Georgia Southern University Hosting 20th Annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference March 1-4

Georgia Southern University will host the 20th annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference March 1-4 in Savannah. The four-day conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel has grown from humble beginnings in 1989 to the leading conference nationwide for professionals who deal with troubled youngsters. About 1,200 people are expected to attend the conference this year. Hosted by the University’s College of Education, the conference draws Southeastern educators, counselors, social workers, criminal justice professionals and community leaders, along with substantial participation from throughout the nation and internationally. Last year’s Youth-At-Risk Conference attracted participants from 36 U.S. states and a dozen other countries. The conference offers more than a hundred presentations on how to help young people overcome at-risk conditions that may threaten their safety, health, emotional needs or academic achievement. The workshops provide proactive solutions and best practices on a wide range of subjects, including:

• Meeting the challenge of rural education.
• Cyber bullying: Bullying in the digital age.
• The ‘protected school”: A comprehensive approach to violence and substance abuse prevention.
• East coast gangs: Identifying and dealing with gang members.
• Single-sex classrooms: Can it make a difference in male achievement?
• Wiping out obesity: Strategies for schools and communities.
• Military children: Helping youth cope through each stage of deployment.
• Tiger’s action plan from the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Highlighting the guest speakers for this year’s conference are recipients of two prestigious awards: Georgia Southern alumna Molly Howard, the 2008 National Principal of the Year, and Michael Geisen, the 2008 National Teacher of the Year. Guest speakers also include author and consultant Robert Barr discussing the ‘seeds of hope” and attorney and author Crystal Kuykendall addressing how to bring out the best in at-risk youth. For more information about the National Youth-At-Risk Conference, contact Georgia Southern University’s Continuing Education Center at 912-478-5551 or visit www.nationalyouthatrisk.com. Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers 116 degree programs serving nearly 18,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.– See more at: http://ww2.georgiasouthern.edu/news/pressrelease.php?id=1774#sthash.j2cGBJoP.dpuf