Schedule

Formal book signing at 4:30 p.m. Speakers will sign books throughout the day as time permits. Service fair will be open throughout the day in the expo hall.


 

Annual Conference on Youth - Past Conferences

2005

Wednesday, October 5, 2005 7:15 a.m – 4:30 p.m.

7:15 a.m – 4:30 p.m.   l   Grand Wayne Convention Center 120 W. Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN

Introduction:

“Great!”
That one word describes Allen County, doesn’t it?
“Great!” describes our children.
“Great!” is the answer to our hopes and aspirations for ALL the children of our community.
“Great!” describes our challenges AND our opportunities.
“Great!” identifies the needs that many of our children face.
Yet, “Great!” defines our resources.
“Great!” is our resolve.
“Great!” therefore celebrates all of you who have been called to serve children and families.
“Great!” answers, challenges, describes, defines, and celebrates.
We recognize that a child’s opportunities are our responsibilities.
Join us at the Annual Conference on Youth as we renew our commitment to help Great KIDS to make Great COMMUNITIES.

— Judge Charles F. Pratt

Understanding and employing the power of relationships is central to building resiliency, resolving conflict, and promoting positive youth development. As this year’s conference will demonstrate, relationship building is the essential component of any plan designed to help families and to protect children. Every serious study underscores that we must work with families. In doing so we must be prepared to truly partner with families to develop appropriate services tailored for their specific needs. Relationship building is at the core of strength based practices. This truth is at risk of being shadowed by emerging efforts to centralize services and to implement “one size fits all” social service plans. We, therefore, are again faced with the responsibility to be a voice for children and families. Thus, this fall we are facing new challenges and with them new opportunities. From the presentations at this conference you will be given the resources to speak as experts on the proper means by which families can be restored and children protected. And from this conference we can collectively demonstrate to the entire state the best practices for positive youth development. Join us on October 5, 2006 as we use the POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS to build a better future for our community. — Judge Charles F. Pratt

Keynotes

D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas, author of The Tiny Warrior: A Path to Personal Discovery & Achievement The Warrior Within

In 1978 the Miami Herald dubbed Victor Rivers “The Longest Long Shot” when he became the first Cuban American to play two seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He defied the odds by playing in the position of offensive guard—a position usually reserved for football players much larger than he was at the time. In 1979, again as a long shot, he went on to Hollywood; attaining starring roles in television, film and on stage. Mr. River’s dramatic personal story also reflects an amazing portrait of a young man overcoming the odds. Cuban born, he came to the US with his family at age two. He endured horrific child abuse and witnessed domestic violence at the hands of his father. Thanks to the intervention of his community, he turned his life around, from gang member to class president. In 1999, Mr. Rivers became spokesman for the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and speaks on the power of communities to intervene and influence the lives of children.

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Robin Karr-Morse, co-author of Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence, is a family therapist Ghost from the Nursery

Author and co-author of more than 20 books on school safety, Mr. Dorn’s expertise in public safety has been utilized by the FBI, US Department of Education, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, US Department of Homeland Security and the Israeli Police. Mr. Dorn is recognized as one of the top school safety experts in the world. Mr. Dorn’s book Weakfish—Bullying Through the Eyes of a Child will set the stage for his keynote address, as he puts a human face on the problem of bullying. He paints a realistic picture of Stephen, a young man working through the turbulent and murky waters of nonacceptance and fighting to survive.

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Jodee Blanco, author of the New York Time best-selling memoir, Please Stop Laughing at Me… and the creator and executive producer of the “It’s NOT Just Joking Around!” a bullying education program. It’s NOT just Joking Around!

Dr. Jones has spent his career studying the management of highly effective parents and teachers. He has spent over three decades training parents, teachers and other youth and family serving professionals to use these skills. Dr. Jones’ keynote will discuss empowering adults through training so that they understand: “Calm is Strength, Upset is Weakness,” “The Body Language of Meaning Business,” “How to Deal with Backtalk,” and “Consistency and How to Achieve it.”

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Hasan Davis, Chairman of Juvenile Justice Advisory Board for the State of Kentucky, Vice-Chair of the Federal Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, a Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Fellow The Person on Top of the Mountain did not Fall There…..

