrow Education Press, 2001).

Sam Oliner is Professor of Sociology at Humboldt State University and the Director of the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Institute. He is the author and co-author of several dozen publications on the Holocaust, altruism, prosocial behavior, and national and international race relations. He has appeared on numerous national television shows, presented scholarly papers at professional conferences, and lectured widely on the topics of rescuers of Jews in nazi-occupied Europe, racism and anti-Semitism, war and genocide, and heroic altruism.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Harry Griffith Hall 203     

The River School: A Systems Approach to the Design of School Culture and Curriculum

The River School, a charter middle school in Napa, effectively meets the unique needs of middle schoolers, using the Ho'ala Educational Model, developed in Hawaii thirty years ago.  This model starts with the nature of human beings and how we learn best, and aligns the explicit curriculum of subject matter and school culture or implicit curriculum to the assumptions made about the psychological needs and development of adolescents. This model assumes that everything in the school—practices, relationships, and structure—communicates beliefs and values which can either support students in learning or hinder. The vision of the school is of students who are responsible, respectful, resourceful, and responsive citizens of our democracy and global community.

Linda Inlay, M. Ed., is the Director of the River School and an educator for 30 years, beginning at Ho'ala School in Hawaii in 1973. She brought the Ho'ala Educational Model to the River School seven years ago because it fit with the school's charter of raising independent learners. This model has been successful both at Ho'ala and the River School.

Mary Lynn Bryan has taught Language Arts and Social Studies at the River School for five years. Prior to that, she taught in Japan, Brazil and various locations in Northern California. She has been a part of the River School team since it first started working on an Integrated Curriculum.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Charter Schools

Nelson Hall East 113    

The Truth about Helen Keller: Covert Censorship in Children's Books

Children's books about Helen Keller distort her life. Here is a woman who worked throughout her long life as a radical advocate for the poor, but she is depicted as a kind of saintly role model for people with handicaps. In this workshop, we will look at the picture books about Helen Keller as a case study of how picture books promote underlying social messages for children. We will also explore other stereotypes in children's books and look at ways to invite young students to question injustices embedded in texts.

Ruth Shagoury Hubbard is the Mary Stuart Rogers Professor of Education and the Coordinator of the Language and Literacy Program at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She earned her Ph.D. in Reading and Writing Instruction at the University of New Hampshire and has served as the co-editor and co-founder of Teacher Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry. She is on the editorial boards of Networks: International Journal of Teacher Research and the National Council of Teachers of English’s Language Arts Journal.

Organizing for Change     

Reinvigorating Democracy

Nelson Hall East 120     

Tough Guise: The Crisis in Masculinity

The video Tough Guise presents a raw and powerful analysis of masculinity today. Tough Guise argues that masculinity is increasingly linked with violence and that boys are taught that they have to put on a tough "guise" in order to survive. Through interviews, media analysis, and an exploration into violence in society, the video insists that this cultural construction of masculinity is dangerous - for boys themselves, for girls, and for society at large. The video analyzes the intersections of homophobia, sexism, and gender construction in a multicultural context. We will view 45 minutes of the video and then break into groups to discuss strategies educators can use to challenge this narrow construction of masculinity.

Kim Berry, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor and Program Leader, Women's Studies at Humboldt State University. She teaches a number of courses in Women's Studies at HSU, including Feminist Theory; Sex, Gender, and Globalization; and Power/Privilege: Gender, Race, Class, and Sexuality. Throughout her teaching and scholarship, she analyzes gender at the intersection of sexuality, race, class, and nationality.

Gender & Sexuality

Founders Hall 25     

What Does It Mean to Be a Well-Educated Teacher in a Social and Political Democracy?

The Well-Educated Teacher Project focuses on strengthening pre-service and in-service education to prepare teachers who can promote democracy and equity for all students and create and implement curriculum that advances democracy and equity. This session should particularly benefit conference attendees involved in K-12 teaching and teacher education. The presenters are a tripartite team representing K-12 schools, arts and sciences faculty, and teacher education faculty who are collaborating to promote the simultaneous renewal of K-12 teaching and teacher education.

Sally Botzler is Chair and Graduate Program Coordinator for the Department of Education at Humboldt State University. She serves also as the Chair of the California Coalition for Educational Renewal and is Vice President for ATE (Association of Teacher Educators) of the California Council on Teacher Education.

Jennifer Eichstedt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Humboldt State University. She recently received a 2000-2001 National Endowment for Humanities Fellowship, conducted research and wrote a book on Representations of Slavery and Whiteness: Racialized Ideologies in Plantation Museums of New South. She is an active member of the American Sociology Association and of the Pacific Sociological Association.

Lisa Quigley is a fourth-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Eureka, California. She has actively participated and provided leadership in the Redwood Area Writing Project and the Redwood Area Math Project. She utilizes Mediated Learning and Socratic Dialogue models in her classroom.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Harry Griffith Hall 217

Saturday, 8:00am-10:30am (Extended Session:  Pre-Registration Requested)

California Building a Presence for Science Workshop: Science and Literacy

This workshop for teachers will begin with a brief overview of the California Building a Presence for Science (CABAP) Program sponsored by the California Science Teachers Association. Next, participants will engage in a hands-on activity and small group discussion aimed to make connections between science and literacy, and to model the 5 E Lesson Design (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate). All participants will receive lesson unit materials from the session. Pre-registration is requested as enrollment is limited. For registration send name, school, grade level, and contact info to jww12@humboldt.edu or call 707-826-5551.

Jeffrey W. White, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Co-director of the Redwood Science Project, Humboldt State University.

Expanded Session

*Note early starting time and requirement to pre-register

Science B, Room 334

Saturday, Session 5, 9:00am-10:30am and Saturday, Session 6, 10:45am-12:15pm (Extended Sessions)

Reaching Beyond the STAR: Teaching from the Soul

In this workshop we will creatively explore and support ways in which instructors and children can be nurtured and invited to bring their hearts and minds to school. We will use writing, artwork, discussion, and story telling to inspire and revive the honoring of ourselves and each individual we teach. Tools, resources, and a bibliography will be provided.

Nina Ravitz incorporates her experience with Nature Day Camp, mothering, international human rights, massage therapy, and reevaluation co-counseling into her current position teaching 2nd through 5th grade in a California charter school. She received a BA from Chico State University and a multiple subject teaching credential from Dominican College.

Joanna Wigginton has discovered that whatever vocation she explored (from geologist to midwife) she always ended up as a teacher. A BS from Tufts University and an MA from the University of New Mexico led her form the Navajo Reading Study and work in a Children’s Center to the creation of a school and her current position as head teacher in a California charter school. It adds up to twenty-something years of teaching.

Expanded Session

Founders Hall 108

Schools and the Revitalization of Rural Communities on the North Coast

Over the past four years The North Coast Rural Challenge Network (Mendocino, Point Arena, Laytonville, and Anderson Valley Districts) has developed a nationally recognized model of project-based learning. With a deep commitment to history, community and culture, and the environment, students and teachers in these school districts have created over 125 projects. Guided by the philosophy of Ecoliteracy, each of these projects supports sustainable environments and economies in the four rural communities. In the first session, the director and coordinator present an overview of the philosophy and history of the network and you will have an opportunity to talk with students about four current projects. In the second session, the director and coordinators will take you through the process of planning projects linked to environmental and economic sustainability.

Ken Matheson is the Director of the North Coast Rural Challenge Network.

Mitch Mendosa is a North Coast Rural Challenge Network Coordinator and teacher, Anderson Valley Unified Schools.

Deena Zarlin is a North Coast Rural Challenge Network Coordinator and teacher,, Mendocino Unified District.

Kim Swenson is a North Coast Rural Challenge Network Coordinator and teacher, Point Arena Unified District.

Lou Pilgrim is a North Coast Rural Challenge Network Coordinator and teacher, Laytonville Unified DistrictStudents from each district will also be presenters.

Expanded Session

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 204

Teaching Hidden Lessons on Gender and Sexual Orientation

What are some of the ways that we might unintentionally teach both positive and negative messages about gender and sexual orientation? This interactive, hands-on workshop unearths the various hidden lessons coming through both what we teach and how we teach. Participants will analyze video clips, experience sample science lessons, and then design and analyze lessons that they can use in their own classrooms to challenge heterosexism, genderism, and other "isms."

Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D., has worked as a teacher and teacher educator in schools and colleges in the United States and abroad, and has facilitated workshops and served as a consultant for schools, school districts, and state and federal agencies. His first book, Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality, was praised as “a milestone” in the field of multicultural education, and his new book, Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Anti-oppressive Pedagogy, has been called “the next benchmark” of this field. He is the founder of The Center for Anti-Oppressive Education, located in the Bay Area of California, which develops resources for members of educational communities to challenge different forms of oppression in schools and society. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Expanded Session

Gender & Sexuality

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 179

Saturday, Session 5, 9:00am-10:30am

Breaking the Chains of Schooling and Discovering New Paths of Learning

This interactive workshop features key people from Paths of Learning Magazine who will facilitate a discussion of holistic ways of learning for attendees. The presenters use group activities and story-telling to involve the audience. Drawing on their experiences as holistic educators, homeschoolers, and university teachers, the presenters will enable attendees to grasp how adults and children can live and learn together in settings other than conventional classrooms.

Cecile Andrews has her doctorate from Stanford University’s School of Education and is the author of The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life (HarperCollins, 1997). Her work involves education for both personal and social change. Cecile has given workshops and classes for Stanford University, the Smithsonian Institute, The Kellogg Foundation, and many other universities and groups. Cecile’s work has been featured by PBS, NPR, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and CBS’ Eye on America, among others.

Richard Prystowsky has been the editor of Paths of Learning magazine since its inception. He is also the author of a college-level writing text entitled Careful Reading, Thoughtful Writing (HarperCollins, 1996). A former college professor, he is currently the Dean of Academic and Transfer Programs at College of the Redwoods, in California.

Don Trent Jacobs, Ph.D., Ed.D. (Four Arrows) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, Northern Arizona University, and is a faculty member at Fielding Graduate Institute. Former dean of education at Oglala Lakota College and part Cherokee/Creek, Dr. Jacobs brings to his presentations an American Indian worldview. Don is the author of eleven first-of-a-kind books on subjects relating to critical thinking, rethinking schools, authentic character education, social studies education, peace making, adventure education and wellness education. His most recent book is Teaching Virtues: Building Character Across the Curriculum (An American Indian Perspective), (Scarecrow Education Press, 2001).

Scott Forbes is the Director of the new Holistic Education Elementary School of Portland. His work involves guiding the new school as well as teacher development and research for holistic education. Scott received his doctorate from The University of Oxford, and some of his theoretical work is currently being published under the title, "Holistic Education - An Analysis of its Intellectual Precedents and Nature." Scott has worked in the field of Holistic Education for thirty years. For 20 of those years (10 as principal), he taught at the Brockwood Park Krishnamurti Educational Center in England.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 236

Civic Education and Student Empowerment

Participants will discuss how civic education through student political action projects empowers students and creates responsible citizens. The focus of the session will be on how to design and implement student political action projects, a discussion of how experiential civic education differs from standard courses in "civics" and how civic education is essential for democracy. Also included in the workshop will be a discussion of democratic process in the classroom.

