Workshop Session I --- 9:30 am - 11:00 am

Presenters: Janet Nucci, Manager, Elementary Programs, Saint Vincent College Prevention Projects, Latrobe, PA
Dr. Rebecca Costello, Director of Pupil Services, Hempfield Area School District, Hempfield, PA
Carolyn Falcone, Student Assistance Consultant, Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems, Media, PA
Dr. Steven Howser, Elementary Principal, Elizabethtown Area School District, Elizabethtown, PA
Marian Lorence, Assistant Manager/Bullying Prevention Services, Family-Child Resources, York, PA
Gail Viscome, Coordinator, Communities That Care, Elizabethtown, PA
Rosemary Aldinger, Assistant Principal, Spring Grove Area Middle School, Spring Grove, PA

This workshop will present a panel of school and community based professionals who are working on starting, implementing, and sustaining bullying prevention programs in public schools. The panel will address questions of “How?” and “Why?” their programs are effective, surveying both successes and challenges. Audience participants will have the opportunity to have their questions answered.

Working with At-Risk Youth (repeated in Session II)
Instructor: Ruth Fisher, Counselor/Pennsylvania Service Learning Alliance, Hempfield High School, Landisville, PA

This session will provide participants with an overview of the many challenges faced by youth today, and will offer school-based strategies for working with youth at-risk to build upon their strengths. Participants will examine the bias within each of us, as well as, the bias that exists in the educational setting. Strategies for dealing with at-risk and culturally different students will be discussed as a group. Brief discussions will include setting up alternative education programs and addressing the needs of at-risk youth across the curriculum.

Peer Mediation: Planning, Implementation and Sustainability
Instructors: Chris Porter, Program Director, The Peace Center, Langhorne, PA
Christa Tinari, Peace Educator, The Peace Center, Langhorne, PA
Karen Arner, School Counselor, Morrisville School District

We have noticed that too many Peer Mediation programs start off successfully and then fizzle out. Don’t let barriers to success sabotage your school’s Peer Mediation program! Join this workshop if you are familiar with Peer Mediation programming, but want to learn how to make your school’s program thrive. This workshop will cover what it takes to successfully implement and run a Peer Mediation program, from pre-program preparation to tips for ensuring a vibrant program in the long-run.

SPIRIT Program: Success Stories
Instructors: Michelle Gwinn, Special Investigator, PA Office of Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Section, Harrisburg, PA
Vermont McKinney, Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region III Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice, Philadelphia, PA

This workshop will give participants a brief overview of the United State’s Department of Justice SPIRIT (Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together) program. We will then present data collected from school’s who have already participated in SPIRIT relative to the successes and challenges of each school. A panel of school administrators will provide first-hand feedback about the program to participants. Finally, participants will be given ideas, information and resources to compliment SPIRIT or other diversity programs.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning Youth (GLBTQ) Student Panel and Information
Instructor: Carol Reisinger, Executive Director, Common Roads, Harrisburg, PA

This workshop is designed for SAP Coordinators, Mental Health Workers, Drug and Alcohol Counselors, Social Workers and School Psychologists. The participants will learn first hand from gay and lesbian youth what it is like to be in school and to be harassed and treated as if they are second class. Parents will tell of the trauma that the entire family undergoes when the student comes out. The youth and parents will address specific issues and provide specific recommendations to those who impact the youth.

The Be Safe and Sound Initiative
Instructor: Meghan Sharp, Program Manager, National Crime Prevention Council, Washington, DC

This workshop will examine the key components of Be Safe and Sound, an initiative of the National Crime Prevention Council that provides parents, schools, and communities with a process for working together to assess the school environment and develop a plan to make it safer and more secure.

The Reclaiming Environment: A Key to Academic Achievement
Instructor: Jeff McCombie, Pupil Personnel Director, Dubois Area Schools, DuBois, PA

Participants will be lead in examining their own core values as well as the core values of the school/district. Participants will have the opportunity to identify building level as well as classroom level strategies that support a reclaiming environment.

Pennsylvania Achievement Gap Effort-PAGE 1 (repeated in Session II)
Presenter: Ed Vollbrecht, Director of PAGE 1, PA Department of Education, Harrisburg, PA
Thomas Kopetskie, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, Stroudsburg Area School District, Stroudsburg, PA
Paul Daniels, Principal, Sheridan Elementary School, Williamsport Area School District, Williamsport, PA
Ray Scarpantonio, Principal, Stroudsburg Intermediate Elementary School, Stroudsburg Area School District, Stroudsburg, PA
Jackie Walsh, Director of Curriculum Services, Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, Easton, PA
Mary Beth Bianco, Director of Educational Planning,  Intermediate Unit 17, Williamsport, PA
Linda Warren, Executive Policy Specialist, PDE, Harrisburg, PA  

The presenters will describe a new three-year effort by the State Board of Education and the Department of Education to eliminate the achievement gap among all groups and sub-groups in Pennsylvania schools - Pennsylvania Achievement Gap Effort (PAGE 1). An achievement gap exists when groups of students with relatively equal ability fail to achieve at the same levels in schools. Some examples of where gaps exist are: among boys and girls, disabled and non-disabled, students of color and white students, and students of poverty and those above the poverty level.

