NASHVILLE — Promoting civic education in Tennessee schools is the goal of a one-day conference for educators, parents, youth organization staff and students that will be held May 7 in Nashville.
The conference, from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library, is being presented by the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, along with its partners in the Tennessee Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools — the Tennessee Bar Association Legal Education Foundation, Tennessee Association of Middle Schools, Tennessee Education Association and the Center for Civic Education.
Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, an advocate of civic education, will address the group. Other special guests will include Justice Connie Clark of the Tennessee Supreme Court; Ellen Thornton of the Tennessee Business Roundtable; Susan Bunch, assistant commissioner of teaching and learning for the Tennessee Department of Education; and Jeri Thomson, former secretary of the U.S. Senate.
Members of the recently appointed Tennessee Civic Education Commission also will attend the conference. The group is chaired by state Sen. Rosalind Kurita, and members are Brenda Ables, state Department of Education; Ernie Bentley Jr., Tennessee Principals Association; Jennifer Cole, Cole Community Concepts; Nissa Dahlin-Brown, Baker Center; Tommy Everette, state Association of Secondary School Principals; William Haltom Jr., Tennessee Bar Association; Carol Hidalgo, Matco Tools; Alphonso Mance, Tennessee Education Association; Rebecca Verner, state Council on Social Studies; Gerald Reed, Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office; state Sen. Jamie Woodson, and state Reps. Leslie Winningham and Gerald McCormick.
Student groups from Richard Hardy Memorial School and Doe Elementary School will participate, as will representatives from at least 17 organizations that offer programs on civic education and/or service learning. These groups will present their ideas during the conference.
For more information on the conference and the Baker Center, see http://bakercenter.utk.edu/Events/7may2007.htm.
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Contacts:
Nissa Dahlin-Brown, (865) 974-0931, Nissa@utk.edu
Amy Blakely, (865) 974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu
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