Georgia Southern University hosts the 27th Annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference

March 4, 2016

The 27th Annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference, hosted by Georgia Southern University’s College of Education and the Division of Continuing Education, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Savannah March 6-9.

The conference, featuring three keynote speakers and 120 training sessions during the four days, aims to help professionals create safe, healthy, caring and intellectually empowering educational environments for children and adolescents, in line with the conference theme, “Helping Adults Serve Youth.”

New to the 2016 conference, sponsored by Gulfstream, 10 scholarships have been offered to new teachers within the Chatham County school system to attend for free. Teachers selected for this award were those who have no more than two years of experience in the classroom.

Sunday’s keynote speaker, Reggie “Showtime” Jones, founder of Showtime for Stars, will also be traveling to Savannah area schools Monday, March 7, to discuss his experiences with students and teachers and to explain how every student should be considered a star.

Monday’s keynote address will be given by Donna Beegle, Ed.D, a national poverty expert and president of Communication Across Barriers, from Tigard, Ohio. She will share an action approach to educating youth in poverty.

Wednesday’s keynote speaker is LaMarr Shields, Ph.D., executive change agent and CEO of Cambio Group in Baltimore, Maryland. Shields will lecture on “Engage Me or Enrage Me: Saving Our Black and Brown Boys from Academic and Social Suicide.”

Other professional learning opportunities at the conference include a poverty simulation session, a viewing of “Live Young Blood,” a documentary film about youth violence in Baltimore directed by Bobby Marvin Holmes, and a Tuesday evening poster reception with more than 70 authors from across the nation.

Registration for the National Youth-At-Risk Conference is available online atwww.nationalyouthatrisk.org. Interested participants can choose to register for the full conference, one day only (Monday or Tuesday) or half day only (Wednesday).

For more information about the upcoming conference, contact Georgia Southern University Division of Continuing Education at nyarconference@georgiasouthern.edu or call 912-478-5551.

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers 125 degree programs serving nearly 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement.  Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered approach to education.GeorgiaSouthern.edu.