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2019 Schedule
8:30 - 9:00 Registration and Coffee Lobby 9:00 - 9:30 Welcome/ Opening Session Talbot Hall, Luther Bonney 9:40 - 10:40 Breakout Session 1 Classrooms in Luther Bonney Hall See Breakout Session 1 Descriptions and Classroom Assignments 10:50 - 11:50 Breakout Session 2 Classrooms in Luther Bonney Hall See Breakout Session 2 Descriptions and Classroom Assignments 11:50 - 12:20 Lunch Luther Bonney When going to your 3rd session, you may bring drinks and food with you. 12:30 - 1:30 Breakout Session 3 Classrooms in Luther Bonney Hall See Breakout Session 3 Descriptions and Classroom Assignments 1:40 - 2:15 pm Closing and Evaluation Talbot Hall, Luther Bonney Hall Creating a Welcoming and Safe Environment at the Conference
9:40-10:40 Breakout Session 1 What We Say, How We Say it, What We Mean Luther Bonney 402 Presenter: Oronde Cruger Target Audience: Everyone Description: We often think about what is being said, but how often do we think about why and how it is being said? Our choice of words is incredibly powerful and is affected by not only our intention, but also by our underlying emotions and preconceived notions. Learning how to unpack these can be a powerful first step in identifying and addressing community needs relating to a healthier sexual climate. This session will give attendees tools for being more intentional with their language, decoding underlying issues in situations, and beginning to craft action steps to address these within their communities. “No Dis”: How a No Discount Policy Can Create a Welcoming and Safe Community" Luther Bonney 502 Presenter(s): Samantha Prosser & Eliza Ruel Target Audience: High School Description: Come learn about the Upward bound program’s “No Discount” policy. Our program creates an accepting and positive environment by reminding students, friends, and peers to stay positive and not “discount” themselves or each other. Students in our program will give testimonial to how the “no dis” policy has had a positive impact on their lives and taught them about having a growth mindset. Inequality of the Mainstream History Curriculum Luther Bonney 303 Presenter: Nimco Isack, Shukri Aar and May Eltahir Target Audience: Everyone Description: In this presentation, we will be addressing the history curriculum in public schools today and how teaching and introducing the topic has changed over time. As we know today, the curriculum has excluded certain content from students. For this presentation, we want to make people aware and get back to teaching history the way it was meant to be taught- with full truth. We hope to inform and create actions for reform that will diversify the education of our students. This way, both students and educators have the opportunity of comprehending the education system, viewing its flaws, and make improvements. Be Bold: Stand Up to Bullying: Helping to raise awareness on bullying and making a positive impact Luther Bonney 241 Presenter(s): Valerianne Hinkley & Cassidy Starks Target Audience: Everyone Description: In this workshop you will learn ways of turning a negative bullying situation into something positive. We will discuss projects that have been created and used by “Be Bold: Stand Up To Bullying” such as the “locker post-it notes” project, “take what you need positive words tear off poster” project, and “positive words community rock” project. We will review situations you may come across in your school and the community and how you can respond. We will also go over some state and national groups that victims and bullies may reach out to for help. Breaking Down Social Barriers Through Dance: Building Community in Any Classroom Luther Bonney 503 Presenter(s): Susan Potters & Katenia Keller Target Audience: Everyone Description: You don't have to be a dancer to create meaning through movement! ... and creating movement together builds mutual trust. Conceived in 1999, in response to the Columbine HS tragedy, the "Building Community Through the Arts" (BCTA) program has brought group dance creation into non-arts secondary school classrooms throughout Maine. Workshop participants will learn about this evidence-based program that engages all the students in the class, and will experience for themselves step-by-step the way the program builds a sense of community in the classroom through the joyful and challenging work of creating a dance together. The Power of Names: Mastering Unfamiliar Names for More Welcoming, Inclusive Schools Luther Bonney 509 Presenter(s): April Perkins & Amelia Lyons Target Audience: Advisors/Adults Description: A person’s name is an incredibly significant aspect of their identity. When educators and peers of students from diverse backgrounds make an effort to say unfamiliar names correctly, know their meanings, and help others to do the same, it is a simple yet powerful way to promote inclusion and empathy. GLSEN National School Climate Survey Maine State Snapshot: What the Statistics Show About the Experience of LGBTQIS Students in Maine Luther Bonney 208 Presenter: Talya Davis Target Audience: Everyone Description: Every two years, GLSEN researches the current experiences of LGBTQIA students in schools. Come hear the latest update on the climate in Maine schools. 