Daniel Faulk was the environmental and utility consultant to the Speaker of the California State Assembly and he wrote of successful legislation on toxic waste and class-one dump sites for the chair of the Assembly Committee on Local Government. Dan currently teaches political science and political advocacy at HSU and College of the Redwoods. He has also taught political organizing at Petrolia High School and Mistwood Center for Education. Some of Dan's former elementary and high school students will also help facilitate this workshop.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 111

Effective Leadership in Times of Crisis and Reform

This session will enable school superintendents to come together in a roundtable discussion of the critical issues facing our public schools: budget cuts, accountability, standards, and the latest piece of federal legislation impacting our schools: No Child Left Behind. While these issues are impacting our schools, superintendents must provide the leadership and support in school districts to maintain effective learning environments for children and supportive work environments for all school employees.

Louis Bucher is the former Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools.

Education Policy

Founders Hall 178

Helping School-Age Children Manage Stress

This workshop will introduce “authentic dialogue” as a tool that teachers can use with children who are experiencing stress. The presenter will define “authentic dialogue,” identify its components, explain its purpose, and delineate its rules. The participants will then practice ‘authentic dialogue” on the basis of case studies of children experiencing stress; they will also be encouraged to share their own view of the process. By attending this session, participants will understand that supporting children who are experiencing stress can be part of every interaction and does not require extra measures. They will also learn that the technique of “authentic dialogue” lends itself to helping children manage stress regardless of their developmental levels. Furthermore, they will gain some practice in using the technique.

Aimee Langlois is a professor in the Department of Child Development at Humboldt State University where she teaches a course on children and stress. As a result, she has developed an interest in exploring and using techniques that teachers and other adults can use when interacting with students who are experiencing stress.

TBA

How the Columbus Myth Teaches Children to be Racist—and Some Ideas of What We Can Do About It

The “Discovery of America” may be most children’s first curricular exposure to the encounter between different cultures and races. Through slides of children's biographies of Christopher Columbus, teacher Bill Bigelow will encourage participants to think about the deep biases that are imparted to children in literature and textbooks. He will share a number of classroom-tested methods to equip children to develop their abilities to read and think critically. Appropriate for teachers of all grade levels as well as teacher educators, future teachers, community activists, and parents.

Bill Bigelow teaches high school in Portland, Oregon and is an editor of the acclaimed publication, Rethinking Columbus, which has sold over a quarter of a million copies. His latest book is Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World.

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 163

Integrating Democratic Ideals and Thematic Instruction at the Middle Level

We all imagine what democratic instruction looks like, but how do we get there? At this session, participants will explore ways to develop integrated units initiated by adolescent concerns and interests. The units are also built upon democratic ideals such as inquiry, discourse, equity, authenticity, leadership and service. Presenters will share thematic units that create authentic connections between standards-based course content and democratic classroom processes.

Dr. Ann Schulte and Dr. Mimi Miller are Assistant Professors in the Department of Education at California State University, Chico. Both have experience as middle school teachers and are interested in developing credential courses appropriate specifically for the middle level.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Founders Hall 181

Masks in the Classroom

Learn the art of mask-making and mask performance for the classroom! This workshop will include lecture, demonstration, and participation in the art. Guaranteed to be practical and fun!

Anna Marrs is a seventh grade social studies teacher at Pacific Union School in Arcata.

Bruce Marrs is a Dell’Arte teacher and mask maker.

Arts & Storytelling

Founders Hall 235

Sketches from Our Lives: Immigrant Students from Eureka and Fortuna

Eureka and Fortuna high school students from various countries will present skits about compelling issues they have faced as immigrant students. After each skit the presenters will engage the audience in a short question-and-answer session. This session is intended for people interested in intercultural issues.

Simona Keat works for the Humboldt County Office of Education.

Magdalena Lozoya is a Secondary Education Credential Candidate at Humboldt State University.

Keri Gelenian is Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University and teaches in the Secondary Education and Masters in Education programs.

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 125

Storytelling for Today’s Classroom

Today’s students live in the age of the information superhighway and yet, now more than ever, they need stories to help them deal with the vagaries of life’s journeys. This workshop will share tips on ways to advance speaking and listening skills, to enhance self-esteem, and to promote emotional development through storytelling.

Dan O’Gara is a professional storyteller who works with all age groups at schools, conferences, and festivals in the United States and Ireland. A former teacher in Colombia, Sumatra, and on California’s North Coast, Dan organizes the “Storytelling Festival by the Sea” at Patrick’s Point State Park in Humboldt County each September.

Aileen Figueroa is a legendary 90-year-old Yurok singer who performs at campfires and storytelling programs on the North Coast. She’s an American treasure.

Arts & Storytelling

Native American Issues

Founders Hall 232

The ABC’s and 123’s of Writing Children's Books

In this session, we will share our story of co-writing and publishing a children's book (Tub Toys, published by Tricycle Press, the children's division of Ten Speed Press). We will discuss resources for the children's book writer, some of the basic, unspoken rules of the business, and the importance of research before submitting a manuscript. We will also discuss the fun parts: working with an editor, seeing a book to print, ideas for self-publicity, and reading your own book to KIDS!!! This will be a session that emphasizes fun, and you will come away with a lot of helpful information.

Timothy Warner is currently a student in HSU's Elementary Education Credential Program. Tub Toys is his first published book, but he's got his fingers crossed and his pen scribbling on a few more.

Terry Miller Shannon writes books, stories and articles for a living. In addition to Tub Toys, she has published two non-fiction books with Scholastic and has another children's book forthcoming from Hyperion.

Founders Hall 166

The Move to Develop Successful Charter Schools in Native Communities: Highly Controversial, Yet an Opportunity for Real School Reform

Charter schools are highly controversial and part of the current national debate about school reform.  Yet charter school laws help to establish creative and innovative school options and have resulted in the creation of Native American charter schools in at least 10 states--including California.  Little information is known about innovative schools that are specifically designed to serve Native students in rural or urban areas.  Tribal officials, parents, and educators are developing programs to serve their unique circumstances, needs and the aspirations of Native children.  They are creating schools with teachers and administrators who understand and appreciate Native cultures and lifestyles.  Charters offer an opportunity for Indian communities to restore educational governance and decision-making to local levels. Charter schools are being developed for American Indian children in New Mexico;  this is the focus of a CD-ROM documentary, called From Mission to State Charter School:  Indian Education in the 21st Century;  Developing Successful Charter Schools in Native Communities.  The Pueblo of Jemez, a Towa speaking community in New Mexico, developed an elementary/middle school called San Diego Riverside Charter Schools where educators are using the cultural and linguistic components of the community to develop culturally supportive curricula and working to exceed state benchmarks and national standards.  Scheduled to open in the Fall of 2003, the Walatowa Charter High School has a mission of providing a rigorous college prep curriculum with an emphasis on math, science, health, and technology;  fostering leadership development;  preserving language and culture; and strengthening physical wellness.  Traditional and cultural values will be the basis of building a solid foundation focused on respect, self-discipline, and high academic skills.

Dr. Mary Jiron Belgarde, a San Juan and Isleta Pueblo Indian from New Mexico, is a graduate of Stanford University and a Native Professor at the University of New Mexico. She teaches courses in American Indian and multi-cultural education, and research applications in education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She was the Principal Investigator of a research grant from the U. S. Department of Education to create an interactive CD-ROM documentary entitled, From Mission School to State Charter School: Indian Education in the 21st Century. The research project demonstrates how exemplary programs are being developed for American Indian children through charter school funds. She writes about American Indian education and schooling. She also serves on the school board for the San Diego Riverside Charter School.

Kevin Shendo is from the Pueblo of Jemez, a village of 3,000 residents located in North Central New Mexico. Shendo has earned respect and admiration for his strong commitment to education and dedication to Indigenous people. He prides himself on being a role model and leader for Native youth. Currently, Kevin works for the Pueblo of Jemez as the Education Director. He oversees the Early Childhood Programs (Head Start and Child Care), the Jemez Community Library, the Higher Education Center and the recently approved Walatowa Charter High School. In his spare time he continues his work with the Pueblo of Jemez Native American Youth Empowerment (NAYE) organization, which he co-founded in 1993.

Native American Issues

Education Policy

Charter Schools

Founders Hall 206

The Unofficial Literacy of Adolescent Girls and What it Can Teach Us

Girls in early adolescence are at a particularly vulnerable time, creating or recreating their identities as they form their perceptions of themselves and their social world, including expectations for the future. Literacy plays a key role in regulating adolescent girls' subcultures. In this workshop, we will examine what we can learn by looking closely at the notes girls write to each other and the teen 'zines they read. Through samples of curriculum created by and for girls, we will also explore alternatives to the media images that are influencing them.

Ruth Shagoury Hubbard is the Mary Stuart Rogers Professor of Education and the Coordinator of the Language and Literacy Program at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She earned her Ph.D. in Reading and Writing Instruction at the University of New Hampshire and has served as the co-editor and co-founder of Teacher Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry. She is on the editorial boards of Networks: International Journal of Teacher Research and the National Council of Teachers of English’s Language Arts Journal.

Gender & Sexuality

Founders Hall 203

Youth and the Outdoor Experience: Benefits for the Whole Community

All young people have a right to experience the outdoors. Through its Inner City Outings and grants through its Youth in Wilderness program, the Sierra Club has provided thousands of California’s disadvantaged and at-risk youth with an outdoor experience. Because of insufficient resources at the state level, many more historically underserved populations never receive an opportunity to experience nature. The Sierra Club has embarked upon a campaign to create a funding mechanism to give local communities the means to help youth increase their environmental literacy and scholastic performance while gaining vital life tools. Please join us to find out about the important benefits we all gain by helping all of our youth experience nature.

Martin LeBlanc is the California Youth in Wilderness Representative for the Sierra Club. He is experienced as an outdoor education leader and a outreach administrator. Previously Martin worked with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Carl Zichella is the Western Regional Director for the Sierra Club. He was Midwest Regional Director and also spent ten years living here on the North Coast as an environmental advocate.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum

Saturday, Session 6, 10:45am-12:15pm

Confronting the Consumer Society: Educating People to Live More Simply

People are overwhelmed by long hours of work, rising prices, increasing debt, and threat of job loss. In addition, people are worried about threats to the environment and the decline of civil society. The emerging "simplicity movement" helps people discover how to work less, consume less, and live more. Simplicity is “the examined life” in which we explore the consequences of our actions for our own well being, the well being of the greater community, and the well being of the planet. As Gandhi said, “Live simply so that others may simply live.”  In this workshop people will learn to analyze their own lives in terms of living more simply. There is no set doctrine; rather, simplicity is “the art of discernment,” discovering what matters and what’s important. We will explore how our consumer life also undermines sustainability and social justice. The workshop will model teaching approaches that can be used for all ages and all settings, from the classroom to the community. In particular, we will use the study circle method, a small group, peer-led form of education used extensively in Sweden. In simplicity study circles people examine their own lives and learn to find meaning in their own stories. They learn to link the personal and political, and explore the policy changes needed to help everyone live more simply (shorter work hours, reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.) Finally, they learn to take action and return to reflect together on what they have learned. People in this workshop will learn about the concept of simplicity, as well as a method of educating about simplicity that can be used in the classroom as well as in community education.

