Creating a Positive, Bully-Free School Climate

Creating a Positive, Bully-Free School Climate - A Workshop for Professionals with Dr. Larry Epstein

Friday, March 16, 2012 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Registration - 8:15 a.m.
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Location: SUNY Oneonta - Hunt Union Ballroom, Oneonta, NY

Description: The Southern Tier Special Education Parent Center at Family Resource Network is pleased to offer this workshop featuring Dr. Larry Epstein, renowned bullying prevention trainer. Several national incidents involving bullying have shown the damaging and sometimes fatal effect that bullying can have on students whether they are in elementary, middle or high school. In New York State, bullying in schools is being addressed through the Dignity for All Act (The Dignity Act). The Dignity Act was signed into law on September 13, 2010 and takes effect on July 1, 2012. By participating in this workshop, participants will be better able to define bullying, develop skills to create a bully prevention program and learn how to more effectively intervene to help both the child being bullied as well as the bully.

Objectives:
 Define bullying – including physical, verbal, social and cyber aggression and harassment.
 Discuss the NYS Dignity for All Act and the roles and responsibilities of schools, professionals, parents and the community.
 Help participants design a school-wide program which supports a bully-free school climate where students have safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school functions. This will include information on the Think:Kids' approach, for students who do not respond to universal programming.
 Discuss individualized interventions for the bullied and the bully, including children with special needs.

About Our Speaker
Larry Epstein, Ph.D., is the Director of School-Based Services for Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an Assistant in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH and Clinical Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining the Think:Kids team, Dr. Epstein worked for the Cherry Creek School District in Denver, Colorado for 17 years, during which time he helped develop the district’s intensive treatment program for students with significant behavioral challenges. He is a nationally certified bully prevention trainer and helped found the non-profit organization Creating Caring Communities, where he served as Board President. Dr. Epstein published one of the first research articles demonstrating the effectiveness of the Bully-Proofing Your School program and co-wrote a chapter on sustainability of bullying prevention programs for the 2010 Handbook of Bullying in Schools: An International Perspective. Dr. Epstein also spent several years as a classroom teacher, teaching social-emotional skills to students in a general education setting.

To Register:

$50 per agency/school registering 5 or fewer at the same time
$100 per agency/school registering 6 or more at the same time

Registrations will not be accepted after February 29, 2012
One person from each school/agency
must register attendees at the same time to qualify for
the discounted rate. Please send an email to:
Register@FamilyRN.org and include the names of all
participants as well as your intended method of
payment (Check, Purchase Order)
For more information call FRN @ 607-432-0001

Movement Based Learning

FAMILY RESOURCE NETWORK SPRING CONFERENCE

Movement Based Learning ~ Featuring Cecilia Koester, M.Ed

April 19, 2012
Owego Treadway and Conference Center
110 NY Route 17C
Owego, NY

This experiential Conference will provide an in depth examination of how to use Brain Gym with children and adults, with specific adaptations for those with special needs. Brain Gym is a unique program of physical activities that synchronizes body and mind to enhance learning and achievement for people of all ages and abilities.

Who Should Attend?

Therapists, teachers, caregivers, parents and all those in caring professions will benefit from learning how to use Brain Gym to help individuals improve the following:

Concentration
Organization
Memory
Physical Coordination
Stress Management
Reading
Writing
Vision
Communication
Behavior

Conference material is appropriate for working with individuals with all disabilities, including:

Autism
Down Syndrome
Sensory Disorders
Cerebral Palsy
Attention Deficit Disorder
Learning Disabilities
TBI
Physical Disabilities
and other Complex Developmental Issues

Our Speaker
Cecilia Koester, the founder of Movement Based Learning, is internationally known for her work with children and adults who have special needs. She is both an inviting author and a provocative workshop presenter. In 1998 her book, I Am the Child:Using Brain Gym with Children Who Have Special Needs was published. This book is an inspirational book that offers the reader insights of the kinds of things that can be done with children who have severe physical challenges to improve their quality of life.

Since 1998, Koester has been teaching workshops throughout the USA, Singapore and Malaysia to teachers, counselors, occupational therapists, physical therapists and parents. Koester is also the author of Movement Based Learning for Children of All Abilities, published in 2006. This practical and insightful book offers the developmental building blocks that Koester has gathered over the years to enhance the skills involved in the areas of comprehension, organization, physical mobility, the ability to focus or communicate.

What People are Saying About Movement Based Learning

“Cece models very well how to teach from the heart... You have got to take this course, it will change the way you think, teach and approach learning.”
- Lorraine, Title I Reading Teacher

“The students have already met their winter benchmarks for reading this school year and it’s just early December. The biggest thing that I have added to my teaching strategies is movement-based learning. Anecdotally I can see its tremendous impact.”
– Elementary Teacher, Haverhill, Massachusettes

“After reading Cece’s new book Movement Based Learning for Children of All Abilities (2006) and taking the accompanying course, I feel reborn as a teacher.”
- Elementary School Teacher

Conference Details

April 19, 2012

Owego Treadway and Conference Center
110 NY Route 17c
Owego, NY

Registration: 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Morning Session: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Lunch on your own
Afternoon Session: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Registration

Registration is FREE for Parents, Caregivers and Individuals with Autism.

Cost for Professionals is $40.00.

Register above by clicking on the registration link or to register by phone, call 607-432-0001.