10:50 - 11:50 Breakout Session 2 Learning to Disagree: Creating An Inclusive School Community Luther Bonney 303 Presenter(s): Roots and Wings: Tabitha May-Tolub & Karin Firoza Target Audience: Advisors/Adults Description: We are living in an increasingly polarized world, both in the political sphere and in our communities. We are also living in a rapidly diversifying world. How can we equip our youth with the skills they need to navigate this new world? In this workshop, we will have an action-oriented discussion about the challenges you are facing at your school. We will also share how to engage diversity in your school, including the Teen Speak Out program, and cultivate leadership skills in students that will empower them to have difficult conversations about identity and politics. Race and Voice: Student Perspectives and Courageous Conversation Luther Bonney 241 Presenter(s): Mena Elthair, Victoria Coulibaly, Balqies Mohammed Target Audience: Everyone Description: During our presentation, we will discuss importance of implementing discussions on controversial topics in classrooms and the benefits that come with these discussions. The Power of Stories in Breaking Down the Walls of Stigma Luther Bonney 403 Presenter: Saras Yerlig, Sarah Lynch, and PIER Participants Target Audience: Everyone Description: Engagement is the strengths-based process through which individuals with mental health conditions form a healing connection with people that support their recovery and wellness within the context of family, culture and community. Stories by young people and peer support are the most powerful means of helping young people feel less isolated and more hopeful about treatment. Our Peer Support Specialist at PIER and some young participants in our program will tell their stories of changes they noticed in themselves, how they accessed help, and what has been most/least helpful on their journey toward wellness. How to Be a Strong Diversity Ally Luther Bonney 503 Presenter: Susanne G MacArthur and GLSEN Youth Leaders Target Audience: Everyone Description: No matter what school policies may exist on paper, anti-diversity language and behaviors do not disappear without using strong student voices to stand up to and speak out about biased-based slurs and actions. This workshop, designed by youth who are leaders in their schools, will address how to become better allies to all types of diverse populations based on their experiences being involved in LGBTQ youth-led clubs. There will be many audience participation activities and a chance to create action plans for taking back to the participants’ schools. REALationships and REALity: The reality of romantic/dating/intimate relationships in high school today and the culture that surrounds them. Luther Bonney 509 Presenter: Eliza Hazen Target Audience: High School Description: This will be an interactive discussion of the reality of romantic/dating/intimate relationships in high school today. The landscape of relationships has changed vastly over the last generation. The culture, both in school and society at large has changed too. We will explore these relationships and this culture, how culture can promote healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships, and how to bolster the good and address the harmful. As this session will focus on various types of relationships as well as school culture, this will be a space for all identities including aromantic and asexual participants. 12:30 - 1:30 Breakout Session 3 Empowerment Self Defense: using voice and body for safety Luther Bonney 208 Presenter: Bianca Pastrana Target Audience: Everyone Description: ESD helps participants recognize and respond to situations early to prevent escalation, interrupt and de-escalate approaches and respond physically when needed. Empowerment Self Defense works to prevent, interrupt and respond to violence by raising awareness and offering verbal and physical skills and tools for healing among people most targeted for violence including LGBTQ+ people, women, POC and people with disabilities. Our work is highly interactive using scenarios created by the participants and is trauma informed. We present our 10-hour ESD curriculum in schools and colleges. Queering Sex Ed: The Urgency and Obligation of Delivering Inclusive Education Luther Bonney 302 Presenter: Olivia Friday Loneman Target Audience: Advisors/Adults Description: This workshop will examine the evolution of queer sexuality education and celebrate the educators who advocate for its inclusion and lead the way in dismantling and re-centering sexuality education to include and affirm all students. Attendees will leave the workshop with new skills and tools to better serve LGBTQ+ youth. We will look at ways sex education has failed folks in the past and explore and share ways to integrate queer sex education into our existing work as educators. Inclusion Across Language Differences: A Foreign Language Simulation Called “Redundancia” Luther Bonney 326 Presenter: Liz Greason Target Audience: Everyone Description: Words have power, as we know. But what happens when there is a language barrier? How we handle that barrier can either help us to create connection with or disconnection from the person whose language is different from our own. In this session, you will take part in an experiential activity that replicates communicating in a non-native language--you will experience the challenges and triumphs. From that, we will glean best practices for creating connection across language differences. This skill can be essential in supporting newly arrived refugees and immigrants, who may be learning English, feel welcome and included in the fabric of your school. Inclusive Sexual Assault Survivor Support and Prevention Luther Bonney 410 Presenter: Katie Kondrat & Katie MacDonald: Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault Target Audience: Everyone Description: This workshop will be about inclusive sexual assault prevention education and support for LGBTQ+ youth survivors of sexual violence. The presenters will share data about prevalence of sexual violence among LGBTQ+ youth in Maine, resources for LGBTQ+ survivors, and considerations for your violence prevention curriculum. Come be part of a discussion about how focusing on the needs of LGBTQ+ youth supports all youth. Step In, Speak Out: Talking Back to Violence Luther Bonney 303 Presenter(s): Guys and Pies Target Audience: Everyone Description: "You throw like a girl." "That's so gay." "What a slut." Not only do these commonly-used phrases cause individual harm, they also affect society as a whole, creating an environment where more violence can