Cecile Andrews, is the author of The Circle of Simplicity (HarperCollins, 1997) and a former community college administrator. She received her doctorate in education from Stanford, where she has also been a visiting scholar the last few years. She is a columnist for the education journal Paths of Learning. In the 1960s, she worked in the South with the American Friends Service Committee and was inspired by the work of Myles Horton and The Highlander Center. For more information: www.cecileandrews.com and www.simpleliving.net.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 236

Dialogue with Our Legislator:  A Conversation with Assembly member Patty Berg about Education

This session will allow participants to meet and hear from our newly elected California Assembly member, Ms. Patty Berg. Ms. Berg is extremely interested in the needs and interests of higher education and wants to hear from local educators and teacher credential candidates about how the legislature can more effectively address all matters affecting pubic education and local schools in rural Northern California. The session will be introduced and moderated by former Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Louis Bucher.

Patty Berg, is the newly elected Assembly member of the 1st District of California, including Humboldt County.

Education Policy

Founders Hall 118

Family Diversity 101 - How to Talk to K-6 Students About Different Family Structures

This workshop will give teachers and other adults who work with children the tools they need to talk about important family diversity topics with their students.  The workshop will feature That's a Family!, a 35-minute documentary film, and will give an overview of activities that educators can use with students to encourage age-appropriate discussion about race, sexual orientation, adoption, divorce and separation, guardianship, and single-parent households.  The aim of the workshop is to help adults foster respect, understanding, health and safety among youth in the community.

Bob Kim is the Director of Outreach and Training of the Respect For All Project, a program of Women's Educational Media, which provides free diversity trainings to public schools in California. Prior to joining the Project, Kim was a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he focused on, among other topics, bias and discrimination cases involving students, teachers and school districts. He is a graduate of Williams College and Boston College Law School.

Multicultural Education

Gender & Sexuality

Founders Hall 111

Indians and Non-Indians Working Together to Save the Environment

This seminar will focus on cross-cultural communication research and bargaining strategies for co-managing the environment for fish, timber, and wildlife.

Joseph  Dupris, Joseph Giovannetti, and Kathleen Hill teach in the Native American Studies Program at Humboldt State University.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Native American Issues

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 125

Local Indian History: Is It Accurate?

For the last three years Chag Lowry has worked with and documented elders from the Wiyot, Hupa, Tolowa, Karuk, Yurok, Maidu, Pit River, Shoshone, Paiute, and Washo tribes of northern California. He will share about a website, book, and poster boards that are based on these interviews and photographs, and hopes for feedback how to use these projects in local classrooms.

Chag Lowry is of Maidu/Yurok/Pit River ancestry and is currently a producer/director for the local KEET-TV series Living Biographies.

Native American Issues

Founders Hall 206 

Mentoring Student Teachers: Working Through Interpersonal Dilemmas

Mentor teachers working with credential candidates rarely have an opportunity to get together and reflect upon the challenges of working effectively with student teachers. In this session mentor teachers will have an opportunity to examine common interpersonal dilemmas that interfere with learning in mentor/ student teacher relationships. Participants will practice strategies to address issues they might presently face in working with student teachers.

Keri Gelenian is Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University and teaches in the Secondary Education and Masters in Education programs.

Founders Hall 235

National Board Certification—It’s FOR Teachers!

National Board Certification is recognized as a form of professional development that improves the quality of teaching. Its emphasis on teaching standards, analysis, and reflection offers teachers important insight into their own knowledge, skills, and effectiveness. Many teachers report this yearlong reflective process as the best professional development experience of their careers. www.cde.ca.gov/pd/nbpts

Kay Garcia, a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), will describe the process for achieving national certification as well as share information about the support that is available to California teachers during their National Board candidacy. Current information will also be provided about the $10,000 and $20,000 incentive awards for California NBCTs.

Founders Hall 181

Parents and Charter Schools

Are you a parent who is interested in starting a charter school? Or are you a teacher or an administrator who works in a charter school where parent involvement is central to the mission of the school? Join Patty Yancey, author of Parents Founding Charter Schools (2000), in a discussion on parents as policy-makers and decision-makers in charter schools. Yancey will present an overview of her charter research, and lead a lively discussion that will center on the following questions: What are the barriers-and possible solutions for overcoming those barriers—of teachers and school administrators sharing decision-making power with parents? As power shifts, or does not shift, among parents in the majority or in positions of authority within a charter school, how will the educational mission—the foundation of the charter petition's approval by its sponsor—remain intact? Can a group of parents with a mix of values, parenting styles and habits of mind succeed in organizing, governing, and/or operating a public school whose mission must encompass the interests and goals of the larger society?

Patty Yancey, Ph.D. is Director of the Arts and Education Collaborative in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco and an Assistant Professor in the International Multicultural/Teacher Education Department. In addition to arts education, Yancey has done extensive research in the area of public school reform, particularly on charter schools. A book of Yancey’s case studies—Parents Founding Charter Schools: Dilemmas of Empowerment and Decentralization (Peter Lang, 2000)—chronicles the start-up sagas of two California charters. In Fall 2002, Dr. Yancey launched an arts-integrated, K-8 multiple subject teacher credential/M.A.T. program that integrates the visual and performing arts throughout the two years of coursework. Headquartered at USF's Oakland Campus, fourteen teacher candidates are now enrolled in the program’s inaugural cohort. Prior to her career in higher education, Yancey worked as a graphic designer/illustrator, an arts educator in K-12 schools (dance and visual arts), and in non-profit arts management in California and Alaska. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education at the University of California at Berkeley. She is also one of the contributing authors of Inside Charter Schools: The Paradox of Radical Decentralization (Harvard University Press, 2001).

Charter Schools

Founders Hall 178

Providing Comprehensive Prevention and Intervention Services in the School

In a period of declining enrollment and diminishing resources, providing mental health services to children and families within the school setting has become challenging. For the past ten years, faculty and school-based professionals at Humboldt State University have been working to develop a collaborative training program for graduate students in school psychology in cooperation with local school districts. In this program, practicing school psychologists and graduate student trainees are responsible for delivering comprehensive school psychological services in rural and suburban schools on the northern coast of California. We are attempting to support settings where psychological services and all of the activities encompassing the role of the school psychologist can be modeled and practiced, including the delivery of prevention, early intervention and counseling services, and consultation with school staff, parents and community-based professionals. Our goal is to implement a preventive and system-of-care approach to delivering psychological services to all children and staff, and to train school psychologists to adopt an ecological and preventive frame of reference for their work. This workshop will provide details regarding the development and implementation of school-based service delivery programs designed to improve the well being of children and the climate of schools.

Brent Duncan, Ph. D. is a Professor in the Psychology Department at HSU & Director of the HSU School Psychology Training Program. Dr. Duncan is currently President of the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP).

Chris Byrne is School Psychologist, Arcata Elementary School District and a Lecturer/Supervisor in HSU School Psychology Training Program.

Steve Kelish is Superintendent of the Arcata Elementary School District & Lecturer in HSU’s School Psychology Training Program.

Eileen Klima is School Psychologist, South Bay Union School District & Lecturer/Supervisor in HSU’s School Psychology Training Program.

Lisa Miller is School Psychologist, McKinleyville Union School District & Lecturer/Supervisor, HSU’s School Psychology Training Program.

Founders Hall 232

Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Unlearning the Language Stereotypes that Bind Us

In this hands-on, practical session, participants will examine how popular culture — Disney movies and cartoons — creates stereotypes about characters who speak “nonstandard” dialects or who speak English with an accent; teachers will also explore ways to help children both acknowledge and “unlearn” those stereotypes. But learning about stereotypes isn’t enough. Students must find ways to change the injustice they see — and in school that means learning to write an effective persuasive essay. Handouts will include introductions, conclusions, criteria sheets as well as student samples.

Linda Christensen, is author of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching for Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word, and co-editor of Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice. She taught Language Arts for over twenty years at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, and currently is Language Arts Coordinator for Portland Public Schools. She is a member of the Rethinking Schools editorial board, director of the Portland Writing Project, and a founding member of the National Coalition of Education Activists.

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 163

Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World

In this participatory workshop, longtime teacher Bill Bigelow will demonstrate aspects of his new book, Rethinking Globalization. Bigelow's book covers an array of issues including global warming, sweatshops, child labor, the WTO, genetically engineered food, and the destruction of indigenous cultures. The workshop will examine how teachers can engage students in thinking critically about issues of global justice.

Bill Bigelow has taught social studies in public high schools for 25 years. He is an editor of the national education reform journal, Rethinking Schools.

Organizing for Change

Multicultural Education

Alternative and Environmental Education

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum

Sign Language in the Classroom

Did you know that sign language can improve a hearing child’s literacy in vocabulary, reading, spelling and even arithmetic? It can also improve their self-esteem and certainly enhance the classroom setting. This workshop will help you incorporate sign language activities into a classroom setting. Through a variety of activities, attendees will gain practical experience using sign language and the manual alphabet. With lecture and role-play they will also learn how to best meet the needs of their students with hearing loss.

Vonnie Pfingston and Rhonda Geldin both have extensive experience in teaching American Sign Language and as sign language interpreters. They are both lecturers in the Child Development Department at Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 203

Team Work: Creating a Supportive Classroom for the Inclusion of Special Needs Students

This session will provide an opportunity for educators and parents to ask questions and problem-solve on inclusion. How do you talk with a family about a child's disability? How do you encourage the family to be more involved in the classroom? This is your chance to collaborate and create positive solutions in an open discussion. Be ready to participate, this is not a lecture.

Terena Scott is the parent of a special needs child and advocate for families in Lake and Mendocino counties and a teacher at the School for Performing Arts in Ukiah, CA

Diane Davis is the parent of special needs child, an advocate for families, and Lake County representative of Parents Anonymous.

Jo Moore is the parent of a special needs child and advocate for families in Lake County.

Founders Hall 177

The River School: Organizing a Student-Centered Integrative Curriculum to Fit the Needs of Adolescents

By nature, human beings are self-determining and learn best when knowledge is coherent and meaningful. This is especially true of middle schoolers. The River School's development of the explicit curriculum is a student-centered, systems approach that engages students through their own questions, fosters their burgeoning analytical thinking with challenging and relevant lessons, and involves their own ability to reflect and assess their own learning. This systems approach to developing integrated curriculum is developmentally responsive to the needs of middle schoolers while meeting the requirements for standards and accountability. River School teachers will present their work in developing such a curriculum.

Alan Little is a lead teacher at the River School since 1997, having taught in California and Hawaii. He has taught math, science, and is currently coordinating the Integrated Math Program and technology at the River School.

Matt Denney has taught at the River School for two years and coordinates social studies on the 7th/8th grade teams.

Lisa Layne, has an M.A. in Educational Technology and is in her first year at the River School.  She teaches math and science, and assists with integrating technology into the curriculum.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Charter Schools

Founders Hall TBA

Unfolding Family History: Timeline Accordion Book

A book in a box in an hour. This book art project is inspired by Aztec and Mayan practice of using screen fold annals or accordion books for ritual calendars and tribute list, as well as for recording historical chronicles and genealogies.

JoAnne Berke is Associate Professor of Art Education at Humboldt State University

Arts & Storytelling

Art 125

Saturday, Lunch, 12:15pm-1:30pm

Student Showcase Poster Session

Students from the Department of Education teacher preparation and graduate programs will display course outcome products such as research papers, behavior interventions, instructional plans, and curriculum development projects. Programs include Administrative Services, Elementary Education, Liberal Studies Elementary Education, Secondary Education and Special Education. Students and other program staff will be available to discuss their work.

