Senior News January, 2002 Vol. 21. No.  1

 

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

A time of giving-community groups nurture themselves and others: Pacific Union School

Health care: Senator Chesbro holds public forum

Major education summit set for the North Coast

Our community at work

Caregiver Registry: New two-tiered model will make it easier to meet community demand

Del Norte County: Northcoast Writers Group forms after conference

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Major education summit set for the North Coast
by Eric Rofes

A major convergence of policy-makers, educators, activists and teacher-leaders will take place on the North Coast in February. It will tackle a range of cutting-edge issues in the field of education, ranging from high-stakes testing to homophobia in schools, Native American issues in education to media coverage of the war in Afghanistan, school choice and the new high-school exit exam.

The summit may be of great interest to seniors, many of whom have grandchildren and some of whom are raising grandchildren while struggling to address a range of school-related issues that seem dramatically different than when they attended school 50, 60, 70 or more years ago. While some seniors only grudgingly pay taxes that support public schools, many others understand the value of public education in a democracy and the need for all citizens to be informed of policy matters affecting K-12 schools.

Major educational leaders throughout the nation have signed on to present workshops and keynote addresses at the North Coast Education Summit 2002, taking place at Humboldt State University in Arcata Feb. 8-9. The event features more than 100 sessions on issues related to K-12 schools, higher education, parenting and pre-school programs, community organizing and activism and media education. Special outreach is taking place to draw parents, teachers and community members from Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, Mendocino and Humboldt counties to the event.

More than 500 teachers, parents, administrators, students, professors, community organizers, political activists, policy-makers and community members are expected to attend the two-day summit. In addition to dozens of workshops, debates, and panels, the summit will welcome distinguished visitors:

* Marilyn Jachetti Whirry, honored at the White House as 2000 Teacher of the Year;

* Jennifer Obidah, UCLA professor and co-author of For the Kids which explores teaching students of color in urban areas;

* Linda Christensen, a Eureka native and HSU graduate, is currently the K-12 Language Arts Coordinator for the Portland, Oregon, Public Schools, editor of Rethinking Schools, and author of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word; and

* Kirk Read, San Francisco gay activist and author of How I Learned to Snap which documents his experiences as an openly gay teenager in a rural high school.

The summit is sponsored by HSU's Department of Education and the Center for Educational Renewal, along with more than 40 organizations, including local school districts and HSU's MultiCultural Center. Info: HSU's Extended Education office at (707) 826-3731 or e-mail www.humboldt.edu/~cops/nces.htm.

Eric Rofes is an Assistant Professor of Education and program leader of the Elementary Education Program at HSU.