flourish. In this session, we will practice supporting a person who has been targeted by these phrases, as well as holding the person using these phrases accountable. Cultural Assimilation Luther Bonney 509 Presenter(s): Ilunga Mutombo Target Audience: Everyone Description: Culture Shock - Multiculturalism & Cultural Inclusion - Struggling with assimilation - Tools to work on assimiliation Presenter Biographies Prevention.Action.Change works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through safety strategies, verbal and physical skills, increased confidence and awareness, and the promotion of healing and growth. Prevention. Action. Change. participants come away with new verbal and physical self defense skills, new perspectives on relationships and violence, tools and tips for increasing safety, and greater clarity about setting limits and expressing needs. www.PACMaine.com GLSEN Southern Maine is the local chapter of GLSEN, the leading national education organization creating safe and inclusive K-12 schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression. The Young Adult Abuse Prevention Program (YAAPP) is the prevention team at Through These Doors. YAAPP was established in 1995 to prevent future domestic violence. YAAPP delivers education, services, and advocacy that enable youth to make choices within their dating relationships that are safe, healthy, and informed. YAAPP’s offerings are free to all schools and organizations in Cumberland County, Maine. Victoria Coulibaly, Mena Elthair, and Balqies Mohammed are all freshman attending Deering High School, all of whom have great passions in community organizing and leading powerful, courageous conversations. Their presentation is based on sessions they attended last year this same conference. They used major takeaways from each presentation to form one of their own and present it to various audiences. All of these students have a strong belief in student voice, especially from marginalized and historically underrepresented students. Based on the famous quote, Roots & Wings is a firm that provides training and consultation for students, teachers, and administrators in the areas of leadership, communication and identity development. We believe there are two things that we all need in order to become leaders: Roots (identity and confidence in knowing who we are and where we come from) and Wings (the skills necessary to navigate and create positive change in this global world). Guys and Pies is an educational group for sophomore & junior guys at South Portland High, facilitated once weekly by educators from the Young Adult Abuse Prevention Program (YAAPP). The goal of G&P is to inspire awareness and critical thinking around the issues of relationships, masculinity, reducing sexism, and reducing violence-especially men’s violence against women. The ultimate goal of the group is to foster the development of active bystanders who strengthen their communities. The Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE), a statewide non-profit since 1980, promotes education in and through the arts not only to increase student learning, but also to foster collaborative experiences for Maine students. Besides its "Building Community Through the Arts" program, which integrates dance and theater into non-arts classrooms to generate a positive social climate in Maine secondary schools, MAAE is this year also piloting a classroom teacher-based arts integration model at the Eastport Elementary School in Washington County. Oronde Cruger, Program Manager, has had been involved with Speak About It since 2009. Speak About It offers programs related to consent education and sexual assault prevention and seeks to recognize and affirm the many healthy choices one can make for their intimate life. Programs include educational theater, dynamic dialogues, interactive workshops, and more. Valerianne Hinkley is a junior at Mt Blue High School where she is an athlete, scholar and member of the National Honors Society. She is a recipient of the Freedoms Foundation’s 2018 George Washington Honor Medal. In 2017, Valerianne created Be Bold Stand Up To Bullying with a goal to help raise awareness of the effects bullying has and how to make a difference while overcoming it herself. She is also the Miss Teen Maine International 2018. Shukri Aar is a high school senior at Deering. She participates in Maine Youth Action Network and OPEN where she advocates for social justice, racial equity, and leadership development. She enjoys chocolate and shows/movies when she decides to treat herself. May Eltahir is also a high school senior at Deering. She leads Black Student Union and participated in Portland Empowered's Teach Portland program. She loves Netflix and Hulu marathons when she is not working or working on homework. Nimco Isack is a high school senior at Deering. She leads Black Student Union, along with May Eltahir, in addition to working, being a part of Seeds of Peace, and Portland Empowered's Youth Lead Organizers. She enjoys self-educating when she can and working as a barista. Sam Prosser and Eliza Ruel are advisors in the TRIO Upward Bound Program which works with high school students who are the first generation in their families to go to college. Upward Bound assists students with navigating the college application process, preparing for the SAT, completing admissions paperwork, comparing financial aid awards, writing letters of recommendation, and other needs as they arise. Maine Parent Federation is a statewide non-profit, grant funded organization, which has been around since 1984 and provides resources, referrals, and direct peer to peer assistance to families of youth with special healthcare needs. All of our programs are free of charge to families and there is no qualifying circumstances in order to receive our assistance. www.mpf.org Ilunga Mutombo has been a school counselor at Auburn Middle School for 3 year and has worked in education for 6+ years for 5 different school districts. I grew up in Africa (Congo - DRC), moved to America (Maine) when I was 9 years old, and I grew up in a household which valued education. As a young kid I had to learn how to assimilate in the new American culture. I struggled to respect my own culture while trying to learn the new culture. Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants is a women owned business based in Portland, Maine, with years of experience helping schools, businesses, and non-profits develop interculturally, and bridge across many types of difference. We are qualified administrators of the #1 tool for quantifying and developing intercultural competency: The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) which school leaders and teachers in Maine are using to create inclusive, welcoming schools. We are passionate and engaging facilitators that use interactive, experiential methods to meet groups where they are and build on their strengths so they can achieve their inclusivity goals. Olivia Friday Loneman (she/her/hers) is the Prevention and Training Coordinator at New Beginnings in Lewiston, Maine, an agency which provides housing and services to out-of-home youth and families in crisis. At New Beginnings she heads HIV Prevention Education and works directly with youth using a risk reduction model of education, as well as working with trainers, educators and other youth-serving professionals to provide the most up-to-date comprehensive and accurate sexuality and HIV prevention education. Prior to her work at New Beginnings, she was working as a reproductive health and sexuality educator and counselor in Philadelphia, PA. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in Women and Gender Studies, and received a Master of Human Sexuality Education from Widener University in Chester, PA, in 2016. She is passionate about sexual and reproductive health, youth agency and empowerment and believes with the right tools, we all have the ability to be our own best advocate. Amelia Lyons is the Consultant for Highly Mobile and Migratory Students at the Maine Department of Education. Her professional experience includes migrant education, career counseling, collaborating across cultures, and providing meaningful educational services to students of all ages and their families. She has been working with the DOE since 2018. April Perkins is the Director of ESOL/Bilingual Programs & Title III at the Maine Department of Education. She holds an MA in TESOL and has taught English and trained teachers in a variety of settings around the world, primarily in North Africa. The Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault work includes a range of programming and partnerships to bring the voices of Maine’s sexual assault support centers and the victims/survivors they serve to statewide and national sexual violence prevention and response efforts. Katie MacDonald is MECASA’s Prevention Coordinator. Her work is focused on providing training and support to prevention educators at all of Maine’s sexual assault support centers. This includes supporting the development and implementation of prevention programming and evaluation across the state, facilitating bi-annual prevention affinity meetings, and creating round ups of relevant tools and trainings. Katie Kondrat is MECASA's Equity and Access Coordinator and works with culturally and community-specific providers and sexual assault support centers to create accessible and equitable services for all survivors. She looks for opportunities to create community-led sexual violence partnerships and services . Cassidy Starks is a sophomore at Mt Blue High School where she is on the varsity cheerleading team and an advocate for standing up against bullying as a survivor. Portland Identification and Early Referral Program, Maine Medical Center: The PIER Program is an early intervention program for young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis (changes in perceptions and thoughts that interfere with functioning). We have a unique approach to engaging young people in treatment including peers, education and employment support, and family involvement. Breakout Sessions Locations Session 1 (9:40 AM - 10:40 AM) Title Target Audience Location What We Say, How We Say it, What We Mean Everyone LUTH402 “No Dis”: How a No Discount Policy Can Create a Welcoming and Safe Community" High School LUTH502 Inequality of the Mainstream History Curriculum Everyone LUTH303 Be Bold: Stand Up to Bullying: Helping to raise awareness on bullying and making a positive impact Everyone LUTH241 Breaking Down Social Barriers Through Dance: Building Community in Any Classroom Everyone LUTH503 The Power of Names: Mastering Unfamiliar Names for More Welcoming, Inclusive Schools Adults/Advisors LUTH509 GLSEN National School Climate Survey Maine State Snapshot: What the Statistics Show About the Experience of LGBTQIS Students in Maine Everyone LUTH208 Session 2 (10:50 AM - 11:50 AM) Title Target Audience Location Learning to Disagree: Creating An Inclusive School Community Advisors/Adults LUTH303 Race and Voice: Student Perspectives and Courageous Conversation Everyone LUTH241 The Power of Stories in Breaking Down the Walls of Stigma Everyone LUTH403 How to Be a Strong Diversity Ally Everyone LUTH503 REALationships and REALity: The reality of romantic/dating/intimate relationships in high school today and the culture that surrounds them. High School LUTH509 Session 3 (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) Title Target Audience location Empowerment Self Defense: using voice and body for safety Everyone LUTH208 Queering Sex Ed: The Urgency and Obligation of Delivering Inclusive Education Advisors/Adults LUTH302 Inclusion Across Language Differences: A Foreign Language Simulation Called “Redundancia” Everyone LUTH326 Inclusive Sexual Assault Survivor Support and Prevention Everyone LUTH410 Step In, Speak Out: Talking Back to Violence Everyone LUTH303 |