Keynote Speaker Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

“Positive Words, Powerful Results” - Simple Ways to Honor, Affirm, and Celebrate Life

Dr. Hal Urban, Speaker and Author

Lives can be changed through the power of words.  They can hurt, they can heal.  They can discourage, they can encourage.  They can tear down, they can build up. They can express complaints, they can express thanks.  They can make people cry, they can make people laugh.  This uplifting presentation, based on the title of Hal Urban's book of the same title, has two goals:  (1) to remind you of the awesome power your words can have and (2) to encourage you to choose words that honor, affirm, and celebrate life.

Hal Urban grew up in northern California before attending the University of San Francisco, where he earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s in History, a California Teaching Credential, and a Doctorate in Education.

He taught full time at San Carlos High School for 16 years and at Woodside High School for 19 years.  He also taught part time at USF for 36 years.

He won several awards for teaching excellence at both high schools and at the university. The Center for Character Education selected him as National Teacher of the Year in 1999, and in 2005 the Character Education Partnership presented him with the Sanford N. McDonnell Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hal is the author of five books, including best-sellers Life’s Greatest Lessons and Positive Words, Powerful Results.  His newest book (2008), Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do, is quickly becoming a favorite among teachers.

Dr. Urban has been speaking since 1995.  He has made more than 1000 presentations in 40 states and in 5 foreign countries.

 

Brunch Speaker Friday, Feb. 26, 2010

“How to Listen to Children”

Trevor Romain, Speaker, Children’s Author / Illustrator and Children’s Advocate, Austin, TX

South African born Trevor Romain is the creative mind and spirit of The Trevor Romain Company, a supplemental educational publishing company based in Austin, Texas.  The company was established in part based on Trevor’s work as a children’s author and illustrator.  Trevor has taken what he has learned over the past two decades from speaking to tens of thousands of children and creates and inspires all of the company’s products to promote social, emotional, and health fitness for students. Trevor is the author and illustrator of over 30 books, including the international best seller, Under the Big Sky.

Trevor’s unique personality and perspective allow him to be the compelling voice so needed among educators to inspire teaching students with a focus that speaks to their academic needs in English language arts as well as students’ social, emotional, and physical fitness needs with humor and honesty.  Trevor has long differentiated himself as a one-of-a-kind speaker, children’s author/illustrator and children’s advocate by speaking to students in their own language, and now the materials and products are also recognized for that same differentiating factor.  

Trevor is known for his work in the local and national community as a board member of the National Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation and a collaborator with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Miracle Foundation, and Any Baby Can.  Trevor has delivered hundreds of talks to thousands of students around the world and has delivered many keynote speeches to teachers and counselors all across the United States. Trevor has completed several tours with the USO and the Department of Defense, speaking to students and their parents on military bases and military schools around the world.  Trevor has traveled with The United Nations, to work with children in refugee camps in war torn parts of Africa. Additionally, Trevor works with hospitalized children who are diagnosed with cancer. It is through these experiences that has taught Trevor Romain how to truly listen to children.  It is these experiences on which Trevor has developed keen strategies in how to reach students who cannot or will not communicate their needs and emotional scars to those who can help.  The United Nations also has enlisted Trevor’s help in developing educational materials for children living in armed conflict areas.

Trevor will share his strategies with counselors in order to enhance and enrich their skills and abilities to learn what students are expressing from what the students are actually openly communicating, whether verbally, through behavior or drawings, and more importantly to learn about students’ issues from what students are NOT saying.   Trevor will teach counselors how to use that information to assist students grapple with a plethora of issues from bullying, general anxiety, to divorce, and grief.