David Ellerd (organizer) is Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University and the Program Leader for the Special Education Credential Program

Forbes Complex / West Gym

Tour of HSU's Campus Center for Appropriate Technology

See Education In Action! Tour Humboldt State’s Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT).  CCAT serves as a campus resource, educating individuals on alternatives towards sustainable living. We accomplish our mission by showcasing technologies which contribute to a healthy environment.  If you have ever wondered what environmentally viable solutions look like in practice, join us in an inspiring tour that will expose you numerous ways to incorporate appropriate technology into your classroom and personal life.

Nadia Raza is a graduate student in sociology at Humboldt State University and employee of CCAT, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology.

Morgan King is a graduate student in the Environment and Community Program at Humboldt State University and a CCAT employee.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Buck House, behind Natural Resources Science Building

Special Meeting for Faculty & Staff of Teacher Credential Programs

Do You Work in a Credential Program for Teachers in the State of California?  We’re holding a special luncheon meeting to pull together faculty and staff members who are grappling with the new state standards for teacher credentialing programs.  How do folks feel about the new standards at CSU, Chico?  Are folks at Sonoma State or University of San Francisco concerned about any of the new requirements?  How are faculty and staff preparing to respond to the new standards at Humboldt?  Wouldn’t it be fun to get together and talk about what’s up here?  This special luncheon meeting is open to all faculty and staff of teacher preparation programs in California and beyond.  We’ll grab lunch and meet & eat together at 12:30 on Saturday around a large table in the “J” cafeteria in the Jolly Giant.  Look for the sign that says “New California Standards” on our table!

Hosted in “the J” by Diane Ryerson and Sheila Rocker Heppe, program coordinators from Humboldt State University

Saturday, Session 7, 3:00pm-4:00pm and Saturday, Session 8, 4:15pm-5:30pm (Extended Session)

Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners

This interactive workshop, which is appropriate for grades 2-6, will provide participants with the framework for differentiating their instruction through the use of primarily expository text. You will leave the workshop with one week’s worth of center activities which can be leveled for diverse learners. Rubrics will be provided for use in evaluating the effectiveness of each center. Once in you’re own classrooms, teachers will have the understanding to be able to create their own centers.

Carol Moon Goodwyn is third grade teacher, GATE coordinator for her site, and Coordinator for the Mathematics Summer Institute for the Redwood Area Math Project.

Martha Haynes teaches in the Education Department at Humboldt State University and is a supervisor for Elementary Education credential candidates. She has 20 years experience teaching elementary school students.

Extended Session

Founders Hall 178

Taking Service Learning to the Streets: Educators Join the Community Square Dance!

This workshop utilizes an exciting role playing game to explore community perspectives on service learning projects. Learn why preparation and exploration of parental and community concerns may impact your service learning activities. Materials include tools to make school/community partnerships meaningful and successful.

Veray Wickham is Community Involvement Coordinator for San Joaquin County Office of Education, Region Six Service Learning Lead and California Service Communities Initiative Coordinator.

Extended Session

Service Learning

TBA

Saturday, Session 7, 3:00pm-4:00pm

Authentic Character Education: A Challenge to Current World Views

Based on their book, Teaching Virtues: Building Character Across the Curriculum, endorsed by such educators as Vine Deloria, Jr., Parker Palmer, Noam Chomsky and Chet Bowers, Jacobs and Jacobs-Spencer show how the assumptions that underlie many current character education programs lead more toward compliance that character and show how a more integrated approach is an important link to education for democracy.

Don Trent Jacobs (Four Arrows) is an Associate Professor at Northern Arizona University and is on the faculty at Fielding Graduate Institute. Former Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College, his books, articles and regular column for Paths of Learning are flavored by traditional assumptions that guided indigenous learning for thousands of years.

Jessica-Spencer Jacobs, M.A., is an Arcata math teacher who co-authored Teaching Virtues with her father. She is currently working on a math book relating to environmental sustainability.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Founders Hall 108

Effective Instruction of Beginning-Level English Learners

This interactive session demonstrates principles of effective instruction for English learners. Topics include: first- and second-language acquisition; meaningful language use; comprehensible input; and creating a low-anxiety environment.

Larry Rice, a former bilingual and special education teacher, teaches elementary reading methods at Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 203

Ignorance in the Cafeteria: Do We Really Know What We Eat?

Do you remember school cafeteria food? Once the target of childhood jokes, the school kitchen is becoming extinct. Today schools are converting their kitchens and serving fast food and soda as a way to build revenue. Many school communities are concerned with what children are given as a choice to eat. Could there be a link to the decreased availability of fresh foods in the school cafeteria and the rising trends in child obesity, diabetes, and poor body image among young children? Learn how communities are taking a role in changing their school food systems. This session includes a facilitated open discussion of ideas, issues, concerns and steps toward improving your current food system.

Michelle Dobrowolski is the former Operations Director of Slide Ranch, a farm-based environmental education center in Marin County, with responsibilities in program development, staff supervision and collaborating with community food organizations. She was also a member of the Marin Food Systems Project Advisory Committee.

Renata Brillinger is food system educator at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center.

Founders Hall 235

Inventing "White Trash": The Making of a Stereotype

Hillbillies, Rednecks, Crackers, and White Trash. Ever wonder where these hateful stereotypes originated? Join Professor Matt Wray as he discusses his research into the ways educators, social scientists, moral reformers and medical doctors in the early 20th century invented the idea of the stupid, diseased, and incestuous poor rural white.  How do these conceptions of poor white people complicate the work of educators in Northern California classrooms?

Matt Wray has been described as “author, scholar, teacher, activist, consummate belcher, madman. Wray is many things to many people.” Wray holds an M.A. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education and a Ph. D. in Ethnic Studies, both from UC Berkeley. In 2000-2001, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Museum of American History, where he conducted research for his forthcoming book, Inventing White Trash. He is co-editor of three anthologies: White Trash: Race and Class in America; Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life; and The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness. He is currently an assistant professor of sociology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has taught in education and ethnic studies at Berkeley and Humboldt State University.

Teaching in Poor White Communities

Founders Hall 111

Motivational Activities to Teach Math Concepts and Skills

This workshop will offer a variety of hands-on experiences that can engage students in their learning and increase their understanding of math concepts and skills. Come and explore some activities, games, and manipulatives to use with students from kindergarten through grade six. The activities presented will cover the math strands: number sense; algebra and functions; measurement and geometry; statistics, data analysis, and probability; and mathematical reasoning.

Susan Haase has taught in elementary schools for nine years and this is her sixth year as a Resource Specialist Teacher. For the past three years she has been a guest presenter of mathematics curriculum for students in the special education teaching program at Humboldt State University. She is currently in the Master’s of Education program at HSU, researching effective instructional strategies for teaching math concepts to students with learning disabilities.

Founders Hall 181

Native American Songs, Games, and Dances for the Classroom

This session will allow participants to experience and learn a variety of Native American songs, dances, and games for enjoyment in the classroom and in life. The session will focus largely on grades 3-8 and all participants should come prepared to participate with joy!

Kathe Lyth is the founder and director of the Redwood Coast Children’s Chorus (RCCC). The RCCC will be performing at the summit on Saturday afternoon before the plenary. She has worked extensively with Native American music and has taught on the Navajo reservation. She has also developed a Native American song collection in conjunction with the Indian Action Council of Humboldt County

Arts & Storytelling

Native American Issues

Founders Hall 236

Organizing for Change: Harnessing the Media Machine on the North Coast and Beyond

This session will focus on the strategies & tips for using the media to attract attention to your event, activity, or organization. We'll talk about tips for dealing with the media, developing a media list, ways to prepare spokespeople for an event, and different ways to write a press release. This session will enrich your understanding of the ways in which the media can positively, and negatively, affect the outcomes your organization seeks to accomplish.

Dawn Arledge is an Evaluation Coordinator for the Center for Applied Social Analysis & Education (CASAE) at Humboldt State University. She received her MA in Sociology from HSU and has assisted in teaching the HSU course Education for Action for two semesters.

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 177

Play It, Live It: Using New Games in Character Education

Come ready to play and learn! Participants will have an opportunity to learn: how to lead several games, appropriate uses and settings of each game, and what concepts can be taught using each game. We will cater to the needs of participants, playing games until the group has “got it” and then discussing the uses, settings, and teaching capacity of the game. Participants will receive a list of the games played with concise descriptions. Please wear clothing appropriate to moving around and having fun!

Tyler Ludlow is currently the director of Humboldt Adventure, which operates a challenge course and other experience-based programs for youth, families, and organizations. He has worked extensively with youth groups in programs that emphasize life skills and character education.

Alternative & Environmental Education

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum

What Do Middle School Students Think About Reading—Both Silent and Guided?

This session will feature results from two inquiry projects conducted with local middle school students about DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) and a new Language Arts textbook that invites active participation. We gained valuable insights about reading, teaching, and learning by talking with our students.

Karen Cole, Christina Schlatter, and a panel of middle school students will lead this workshop. Both Karen and Christina are secondary credential candidates in English at Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 204

Why and How We Should Support our Community’s Activists

Environmental and community activists serve the public good just as surely as do teachers, firefighters, police officers, librarians and medical personnel. Yet they tend to be treated as “community orphans,”, left largely unsupported, unpaid and unnoticed. The quality of all our lives would surely be much worse without the very important work they do. How can we best support our local activists? What do they need? What can we offer? How can we move towards equity between these public servants and mainstream public servants?

Fhyre Phoenix is a long-time community and environmental activist who, like other activists, has rarely been compensated for his service to the community. Fhyre has a Masters degree in Human Service Administration, has been the executive director of three non-profit organizations and has raised more than $2.3 million for a variety of causes that have served the communities in which he has lived. He has a passion for healthy communities and compensated activism.

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 179

Saturday, Session 8, 4:15pm-5:30pm

A Roundtable Discussion: What is the First Year of Teaching Really Like for Elementary and Middle School Teachers

What’s it really like to be hired for your first teaching job and enter your own classroom for the very first time? This group of recent HSU Elementary Education Credential Program graduates will share their insights, emotions, and experiences from their first teaching positions. They’ll participate in a fishbowl discussion for about 45 minutes, then we’ll open up for questions and discussion from the audience.

Ali Lescht is a 3rd-5th grade teacher at Trillium Elementary Charter School in Arcata.

Yas-Meen F. Rodriguez is a recent graduate from Humboldt State University. She now teaches seventh grade (self-contained) at Shandin Hills Middle School in San Bernardino CA.

Joelle Jordan is currently teaching in Eureka with the Humboldt County Community School program, specifically at the 4th and D site in the Art Magnet program. The program’s enrollment hovers around 22 to 30, 7th through 12th graders, many of whom have hopes of returning to regular junior or senior high school.

Scott Phelps teaches fourth grade at North Coast Learning Academy.

Melissa Mangos teaches kindergarten at Lucerne Elementary School in Lake County.

Melanie Burton teaches third grade at Jacoby Creek School in Bayside.

Karla Hansen teaches sixth grade science and three lower-level 7th and 8th grade math courses. She is also the ASB advisor as well as teaches Math Learning Lab two days a week after school. She teaches at Buena Vista Middle School and lives on the Monterey Peninsula.

