“Hope and Solutions” for Youth Violence

Local and national experts will be coming together in Portland to present a one-day conference designed to help educators, counselors, parents and others identify and prevent youth violence.

“Violence, Children and the Community: Hope and Solutions” will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland. An editor of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on youth violence, Delbert Elliot, will give the keynote address. Elliot is director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.

Organizers have scheduled a student panel, to be moderated by Stephen Wessler of USM’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Hate Violence. Wessler also will lead a workshop on how to confront bias, prejudice and harassment. Earlier in the day, SHOTT (Students Helping Others Through Theater) will give a presentation.

Another feature is a panel discussion on youth violence with Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, Bonny Eagle High School Principal Sheila Jepson and Peter Donnelly, associate director of clinical services at Spurwink. Irwin Gratz, local host of Morning Edition on Maine Public Radio, will serve as moderator.

The sponsor is the Institute for Students with Special Needs, a collaborative venture of The Spurwink Institute and the University of Southern Maine’s College of Education and Human Development. The institute was established to offer training and consultation services to educators and parents who work with special needs students in public schools.
The Spurwink Institute is a nonprofit organization which offers training and educational programs, technical assistance and research to support The Spurwink School. The school provides services to children and adults with emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders, as well as to other public and private organizations.

For more information, and to register, please contact The Spurwink Institute at 871-1204.