Author and co-author of more than 20 books on school safety, Mr. Dorn’s expertise in public safety has been utilized by the FBI, US Department of Education, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, US Department of Homeland Security and the Israeli Police. Mr. Dorn is recognized as one of the top school safety experts in the world. Mr. Dorn’s book Weakfish—Bullying Through the Eyes of a Child will set the stage for his keynote address, as he puts a human face on the problem of bullying. He paints a realistic picture of Stephen, a young man working through the turbulent and murky waters of nonacceptance and fighting to survive.

Workshops

D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas

Tip of the Spear: Leading Your People to Victory

This workshop uses practical examples and powerful tools for current and emerging leaders in any arena. For people who want to make a difference, understanding leadership skills is critical for success. Traditional Native American wisdom is used to understand the “art of influence” and is used to enable us to embrace and endure any challenges ahead. Explore the six roles of Tip of the Spear leadership: understand the crucial need for self-leadership, how to create a high performance environment, and learn powerful ways to build trust, commitment, and motivation among people. Prepare to lead your people to victory!

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Hasan Davis

Away From No Way

In this interactive workshop Mr. Davis will share and explore strategies for creating an environment for positive youth development. Whether it is a counseling session, a classroom, or youth center, young people need to have a sense of place before they can make any sense of self. With the communication tools provided, you will learn to move away from the NO way attitudes that prevent growth and positive movement for the young people you serve.

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James Vollbracht, Senior trainer for Search Institute, speaker, and author with over 20 years of experience as a trainer for positive youth development.

Introducing Developmental Assets

This workshop introduces the asset building message, inspiring commitment and action towards healthy communities for youth. Youth serving professionals will come to understand how to apply the developmental assets to their own programs and practices. Become engaged with stories and concrete examples of community-based asset building which will help Allen County to continue to build a healthy community for youth.

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Kathy Lynn

‘Twixt Twelve & Twenty’

 

President of Parenting Today Productions Inc., and author of, Who’s In Charge Anyway? This workshop will describe the concerns and problems that adolescents raise within our community. Parents and professionals working with teens can confuse typical adolescent behavior with dysfunction. In this workshop you will learn how the developmental goals of teens differ from younger children, why parents have so much difficulty communicating with their teen, and why teens choose to rebel against their parents. Learn how youth serving agencies can assist parents during this challenging time.

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Deborah Fisher, Author of Just When I Needed You: True Stories of Adults who Made a Difference in the Lives of Young People and Getting to Outcomes with Development Assets: 10 Steps to Measuring Success in Youth Programs and Communities

Getting to Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth Programs and Communities (AM Workshop)

This workshop is an introduction to a new model for meeting widely-accepted accountability criteria that blends and braids Search Institute’s Developmental Asset frame work with proven, well-regarded prevention principals. This new multi-sector tool takes you through the crucial elements of program planning, implementation, and outcome measurement, as well as, how to continuously improve and sustain your work.

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Deborah Fisher

Who Was There For You? The Power of Building Relationships with Youth (PM Workshop)

Research demonstrates that young people develop better when they have a variety of positive relationships with adults. Hear inspiring stories gathered from adults all across the country, about who was there for them when they were growing up. Learn how easy it is to turn the lessons of these stories, and your own, into action in your life and in your community. This workshop will also include research and information on how relationships are keys to building positive, healthy youth.

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Dr. David Walsh, President and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family based in Minneapolis, MN and author of, Why Do They Act That Way?

MediaWise 101

Dr. Walsh presents a workshop that focuses on brain development during adolescence and the impact of media on children. Dr. Walsh’s presentation will provide information on how media influences school performance, literacy, and violence. His presentation is down to earth, understandable, engaging, and laced with warmth and humor.

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Nan Henderson - National and international speaker on resiliency, wellness, and prevention and intervention of youth risk behaviors

Resiliency

At its core, positive youth development depends on caring relationships between adults and children. The latest resiliency research shows how one-on-one relationships with certain qualities are powerful change agents. Participants will learn how to create these “turn around relationships” and will learn strategies to use to begin to immediately build “bounce back kids.”

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Jodee Blanco

Bullying

The author of the New York Times Best-Selling memoir, Please Stop Laughing At Me... presents her workshop, “It’s NOT Just Joking Around!” Topics covered include: Compassionate Discipline Driven by Curiosity™, what to say and what not to say to a bullied child and their family, how bullying has been misdiagnosed by the medical community, and how we as adults can unwittingly sabotage the very children we seek to save.