Devora Kaufman received her Elementary Multiple Subjects CLAD credential in May 2002 at HSU. Her search for work led her to take a 5/6 combo class in a distant rural county. After a brief stint as a classroom teacher, she has come back to Humboldt and is happily working for a charter school teaching home school and independent studies students, K-adult.

Scott Hopkins teaches fourth grade at Pomo Elementary School in Clear Lake. 

Eric Rofes, Program Leader for HSU’s Elementary Education Credential Program is this session’s organizer and facilitator.

Founders Hall 163

Acting for Justice

Do you feel more like a cop than a teacher? Do the constant put-downs, teasing, and fights make you want to abandon the dreams that brought you to the classroom in the first place? Are you worried that academic skills must be sacrificed when you build community? Then come join us for a workshop on teaching students how to “act for justice.” 

Our classrooms provide opportunities for us to help students become warriors against cynicism and despair by acting for justice. Acting in solidarity with others is a learned habit. In this workshop, teachers will discover some strategies to help students intervene when they confront injustice at the same time they practice literacy skills. They must also learn to live in someone else’s skin, understand the parallels of hurt, struggle, and joy across class and culture lines. For that to happen, students need more than an upbeat, supportive teacher; they need a curriculum that encourages them to share their lives. In this workshop, teachers will learn how to use students’ lives at the same time they teach them to write narrative work samples. Handouts will include introductions, conclusions, criteria sheets as well as student samples.

Linda Christensen, is author of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching for Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word, and co-editor of Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice. She taught Language Arts for over twenty years at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, and currently is Language Arts Coordinator for Portland Public Schools. She is a member of the Rethinking Schools editorial board, director of the Portland Writing Project, and a founding member of the National Coalition of Education Activists.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Alternative and Environmental Education

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 204

Countering Militarism in the Schools

This session will look at ways parents, teachers and administrators can work together to create a learning environment for our kids that provides opportunities for them to critically examine their views about violence and war and equips them to make informed choices about draft registration or military service in the event of a draft by considering the option of conscientious objection. We will look at recent court decisions that guarantee access to the schools by peace recruiters who can counter claims of military recruiters by presenting more complete information about military life (including loss of civil rights, homophobia, sexism and racism), military benefits (including job training, travel and money for college), and the effect that war has on both soldiers and civilians--and how we can work to assure this access. We will present information about how recent legislation (No Child Left Behind) threatens the school's role as unbiased educator unless we develop policies that allow parents to make choices about when or whether military recruiters are free to contact their kids and how to help their kids if they change their minds about early enlistment (DEP). This session will provide information (and lots of resources), but it will focus on activities which will empower participants to begin the important work of countering militarism in our schools.

Barbara Goldberg is a lecturer in the English Department at Humboldt State. She founded and has directed the Writing Lab for over 20 years.  Guy Kuttner is an elementary teacher at Pacific Union School and a writer on education.  They are both active members of the Northcoast War Resisters League and the Humboldt Center for Conscientious Objectors.

Education Policy

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 236

Finding Joy by Watering the Seeds of Mindfulness

To help their students most effectively, teachers must be able to find joy in themselves. To help them in this endeavor, this workshop will introduce participants to various mindfulness practices—including mindful breathing, mindful walking, and mindful eating—and then will give participants the chance to try out some of these practices. Before and after we take part in these activities, we will talk about how such practices can help teachers water their own seeds of joy and why finding joy in themselves can help them better meet their students' needs. Towards the end of the workshop, we will discuss some ways in which teachers might incorporate mindfulness practices in their work with students."

Richard J. Prystowsky is the author of Careful Reading, Thoughtful Writing (HarperCollins, 1996), a college-level writing text,. He is a former professor of English and humanities at Irvine Valley College and currently is the Dean of Academic and Transfer Programs at College of the Redwoods. He is also the editor of Paths of Learning: Options for Families and Communities, a magazine devoted to exploring ideas and practices from a wide range of educational perspectives, especially those associated with alternative educational approaches to teaching and learning.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 235

Getting in Touch with Your Inner Reader: The Power of Metacognition

In this session participants will explore the concept of metacognition and its critical role in active reading/learning. Participants will also analyze their own metacognitive approaches and receive information on a Reading Apprenticeship model, which can help transform passive students into active participants.

Cathleen D. Rafferty, Professor and Director of the Center for Educational Renewal at Humboldt State University, is a former middle grades teacher who specializes in content reading/literacy and school-university collaboration.

Founders Hall 179

Lights, Camera, Community Video

The Orton Family Foundation developed the Community Video Program to engage citizens to create, star in and view a “homegrown” documentary production about their community. This session will review the Foundation’s experience in working with high school students as the producers of community videos and discuss how you can do the same in your high schools and communities. The manual developed by the Foundation, Lights, Camera, Community Video, will be reviewed, as will a high school curriculum supplement that will be available by the end of the school year. This is a wonderful tool to engage youth in their communities in a meaningful and direct way. It brings them in touch with their community’s history and the role that planning plays in determining the shape and quality of a community. In addition, they develop video, facilitation, interviewing, planning and research skills.

Paul Sachs, is the Manager of the Orton Family Foundation Community Program in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Arts & Storytelling

Founders Hall 177

Samba!

Shake it! Play it! Sing and dance your way to an understanding of how you can use the K-12 music standards in your classroom. Participants learn the historical background and explore the performance techniques necessary to perform basic, authentic, Samba rhythms, which will culminate in our very own North Coast Education Summit Samba Parade!

David Demant is a K-8 music specialist for Eureka City Schools and is a popular performer here on the North Coast.

Arts & Storytelling

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum

Schoolhouse Odyssey: An Educator & Photographer Explores “Ghost” Schools and Memoirs, 1842-2003

Explore 19th and early 20th century education through photographer Diana Schoenfeld’s Ghost Schools and Memoirs project. She began photographing small, isolated rural schools, wondering if one-room frontier schoolhouse experience still existed and how it compared to the past. Before long, she discovered original one-room schoolhouses still standing, but often forgotten. Photographs of these relic “ghost" schools are combined with field notes and audiotapes of real voices remembering regional landscapes with school days as far back as 1916. If possible, Schoolhouse Odyssey, the electronic multimedia program which narrates the story of this project, will be shown.

Diana Schoenfeld is active in university teaching and is affiliated with the California Arts Project, creating standards-based visual arts instruction for teachers and students. She is the author/curator of Symbol and Surrogate: The Picture Within. Her exhibition Refuge/Fallen Birds was recently exhibited at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. Schoolhouse Odyssey was presented at the Society for Photographic Education Western Regional Conference in November 2002.

Arts & Storytelling

Founders Hall 111

SEEING RED - Storytelling and Native American Culture

Traditional stories should provide a window on the culture from which they spring; but what happens when that "window" is clouded with stereotypes and inaccurate information? In this workshop, noted Cherokee storyteller, Gayle Ross will help clear up some widespread misunderstandings about native culture found in popular children’s books authored by non-natives and provide some helpful alternatives to some common school activities which perpetuate stereotypical images. Drawing on the wisdom found in the ancient teaching stories, the workshop is guaranteed to challenge some assumptions and to provide plenty of food for thought. Handout and bibliography provided.

Gayle Ross is a Cherokee Storyteller and a descendent of John Ross, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation during the infamous "Trail of Tears." During the past two decades, Ross has become one of the nation's best-loved and most respected storytellers, and has published five critically acclaimed children's books. She has been a featured artist in touring shows sponsored by the National Council of Traditional Arts, and has been a speaker at the national conventions of the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the International Board of Books for Young People.

Native American Issues

Arts & Storytelling

Founders Hall 163

Success for Students with AD(H)D

Larua Rose will help you understand, through presentation of research and examples from her own experience raising a child with ADHD, the specific struggles that children with ADHD face every day. She will help you understand the physiological reasons behind these limitations. But, beyond that, she will give you many specific suggestions that will work to support AD(H)D children to achieve success in school and in life.

Laura Rose has taught grades K-8 and, for the last ten years, taught in the credential program at HSU. Her own son, now grown, has AD(H)D and she has worked hard to find what research says and how that translates into effective practice. Laura has made this presentation for many groups, including for special education conferences.

Founders Hall 232

The Color of Fear: Your Racism and Its Impact on the Children You Teach

Walking Each Other Home, a continuation of The Color of Fear, is a film about the pain and anguish that racism has caused in the lives of eight North American men of Asian, European, Latino and African descent. Out of their confrontations and struggles to understand and trust each other emerges an emotional and insightful portrayal into the type of dialogue most of us fear, but hope will happen sometime in our lifetime. The new sequel explores in greater depth the intimate relationship that the eight men had with each other — how they felt when they were angry, why they were afraid, and what they discovered about themselves and each other. Be prepared to face one of the toughest challenges of your life for this film and the following process will stir your thoughts, raise your emotions, trigger your inner hopes and fears and ultimately put you face to face with your own core feelings on race before it spills over into the lives of the children you teach.

Gordon Clay is one of the two white cast members from this historic video project. Gordon began grassroots men's work in 1976 and in 1982 created the National Men's Resource Center, developer of the largest web site in the world on men's issues (menstuff.org). He was on the road full-time for almost five years in the Browsers' Bookmobile loaded with over a thousand books on men's issues traveling over 30,000 miles through 26 states visiting rural communities too small to support their own bookstore or library. He has been a co-chair for the National Organization for Men Against Sexism as well as the male panelist for Harper's Bazaar "GenderSpeak" and a presenter at Chico State University's "Men in the 90's" weeks, at Senator Maddy's annual women's conference, the International Men's Conference, as well as many television and radio appearances including Oprah and Hour Magazine.

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 125

Transforming Indian Education through a Return to Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Doing

Native schools and communities working with the Rural School and Community Trust are involved in a collective effort to transform the education of Indian children through a return to the education approaches utilized effectively by Indian people prior to the introduction of western education. These approaches are place-based, community driven, and culturally embedded, resulting in education that challenges Native youth to perform to high standards while simultaneously strengthening their cultural identify. The workshop will share the ground-breaking work of the Rural Trust Native Sites, and provide participants with opportunities to explore how these approaches might be incorporated within their own schools and communities.

Elaine Salinas is an Indian Educator with over 30 years of experience in tribal and public school settings in reservation and urban environments. She is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and received her graduate degree in Education Administration from the University of Minnesota. She has served as the "steward" for the Rural School and Community Trust Native Sites since the organization's inception in 1995.

Louise Naranjo is the Director of the Circles of Wisdom Program at Santa Fe Indian School, where she previously worked as a principal and teacher. Louise is Cochiti Pueblo and lives with her family in the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. Louise holds a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, and is currently pursuing her administrative licensure at New Mexico Highlands University.

Native American Issues

Founders Hall 206

War, Dissent and Democracy

Join the thoughtful and provocative journalist Alexander Cockburn for a conversation about the current state of our democracy, with an emphasis on war, dissenting viewpoints, the current administration in Washington, and the condition of the anti-war movement and the Left.  Sure to be a controversial, edifying, and powerful workshop.

Radical journalist Alexander Cockburn is a columnist for The Nation and co-edits the newsletter CounterPunch with Ken Silverstein. He is the co-author of the recent book Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press.  He is a resident of Humboldt County and was a speaker at our first North Coast Education Summit in 2002.