Representatives of some of the 16 pilot schools will describe programs that are designed to improve teacher quality, align curriculum, extend instruction to adjust for the individual learning rates among students and ways of creating a belief system that “all students can learn.”

Crisis Response and County Coordination of Emergency Planning / Procedures (repeated in Session III)
Presenter: Kathy Monko, ARIN Intermediate Unit 28, Indiana, PA
Randy Brozenick, EMA Director, Emergency Management Agency, Kittanning, PA
William Hamilton, EMS/Safety Coordinator, Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, Kittanning, PA
Danny Sacco, Director of Safety and Security, Indiana Regional Medical Center, Indiana, PA

The panel will discuss the incident command system and the benefits associated with using this common language.  Attendees will be given a brief history of ARIN IU 28’s School Safety Committee and the role of the committee in the adoption of the Incident Command system amongst all school districts in Indiana and Armstrong County as a procedure for their school safety plans.  

Understanding School-based Policing & the School Resource Officer Program (all day)
Instructors: Don Bridges, Baltimore County Police
Joe Goralczyk, Baltimore County Police

This is a full-day workshop designed to give the attendee a better working knowledge of the unique partnership between school administration and staff and local law enforcement. Attendees will review and contrast the many types of school-based police programs across the nation, and will learn ways to develop successful strategies for keeping school(s) safe within their neighborhoods, through the SRO Concept.

Workshop Session II --- 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Effective Dropout and Truancy Prevention Strategies
Instructors: Broderick Hauser, Dropout Prevention Specialist, Big Beaver Falls Area School District, Beaver Falls, PA
Jaime Houston, Supervisor, Multi-Systemic Therapy, Hempfield Behavioral Health, Harrisburg, PA
Karen Kessen, Assistant Administrator, Dauphin County Children and Youth Services, Harrisburg, PA
Aimee Myers, Therapist, Multi-Systemic Therapy, Hempfield Behavioral Health, Harrisburg, PA
Peter Vriens, Administrator, Adams County Children and Youth Services,
Gettysburg, PA

This panel presentation will provide participants with specific tools to utilize in the prevention of school dropout and student truancy. Several programs will be highlighted which focus on outreach to truant students, and their families, which is necessary to successfully address the issues which prevent students from attending school regularly and achieving academic success. The models presented will include cross-system efforts involving school districts, the judicial system and human service agencies in the provision of comprehensive services to overcome attendance barriers. Information about specific strategies will be shared.

Working with At-Risk Youth (repeated from Session I)

Elementary Student Assistance from a State and Local Perspective
Instructors: Marlene Kanuck, SDFSC Program Advisor/SAP Regional Coordinator, PA Department of Education, Harrisburg, PA
Rose Shultz, CASSP Coordinator, Dauphin County, Harrisburg, PA
Alfredo Gonzalez, Middletown School District, Middletown, PA
Lisa Sviben Miller, Elementary Student Assistance Task Force, Hershey, PA
Barbara Baeckert, Guidance Counselor, Upper Dauphin Area Elementary School, Lykens, PA
Bob Wilson, Elementary Student Assistance Task Force, Newtown, PA

In May 2003, an Elementary SAP Task Force was organized with stakeholders from both the local and state levels. During the last year and a half, the task force has worked to update the Basic Education Circular, develop new K-12 SAP Guidelines for schools, and develop an ESAP Model. In addition, the Task Force conducted a needs assessment that surveyed stakeholders in ESAP throughout the state as to the needs that exist for districts to successfully implement ESAP. All of these documents have been submitted and approved by the Commonwealth SAP Interagency Committee (Departments of Education, Health, and Public Welfare) for final approval. The timeline for the release of these ESAP documents is anticipated to be spring 2005. An update by the state ESAP Task Force will be presented to the participants followed by a panel discussion by three local ESAP teams on implementation issues. The three districts will present three perspectives including rural (Upper Dauphin SD), suburban (Derry Township SD) and urban schools. (Middletown SD).

Responding to School Violence in Pennsylvania (double session II & III)
Instructor: Gary Hutchinson, Director, Lycoming County Department of Public Safety, Williamsport, PA

The presentation will review information from the US Secret Service involving school shooters and the preparation needed by the school district and teachers to respond to these incidents. This highly interactive workshop will discuss the shooting incident at the Bishop Neumann High School, in Williamsport, PA, the first incident in the United States involving a female shooter. This scenario is reviewed in detail, outlining school violence issues, public safety and school incident management.

Preventing School Violence through an Integrated Civics Curriculum (double session II & III)
Instructors: Myron Yoder, Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Allentown School District, Allentown, PA
Melissa Bell, Allentown School District School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program Site Co-Coordinator, We the People, Coopersburg, PA

Participants to this workshop session will learn about the School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program that is administered by the Center for Civic Education. This program is a Civics based curricular program that not only becomes curriculum for the social studies portion of a student’s day but also has strong integrated connections for Reading, Writing and Math and thereby supports PSSA and local testing in those areas. The program elements are designed to build effective citizenship in students and thus reduce violent behavior over time. Sample curricular materials will be provided and interdisciplinary connections will be explored.

