|
|
|
|
Searching for a Better Understanding of Mentally-Disordered Perpetrators of Violent Crime |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two New Computer Labs in McCormack Hall: Students Networked for Success |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urban Scholars Plant Seeds of Success |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the end, the conference room at the John Hancock Conference Center looked as if a bunch of teenagers had just left&emdash;as in fact they had. But these were no ordinary teenagers: they were participants in the Urban Scholars Twelfth Annual Student Conference. Called "Planting the Seeds for Our Future," it included 14 workshops on very diverse topics that all touched on central themes of teamwork, self-motivation, and education. These are key ingredients the students will use to build their future.
CPCS faculty member Kelly Matthews, co-facilitator for the conference (along with Urban Scholars Director Adeline Mirabal), has great enthusiasm for the program. She has seen it work, both as a teacher in the Boston public school system and now as an advisor. Matthews says the program "makes a strong commitment to kids" and that approximately 90% of Urban Scholars students go on to college. By organizing a conference on their own, the students learn to take on more responsibility.
This year's conference was planned by sixteen Urban Scholars students who served on various development committees. Program Committee member Andria Ramkissoon noted that the workshop topics were chosen according to what the committee members thought would hold greatest interest for the participating students. And they had their interest held, by workshops on theater, HIV awareness, teen empowerment, and dispute resolution, to name only a few topics.
Jeremiah E. Burke 10th grader Otto James McGee, who is also in the Admission Guaranteed Program at UMass Boston, answered with a definitive "yes" when asked if the conference had motivated him. He said the conference will help him "make the right choices" for his future and gave him access to resources that will help him plan ahead.
Keynote speaker Pamela Trefler, executive director of the Trefler Foundation, stressed that the "most important thing education can give you is choice." She praised the Urban Scholars Program as "one of the best programs in Boston and that I've seen in the country," she said. The lessons learned at this conference will certainly echo into the future.