Organizing for Change

Reinvigorating Democracy

Founders Hall 118

Sunday, Session 9, 10:00am-11:15am and Sunday, Session 10, 11:30am-12:30am (Extended Sessions)

Project WILD: Teaching Students How to Think, Not What to Think

Project WILD is an interdisciplinary K-12 environmental education curriculum available through workshop format only. The science concepts behind Project WILD activities are based on the importance of habitat and are developed using national learning standards. The WILD framework is divided into three sections: Ecological Knowledge, Social and Political Knowledge, and Sustaining Fish and Wildlife Resources. Activities are great for both formal and non-formal settings and the activity guide is FREE! Become one of the WILD things!

Denise Newman works for California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) and is committed to putting environmental education resources directly into the hands of educators.

Expanded Session

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 108

Non-Violence and Civil Disobedience

This training prepares activists for non-violent civil disobedience to effect change when all other routes have been approached or will not work. Examples of civil disobedience include Ghandi’s work in India, the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and Earth First! With the world in such a tumultuous state, civil disobedience is an important way to join in global solidarity to wage peace with people everywhere. Come learn the important decision making process of consensus, your legal rights, basic civil disobedience tactics, and more!

Julie Gordon is a local activist and student at Humboldt State University trained in leading non-violence and civil disobedience workshops. She has participated in many political actions trying to save the redwood forests of Humboldt County and in mass demonstrations to stop the G8 and the war against Iraq. Special guest appearance by activists from Earth First!

Expanded Session

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 203

Sunday, Session 9, 10:00am-11:15am

Connecting Hearts and Minds: Translating Abstract Issues into Passion and Activism on the Part of the General Public

Is the public really apathetic? Or have you simply not yet discovered what spurs the public to action? This workshop examines a number of issues raised by the participants and shows how you can connect the cause you are most passionate about to the hearts, minds and support of the public. Learn how to make allies you never before considered, get the moral and material support you need, and work in alliance with others to reach your goals.

Fhyre Phoenix has been a community organizer and activist since 1967 when, at age 14, he won a 25% raise for the group of agricultural workers of which he was a part. Since then he has worked on such diverse issues and campaigns as saving a 100-acre forest from being clear-cut and being turned into a golf course (the campaign won), a campaign to stop fundamentalists from eroding women’s rights over their own bodies (the campaign won), a campaign to get family life and basic sex education into the public schools (the campaign won) and many other issues.

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 181

Higher Education for a Just, Sacred and Sustainable World

This workshop explores the idea that colleges and universities should be educating in the tradition of “movement schools” like Highlander in Appalachia and the Barefoot Colleges of India – looking to serve movements for global justice and local sustainability with the goal of integrating education with personal transformation and social change to

create a more just, sacred and sustainable world. Curriculum should be developed to teach about the need to heal trauma from injustice and unsustainability, resist forces that are destructive to people and the planet, create sustainable alternatives in all areas of daily life, develop holistic--not reductionist--consciousness and build community rather than isolated, autonomous individuals . Students should graduate having become critical thinkers, developed their imaginations, deepened their empathy and compassion for others, learned to be activist translators of radical ideas into reality and have become adept at working in unison and solidarity with a diversity of others. This ‘Pedagogy of Liberation’ will then truly be higher education for making another world possible.

Michael J. McAvoy, M.A. Dean of the School of Humanities and New College’s Academic Vice President has been with New College since 1985. His academic background is in Anthropology and focuses on the social production of knowledge – comparing the difference in knowledge produced in alternative culture with that of the dominant society. From 1986 to 1989, he was Director of the Weekday Humanities BA Program and developed its current curricular approach. In the early 90s, he created the Center for Community Action, Research and Education which served to facilitate faculty and student involvement with the community. Then, after researching models of sustainable communities and alternative institutions, he founded and still directs New College’s North Bay Campus for Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. With a background in alternative medicine and holistic health – he directed the San Francisco People’s Medical School in the 1970’s – Michael is also a resource for students interested in alternative health issues.

Higher Education

Organizing for Change

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 236

Learning and Loving It!

Singing, dancing, listening games, and movement activities blend music with curricular areas to promote joyful learning. Ideas for Black History Month (jazz), Martin Luther King, holidays, multicultural, and more!

After 39 year of teaching which includes kindergarten teacher, mentor teacher, Orff Specialist, Founder/Director of Kids Khoir, and workshop presenter, Sandy Hatch Olinger is still energetic and enthusiastic about sharing her love for music with young and old people. Her workshops are enjoyable and packed with field-tested ideas that work with kids.

Arts & Storytelling

Multicultural Education

Music TBA

Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Teachers: Who’s In? Who’s Out? Who’s In and Out and In and Out?

How do lesbian, gay, and bisexual teachers manage their identities in K-12 and alternative schools in rural California?  This workshop examines various ways educators hold their identities and discusses the challenges and satisfactions of being out of the closet, in the closet, or some combination of the two. 

Joelle Jordan is currently teaching in Eureka with the Humboldt County Community School program, specifically at the 4th and D site in the Art Magnet program. The program’s enrollment hovers around 22 to 30, 7th through 12th graders, many of whom have hopes of returning to regular junior or senior high school.

Mary Lynn Bryan has been teaching out and about (mostly about) for almost fifteen years working in Japan, Brazil, and various locations in Northern California. Currently she teaches Language Arts and Social Studies at the River School which is a small charter school in the Napa Valley where she grew up. "Teaching where you grew up as a semi-out teacher presents certain challenges," according to Mary Lynn. "I didn't plan it this way but it's working out okay."

Eric Rofes has taught sixth grade (in and out of the closet) and middle school (out of the closet) in the 1970s and 80s in Massachusetts.  He now is Program Leader for Humboldt State University's Elementary Education and specializes in supporting students facing all kinds of identity-management issues in the classroom, including students with non-dominant religious, spiritual, or political beliefs, students who have children but have never been married, and students grappling with gender-identity or sexual-identity management issues.

Gender & Sexuality

Founders Hall 111

Meeting Classroom, School, Family, and Community Needs Through Student Learning Support Services

Teachers, staff, and school administrators are confronted daily with the complex life issues that students bring into the classroom. In a number of Humboldt County school districts, school social workers, credentialed members of the pupil personnel professions, are allies who, working in daily concert with schools staff, help build networks of support for individual students, groups of students, families, and school communities that promote positive “can do” school climates; create relationships which lower the barriers to communication; link schools to community/agency-based resources, and, in collaboration with their school partners, do whatever it takes to achieve student readiness to learn and school success. MA and BA level social work interns, supervised by the school social workers, expand this school-based resource. Presenters will discuss their funding sources. Ample time for questions and discussion will be provided.

Marianne Pennekamp, MSW, Ph.D., PPSC is Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Humboldt State University and a Lecturer in Social Work at CSU Humboldt, Long Beach and Sacramento. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the School Social Work Council of California’s chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Margaret Allen, MSW, PPSC, is Teacher-Coordinator/School Social Worker for Humboldt county Office of Education and a fieldwork supervisor for HSU’s Department of Social Work.

Barbara Brimlow, MSW, PPSC, is a School Social Worker at Fortuna Elementary School District.

Marcy Foster, MSW, PPSC, is Counselor/CalWorks School Social Worker at College of the Redwoods.

Debra Jones, MSW, PPSC, is Assistant Director for Adult Education in the Eureka City Schools and fieldwork supervisor for CSU, Sacramento’s School of Social Work.

Cheri Shipley, MSW, LCSW, PPSC, is School Social Worker for the Cutten School District and fieldwork supervisor for HSU’s Department of Social Work

Meg Walkley, MSW, PPSC, is School Counselor/School Social Worker at Southern Humboldt Unified School District.

Founders Hall 177

Multiage or Multigrade: What Do YOU Do that Works?'

This session is intended to bring together educators working in multi-age and / or multi-grade classrooms for discussion of the special challenges we face and the factors that inspire us to believe this way of organizing a classroom is good for kids. Among other things, let's talk about: how to grapple with grade-level standards when you are teaching kids ranging from 5-10 years old in one classroom; how to incorporate a second grader reading at a fifth grade level into a fifth-grade reading group; how to incorporate a fifth grader who reads at a second grade level; and ways we speak with children and parents about the benefits of multi-age classrooms. All are welcome, especially teachers, parents and administrators in multi-age elementary and middle-school classrooms.

Meredyth Phillips, Masters in Education student at HSU, has been teaching since 1989 at Leggett Valley Elementary in Mendocino County. This is her sixth year teaching a multiage class. She would LOVE to know how other teachers do it!

Founders Hall 178

Opening Closed Doors in K-12 Social Studies

This interactive hour will help teachers understand how meaningful strategies for engaging students in age-appropriate controversies are vital to the democratic goals of education. Besides presenting field tested ways to link cooperative argumentation, respect, critical thinking and creativity to standards, this hour will challenge participants to move through cultures of fear with courage and hope.

Don Trent Jacobs (Four Arrows) is an Associate Professor at Northern Arizona University and is on the faculty at Fielding Graduate Institute. Former Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College, his books, articles and regular column for Paths of Learning are flavored by traditional assumptions that guided indigenous learning for thousands of years.

Founders Hall 204

Protecting Our Children from Environmental Health Hazards—In Our Homes, Schools, and Larger Society

Chemicals in the environment are threatening the health of children. Yet there are steps we can take—individually, collectively in schools, and as a wider society—to create a cleaner and safer future for all our children. Through this workshop, participants will learn about (1) current disease and disability trends that may be linked, in part, to chemical exposures; (2) common sources of exposures to troubling chemicals; and (3) alternatives that will decrease our children’s exposures to toxics and chemicals in their everyday lives. We will also discuss the Healthy Schools Act, which seeks to decrease pesticide exposures in public schools, and other healthy school issues. Finally, we will talk about the most effective ways to communicate with policy makers about these important matters.

Suellen Lowry, JD is Director of the California Interfaith Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment. She has worked as a legislative assistant for a member of Congress, lobbyist and PAC director for women’s and environmental public interest groups, private attorney, and teacher in both K-12 and college settings. For the last decade, Ms. Lowry has focused on facilitating communications between policy makers and members of faith-based and scientific groups. Her publications include, Building Partnerships with the Faith Community: A Resource Guide for Environmental Groups. Ms. Lowry received her BA from Washington State University, a JD from Stanford Law School, and a special education credential from HSU.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 125

Rebels, Resistance, and Revolution: A Radical 11th grade U.S. History & American Literature Curriculum

The presenters will give a brief overview of this innovative class, and the struggles to organize and maintain its existence. From this synopsis, the presenters will then discuss in conjunction with workshop participants, the importance of this class in terms of student choice in education, student empowerment, teacher empowerment, and activism. The presentation will also include personal narratives from former students regarding the impact of this class on their education and development as individuals. Our goal in presenting is to encourage similar curricula and to inspire struggling radical teachers. Attendees will receive a sample syllabus and key project descriptions, along with examples.

Athena Kautsch has taught secondary English for six years, and will have completed an MA degree in May of 2003. Todd Siders has taught secondary Social Studies for eight years, and will have completed an MA degree sometime this decade. Both instructors designed and implemented this thematic team-taught course. This is the second year of the course’s existence. They teach at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma Unified School District in Sonoma County.