District Cyber Security (double session II & III)
Instructor: Chris Seiberling, Project Manager, Mass Networks Education Partnership, Inc., Boston, MA

When a student posts a suicide threat on an internet blog, do you face a safety concern or a security breach? Or both? Will you know how to respond? Will your technology infrastructure, IT organization, district policies, and computer users all contribute to diagnosing the problem and planning the cure? This workshop provides a framework for managing real-life dangers and opportunities in the digital world right now—and for anticipating next year’s challenges as well.

Helping Students to Understand School Violence Through Drama
Instructors: Marianne T. Bartley, Ed.D, Superintendent of Lebanon School District, Lebanon, PA
Bradley Hawkins, Humanities Teacher/Director, Lebanon School District, Lebanon, PA
Student Cast of Bang, Bang You’re Dead

This workshop will focus on why the Lebanon School District chose to present the play "Bang, Bang You're Dead" in their district. Participants will view a video, have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues relevant to the production of the play with the director, cast, and school district administrators.

Pennsylvania Achievement Gap Effort -PAGE 1 (repeated from Session I)

Promoting Excellence & Equity for English Language Learners
Instructor: Maria del Rosario Charo Basterra, Director, Language Minority, Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, Chevy Chase, MD

This interactive workshop will provide practitioners with knowledge about the legal responsibilities of education agencies serving language minority students, effective techniques to teach English language learners and strategies to promote parental involvement of linguistically and culturally diverse parents. In addition, the presenter will discuss effective classroom practices that focus on a supportive school-wide climate.

National Assoc. of SRO’s (continued - all day workshop)

Workshop Session III --- 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Pennsylvania: Leading the Way in Youth Suicide Prevention

Presenter: Ross Szabo, Director of Youth Outreach, National Mental Health Awareness Campaign, Los Angeles, CA
Margaret Innes, MSS, MLSP, Region 1 Coordinator, PA Network for Student Assistance Services, Kimberton, PA
Michael Ogden, Director of Marketing and New Business Development, Eagleville Hospital, Eagleville, PA

Ross Szabo will address the topic of preventative mental health wellness as integral to any efforts to address youth suicide. We will briefly look at current and past statistics on youth suicides in Pennsylvania and nationally. The presentation will review the Suicide Prevention Plan and the Action Steps that are being taken by the Commonwealth to reduce and prevent suicides. Highlights will be given of community and school prevention efforts across Pennsylvania. A panel will highlight how communities have addressed this issue. Participants will be given resources and information on effective suicide prevention programs and current research.

Initiation Rites and Hazing in American Schools
Instructor: Shelia Murphy, Assistant Principal, Neshaminy High School, Langhorne, PA

A historical review of initiation rites and hazing in all cultures will be given. Current literature and statistics reported from two major studies will be reviewed. The reasons why hazing occurs, consequences of this behavior, prevention methods, and ways to promote positive initiation rites will be explored.

A Civil Rights Perspective: The Impact of Changing Demographics on Schools
Instructor: Ann Van Dyke, Investigator and Trainer, PA Human Relations Commission, Education/Community Services Division, Harrisburg, PA

This workshop will provide an overview of education civil rights law, a discussion of the changing demographic picture and its impact on school districts in Pennsylvania, what we've learned about the participation of youth in hate crimes and in organization hate groups and promising practices for creating safe and respectful environments in increasing diverse schools.

Responding to School Violence in Pennsylvania (double session II & III)

Civics Curriculum to Prevent School Violence (double session II & III)

District Cyber Security (double session II & III)

Community and Student Services
Instructors: Carmen Medina, Chief, Division of Student Services and Migrant Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Community and Student Services, Harrisburg, PA
Dorothy Hershey, Supervisor, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Community and Student Services, Harrisburg, PA
Amy Brendlinger, Basic Education Advisor, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Community and Student Services, Harrisburg, PA

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Community and Student Services offers a wide array of programs and services to support children’s academic success and help families deal with barriers to that success. This presentation will focus on ways your school community can reduce the rates of violence and create a positive school culture that supports academic success as well as a safe teaching and learning environment. Presenters will highlight tools and resources to develop successful programs focused on Dropout, Truancy, and Bullying Prevention, the Pennsylvania Homeless Children’s Initiative, Mentoring, Service Learning, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Migrant Education.

Internet Safety
Instructors: Michael Bookser, Chief, Bellevue Borough Police Department,
Pittsburgh, PA
Rodney Manning, Commander of the Community and Special Services Section, Bureau of Training and Education at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy, Hershey, PA
Mary Dolan, Safe Schools Coordinator, Center for Schools and Communities, Camp Hill, PA

This session will provide information on Pennsylvania’s “Protecting Kids Online” Internet safety initiative. An overview will be given of the 3 levels of presentations designed for parents and students. Participants will learn how they can bring this program to their school or community at no cost, through local law enforcement officers who have received training.

Crisis Response and County Coordination of Emergency Planning/Procedures (repeated from Session I)

National Assoc. of SRO’s (continued - all day workshop)