The following are students from our first year whom we recognize as standouts in myriad ways: Jeanette Shribbs is a revolutionary senior whose interests include organizing and asking important questions; Reuben Villagomez is a rebellious senior whose interests include political philosophy and recognizing hypocrisy; Gina Heliotes is a resistant senior whose interests include radical poetry and seeing the proverbial big picture.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Organizing for Change

Reinvigorating Democracy

Founders Hall 163

Why Parents Opt Out of Public School Education and What YOU Can Do to Prevent It!

Meet with a locally active community member and parent to discuss problems with the structural, academic and emotional issues that contribute to making parents opt out of public school education for their children. We will discuss ways teachers can reach out to those parents and their students and also give time for teachers to share their experiences in this area. We will work together brainstorming and designing easy to implement strategies for individuals and classrooms. The beginning of the session will include a brief history of Nicole's years in and out of the system with her three children aged 18, 16 and 6 as well as stories from other local parents.

Nicole Barchilon Frank is the Administrator for the local Jewish congregation Temple Beth El and a Lay Leader there as well. She is the mother of three locally educated "gifted" children who have all opted out of public school education. She is also a founding member of C.U.R.B. (Community United to Reduce Bigotry—working to eliminate homophobia and all forms of discrimination and help create a safe, caring & equitable Arcata High School Culture and Climate). She is an active citizen of Arcata, the office manager for Kevin Frank & Associates (Computer Consulting & Database Design) and holds a BA in Social Sciences and a Minor in Psychology from HSU. She's also a great cook!

Education Policy

Founders Hall 179

Youth Voice for Service Learning and Activism: An Opportunity to be Heard

You're invited to a dynamic learning session led by local youth who are improving our communities through service. The Cesar Chavez Healthy Communities Project (CCHCP) teaches about the values, life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and gives youth the opportunity to help their communities through service. Members of the Youth Service Leadership Team identify and discuss community needs then design and implement service projects to meet those needs. Join us and find out what fires up our youth leaders!

Debbie Hart-Harris, Denise Bauer, Manuel Andrade are staff members of the Cesar Chavez Healthy Communities Project. They will be joined by Youth Service Leadership Team member—high school teens representing public, charter, and community schools from Orick to Eureka committed to designing and implementing service learning projects and activism in honor of Cesar Chavez within their communities.

Service Learning

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 235

Sunday, Session 10, 11:30am-12:30pm and Sunday, Lunch, 12:30-1:30 (Extended Session)

People Like Us: Social Class in America—Video Screening and Discussion

The film, People Like Us: Social Class in America, examines American life through the prism of our country's unique class structure. With a mix of humor and seriousness, People Like Us shows how class plays a role in the lives of all Americans, whether they live in Park Avenue penthouses, Appalachian trailer parks, bayou houseboats or suburban gated communities. The documentary travels across the country presenting stories that will resonate with viewers regardless of where they see themselves on the social spectrum.

Christina Accomando teaches American literature and ethnic studies at Humboldt State University. She is the author of The Regulations of Robbers: Legal Fictions of Slavery and Resistance.

Expanded Session

Teaching in Poor White Communities

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 118

Sunday, Session 10, 11:30am-12:30pm

Activities to Improve Students’ Aerobic Capacity and Body Composition

This session will present physical education program planning strategies for K-6 teachers with special emphasis on developing programs and activities to improve cardiovascular physical fitness. Participants will be introduced to lesson plans and school-wide activities to address these specific fitness components and to help students develop an active and healthy lifestyle. A preview of the California Physical Education Framework and the Challenge Standards will also be provided.

Chris Hopper is Associate Dean for Teacher Education at Humboldt State University. He is coauthor of a series of three books on health-related fitness for K-6.

Founders Hall 204

Content Literacy in the Core Four

Math, Science, English, and Social Science are all represented in this session in which secondary credential candidates will discuss findings and implications of their Inquiry Projects related to literacy in the content areas.

Heather Brown , Amy Crispin, Steve Nystram, and Robin Pickering are Secondary Education Credential Candidates at Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 232

Critical Resistance From the Belly of the Beast: Using Critical Literature With Incarcerated and Gang-Affiliated Students to Examine the Social, Political, and Economic Forces That Perpetuate Gang Culture and Violence

When the workshop leader first began working with incarcerated and gang-affiliated students in alternative schools he was told two things: The first was, "Don't do anything to rile them up!" The second was that if any student ever brings any part of their gang involvement into the classroom, in any form, the punishment is to be sure and swift. School, they said, is not a place to deal with this issue in any capacity. This presentation will focus on the presenter’s work with, and the dialogues generated while using critical literature to validate the normally invalidated lives and cultures of incarcerated and/or gang affiliated students.   By explicitly acknowledging and drawing from the experiences of incarcerated youth, we not only work towards rehumanizing this traditionally dehumanized population, but we can also begin examining and working towards changing the social, political, and economic conditions which perpetuate gangs and the incarceration of children. The presentation will revolve around four foci: (1) The presenter’s observations in these schools and what led him to pursue this focus in curriculum (2) the critical literature he chose to use (3) the dialogues and work of students around these issues (4) and a conversation among workshop participants about their experiences in, or concerns about implementing a curriculum using critical literature.

Eric Wright is a Language Arts teacher at Santa Rosa Clean and Sober Community School and at Hood Mountain School (Sierra Youth Center).

Alternative and Environmental Education

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 204

Developing Successful Strategies, Tactics, and Strategic Campaigns

Solid strategies are the foundation for a successful grassroots campaign around any issue. This session will focus on a framework for effective strategizing for change. Using a strategy model provided by the Midwest Academy, a long-time community organizing center in Chicago, participants in this session will simulate a strategy session in which the model is utilized. This session will provide insight into the ways in which good strategies can improve our organizations' outcomes.

Dawn Arledge is an Evaluation Coordinator for the Center for Applied Social Analysis & Education (CASAE) at Humboldt State University. She received her MA in Sociology from HSU and has assisted in teaching the course Education for Action for two semesters.

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 181

Is Literacy Important in Math and Science?  Let Us Count the Ways!

In this session, several secondary science/math credential candidates will discuss their findings regarding the role of literacy for learning in their content areas. Participants will also engage in a focused discussion of implications for their own middle school or high school students.

Sean Armstrong, Brian Hopper, Steve Rasmussen are Secondary Education Credential Candidates at Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 235

Making Political Theater

This workshop explores the how and why of making political theater. We will look at the forms, process, and reasons for creating issue-focused theater. Learn what choices to consider in the path to a finished performance. You will experience the dance between audience and artist as they join to create change.

Zach Rouse just returned to Humboldt from Berkeley, where he worked as a professional actor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He decided that city life is for the birds and came home. He is happy to be raising his family in the right place.

Robert Fleming holds a BA degree in Art from Humboldt State University. While attending HSU he acted in numerous student productions and became involved in grassroots community projects such as Food-not-Bombs and the Sustainable Local Economies Working Group. He pitches in his effort and enthusiasm wherever he can, always hoping to make a positive contribution.

Mike Jensen is the current Street Theater Director for The RAVEN Project, a local non-profit agency that serves the area's homeless and runaway youth. He is a graduate of Knox College, with degrees in economics and political science.

Ryan McCutchan is an activist and political thespian. Besides organizing street theater at demonstrations he has worked and performed with a number of different companies including The Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont and Neenassam School of Drama in Karnataka, India. Locally he has been an ongoing trainee in the art of Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed.

Carole Wolfe has a BA degree in Media Studies from Humboldt State University. She is active in community and children's theater as a designer, producer and workshop coordinator/facilitator. She believes in the healing and transformational power of theater.

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 111

PAD: Free Math and English Tutors for Local Classrooms

Pre-collegiate Academic Development (PAD) is probably among the greatest unknown resources for teachers grade 5-12 in Humboldt County. PAD places professional trained tutors, free of charge, into classrooms to help facilitate students' understanding of subject areas in Mathematics and English. Sponsored by the Chancellor’s office of the CSU system, PAD's official goal is to reduce the need for college remedial math and English classes by helping pre-college students perform better on the ELM and EPT. HSU's PAD does this and so much more. Teachers in grades 5-12 are invited to find out all the wonderful things HSU PAD does at this informative session.

Anne Nicksic has been the outreach coordinator for HSU PAD since 1996. A graduate of UC Davis with a BA in Child Development and Multiple-Subjects Teaching Credential and a graduate of the MA in Educational Administration Program from CSU Sacramento, Ms. Nicksic hires, places, and supervises all PAD tutors from HSU. As a former elementary and high school principal, Ms. Nicksic offers unique insights into her role of placing and supervising PAD interns.

Founders Hall 125

Stories for Change: Rethinking Narrative in the Classroom

Stories can be guides to developing a sense of purpose and belonging especially within a school community. Stories can also serve as inspirational markers for social change and personal transformation. This workshop focuses on how the search for meaning through narratives shapes our lives as well as the lives of others. Presented as an interactive/experiential workshop, we will discuss ways to analyze the structure of stories for key metaphors and parallels with socio-historical change at the community level and how they simultaneously affect our sense of meaning. We will also demonstrate methods for drawing insights from historical narrative, literature and folklore as a means to advance the use of narrative in critical pedagogy and curriculum development. We will then look at a wide array of stories of change; stories of conflict, stories of liberation and empowerment in order to explore how these stories produce, regulate and diffuse shared meaning. We will encourage educators to rethink the uses of narrative as both a form of discourse and a mode of societal interaction. Additionally we seek to encourage participants to identify and explore their own narratives as a means to foster self-reflection and self-actualization.

Mette Adams is a graduate student at Sonoma State University and is working collaboratively on a project to Rethink Narrative in Education as a tool for social justice and civic responsibility. She was a Broadcast Journalist for Project Censored and joined her mentor Mario Savio to form the California Coalition for Human Rights and Social Justice. She is currently involved in the College Assistance Migrant Program at Sonoma State University.

Cathy Hatcher-England, currently completing her Master's Degree at Sonoma State University, has been a facilitator and dialogue consultant for the past 10 years. She has lead workshops throughout the West in Socratic Seminars and the Touchstones Discussion Project. Additionally, for the past five years, she has been actively involved in the promotion and linkage of learning community development at the local, state and national level.

Arts & Storytelling

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 177

Teaching People's History: The American Revolution

This workshop presents a model that demonstrates how common people, including those who do not read and write, initiate and participate in historical processes. Through classroom simulations, students learn how to perceive events --and to act--as farmers, farmwives, slaves, and Indians during the American Revolution. After studying background material, students are asked to make choices and decisions from the standpoint of particular protagonists. The message here is that not only leaders but common people act as historical agents.

Ray Raphael is the author of eleven books, including People's History of the American Revolution, and The First American Revolution. He is a longtime teacher of all subjects in a public, one-room high school.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 163

Waldorf-Inspired Curriculum in Public Charter Schools

Waldorf-inspired schools strive to teach the whole child; head, heart and hands. But what does that mean? The format of this workshop will be three-fold. To begin, participants will be introduced to the basics of Waldorf-inspired curriculum through dynamic and interactive learning exercises. Following this period of movement and creativity, a presentation will be made on how Waldorf-methods public schools teach to the California State Standards and beyond. Finally, time will be reserved to answer any questions participants may have.

Jen Mishkin, Karin Glinden, and Lisa Bryant have all been teaching at Big Lagoon Charter School-Big Lagoon Site for two years. Lisa Bryant has also been instrumental in organizing and implementing Coastal Grove Charter School in Arcata.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Charter Schools

Founders Hall 179

What Was It Like to Be a Gay High School Student in Humboldt County Before 1990?

Many schools in rural California are currently working to address school-climate issues in order to ensure that all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, have full access to public education. What was it like to grow up gay in Humboldt County in the 1960s, 70s, or 80s? What kinds of resources were available to assist students as their sexual orientations unfolded? A panel of former students from Humboldt area high schools will share their memories and experiences and then engage in dialogue with workshop participants.

Tom Phillips attended McKinleyville High School from 1973-1977, and Humboldt State University after that. A musician/theater artist/activist, he is the eldest of five children of HSU Music Department faculty members. In 1983, he founded the Gay Student Union at HSU, and facilitated the Gay Men's Support Group there from 1984-1989. He is currently a resident of Marin County, California.

David Orphal (facilitator) is a teacher at Zoe Barnum High School, a Masters in Education student at Humboldt State University, and a lecturer in HSU’s Department of Education.

Kenneth Desmond Mosley graduated from Fortuna High School in 1979. Two days after high school graduation, Desmond left for college and subsequently supported himself as an actor, director, playwright, & educator at children's theatres all over the country. Currently Desmond resides in Fortuna and he directs and acts in local community theatre.

Gender & Sexuality

Founders Hall 178

Sunday, Session 11, 1:30pm-3:00pm

Allied Voices for Conservation: Bringing Faith-Based and Scientific Messages to Policy Makers

Many faith-based groups have strong traditions that support conservation. In addition, the scientific community has a great deal of expertise to inform environmental decision-making. When these faith community and scientific voices join together to advocate for strong environmental policies, they can have significant impact. Through this workshop, participants will learn about (1) many, varied faith-based groups that support environmental protections, especially those in the Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical, and Jewish worlds; (2) scientific society efforts for conservation; and (3) models for finding and working with individuals from faith and scientific communities. We also will discuss the most effective ways for individuals from faith, scientific, and environmental groups to join together and communicate with policy makers.

Suellen Lowry, JD works with the National Religious partnership for the Environment and is Director of the California Interfaith Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment. She has worked as a legislative assistant for a member of Congress, lobbyist and PAC director for women’s and environmental public interest groups, private attorney, and teacher in both K-12 and college settings. For the last decade, Ms. Lowry has focused on facilitating communications between policy makers and members of faith-based and scientific groups. Her publications include, Building Partnerships with the Faith Community: A Resource Guide for Environmental Groups. Ms. Lowry received her BA from Washington State University, a JD from Stanford Law School, and a special education credential from HSU.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 108

Burning Man: Youth, Meaning, Culture, Identity

The Burning Man Arts Festival is held each year on a prehistoric lake bed in northern Nevada. It attracts a wide variety of subcultures from across the US and the world. This workshop explores the meaning of Burning Man for its participants and uses the unusual nature of the event as a springboard for discussion about the relations between youth, meaning, culture, and identity in a multicultural world. Workshop leader Matt Wray has published and lectured widely about Burning Man, based on ten years of active participation in the event. There will be a short multimedia presentation.

Matt Wray has been described as “author, scholar, teacher, activist, consummate belcher, madman. Wray is many things to many people.” Wray holds an M.A. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education and a Ph. D. in Ethnic Studies, both from UC Berkeley. In 2000-2001, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Museum of American History, where he conducted research for his forthcoming book, Inventing White Trash. He is co-editor of three anthologies: White Trash: Race and Class in America; Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life; and The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness. He is currently an assistant professor of sociology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has taught in education and ethnic studies at Berkeley and Humboldt State University.

Founders Hall 125

Education and Empathy: I Know Just How You Feel

This session is based on the premise that the best educators are empathetic. Our venture into "empathy training" can be adapted for a broad audience: those who train teachers, K-12 teachers, and parents. After a brief whole-group warm-up, called Reading is Fun!, attendees will participate in three small- and large-group activities, entitled: 1) Follow Directions! 2) Agree to Disagree 3) Jigsaw Mystery. Our goal is to gain insight into the affective domain—how students feel as they struggle to understand us, learn, communicate, and think for themselves. In each segment, together we explore ways we might use these insights to better serve our students.

Diana Ashley, Ph.D. is a former elementary school teacher for twelve years, a K-6; instructor and student-teaching supervisor in Elementary Education at CSU Northridge and Channel Islands; an educational technologist who has designed multimedia labs in Brazil and a mobile marine science exhibit for Los Angeles Museum of Natural History.

Founders Hall 178

Evolving Beyond Democracy: Working with Consensus

The ways in which democracy and voting are conceptualized today, up to 49% of the people lose every time. Consensus is a way of discussing issues and arriving at decisions where every voice is heard and every concern is taken into account. Come and learn the basics of consensus, why it may ultimately be more efficient than voting and why consensus may just be the next evolutionary leap beyond democracy.

Fhyre Phoenix is a long-time community activist and proponent of consensus. He was trained by Caroline Estes, a life-long Quaker and consensus facilitator for groups as large as 500. Fhyre has taught consensus to individuals, activist affinity groups, and the boards of directors of non-profit organizations.

Organizing for Change

Reinvigorating Democracy

Founders Hall 203

Incorporating Environmental Education into the Classroom

This session will introduce teachers to the concepts, values, and issues surrounding appropriate technology, renewable energy, and ecological sustainability. We will explore practical means of incorporating environmental education for sustainability into the classroom. Teachers will take part in a hands-on activity and will be provided with resources for further exploration of these topics.

Nadia Raza is a graduate student in sociology at Humboldt State University and employee of CCAT, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology.Morgan King is a graduate student in the Environment and Community Program at Humboldt State University and a CCAT employee .

Alternative and Environmental Education

Founders Hall 204

Planning and Facilitating Purposeful Meetings

Whether one is a community organizer, schoolteacher, businessperson, or professor working in higher education, almost all of us attend countless meetings on a regular basis. Why do so many of these meetings leave us feeling frustrated and drained? What can we do—as meeting leaders and participants—to create meetings that feel purposeful, energizing, and humane? This workshop will provide helpful information to participants about ways to organize effective meetings and will leave plenty of time for questions and ideas from participants.

Eric Rofes is a long-time community organizer, founding member of the North Coast Community Organizing Center, and an Assistant Professor of Education at Humboldt State University. He is eager to participate in purposeful meetings that are run effectively and more-than-eager to avoid all the others.

Organizing for Change

Teaching in Higher Education

Founders Hall 181

River School Parents and Students: What They Have Learned and Experienced at the River School

Peter Senge said that schools should be learning communities where everyone learns—staff, parents, and students. The River School takes this position that teachers and parents modeling what we want our students to learn is the most powerful way to teach lifelong learning about knowledge of the world and knowledge about the self. Parents are a critical part of the teaching team because their attitudes and beliefs impact their child's worldview and self-view considerably. River School parents and students will share their experiences of learning and growing at the River School.

The following River School Families will be presenting their learning experiences while participating in the school:  Gene, Melva, Tesla, and Anna Jarschke; Burke, Rose, and Bryn Owens; John and Althea Kent; Doug, Lauran, and Morgan Hawker.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Charter Schools

Founders Hall 111

Serving and Learning

Just what does it take to succeed in service? This workshop will provide answers and useful discussion to help participants get creative and encourage productive juices to flow. The workshop will focus on recognizing key traits of leaders, decision-makers, and people who can better the world. It will also focus on ways to apply those important skills to service learning and create fun, helpful, and successful projects!

Shanti Sattler is a senior at Eureka High School and the service-learning ambassador for the school. She is also one of the 25 nationwide members of the National Youth Advisory Council of Service Learning, representing Youth Service America. Shanti has taken leadership roles in many service projects that have focused on many different issues such as violence prevention, park restoration, diversity and racial discrimination, cancer funding, international poverty, and more.

Service Learning

Founders Hall 179

Teaching to Revive democracy & Resist Corporate Rule

In an era when corporations act as governing bodies, more powerfully than even governments, how can we teach to resist corporate rule and create authentic democracy? The global justice movement has captured the attention of a new generation of active young people in the US and people's struggles worldwide. But this workshop is definitely not a typical presentation about "anti-globalization!" We will begin by uncovering the history of the modern corporation and its rise to power as the dominant institution of the US and the world. Recently there has been an effort to uncover misrepresented and underrepresented histories (those of people of color, women, working people) through education. The struggle against corporate power and for democracy also tells a rich and revealing story of U.S. history that is little known but has equally enormous ramifications for democratic struggle today. Emphasis will be on preparing participants to teach this history and we will offer access to tools and materials that can be used in your classroom.

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap is Co-Director of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County and a member of the National Leadership Team for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom's Campaign to Challenge Corporate Power and Assert the People's Rights. She studied education and community at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from '98-'01 and is currently a student at the New College of California where she is pursuing a degree in the democratic arts.

Ryan Emenaker is Co-Chair of the City of Arcata Committee on Democracy and Corporations. He is a graduate student in the Environment and Community Program at Humboldt State University. His thesis is a corporate history of Humboldt County.

Reinvigorating Democracy

Organizing for Change

Founders Hall 177

Toward More Life-Like Learning

Tired of the didactic, decontextualized, knowledge-transmission model of instruction? No matter your subject area or grade level, consider this workshop. You bring the tired content, yearning to breathe free. The facilitator will help you resuscitate it. You may emerge with your own life-like learning plan ready to use.

Mark Keegan has been a medical researcher, disease-control fieldworker, high school teacher (for 15 years), book author, filmmaker, and instructor at Columbia University. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at California State University, Chico.

Alternative and Environmental Education

Teaching in Higher Education

Nelson Hall East / Goodwin Forum

Vamos a Nicaragua: A Journey into Cross-Cultural Service Learning

This interactive session will present students' cross-cultural service learning experiences in Arcata’s Sister City, Camoapa Nicaragua.  Participants will engage in a cross-cultural communication activity, view slides from the July

2002 trip, and hear students reflect on their learning.

Nora Wynne is a local high school Spanish teacher who loves to travel and is  determined to take students out of the classroom. She has volunteered for the ArcataSister City Project for the past five years and has been a member of two brigades to Camoapa, Nicaragua. She served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala from 1995-1998. 

Since Lara Weiss hosted an exchange student in high school she has continued to participate in cross-cultural education.  Lara came to Humboldt County after serving in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. For the past five years she has volunteered for Arcata’s Sister City Project and worked in HIV prevention education for Humboldt County Public Health.

Service Learning

Multicultural Education

Founders Hall 163

Write to Read in K-1: A Systematic, Balanced, Developmentally Appropriate Way to “Correct” Writing from the Start

We don’t have to give up creativity, joy, or developmental appropriateness in K-1 to teach all of our young learners to learn to read joyfully. Children learn to use systematic phonics, correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and clear and legible printing right from their first efforts. Because the learning is differentiated through six stages of writing, children of all levels of “readiness” and all kinds of language backgrounds love it. Students write their own 10-page books, which they add to their home libraries, so their writing experiences help them learn to read as well.

Laura Rose taught 25 years in K-8, three years as a teacher-trainer at Humboldt County Office of Education, and ten years teaching student teachers at HSU. She has published seven teaching manuals in the language arts and presented at many state conferences.

Founders Hall 128