UMF teaching conference slated

FARMINGTON -— University of Maine at Farmington will present its second annual “Teaching and Working in a Diverse World” conference -—exploring the impact of poverty on schools, families and communities. This informative, half-day conference is free and open to the public and will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 22, in North Dining Hall A, B and C; and room CR123 in the UMF Olsen Student Center.

The conference will open with a keynote address by Dr. Elyse Pratt-Ronco, an educational counselor for the UMF Upward Bound program. An educator who has spent the last 10 years working with adolescents living in rural poverty, Pratt-Ronco will speak on how poverty impacts students’ lives. Her presentation will consider the complex effects of poverty and how it can result in both negative and nurturing outcomes.

Following the introductory address, there will be a series of 50-minute sessions presented by faculty, students and community members on the challenges of living and learning with poverty. Included among the topics to be discussed are: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Poverty in Maine,” “Myths and Realities of Financial Poverty,” “Do Rural Children Have a Culture?” and “Leveling the Playing Field in Technology.”

In keeping with the conference’s goal of making a difference to children living in poverty, a food drive to support the Farmington and Wilton food pantries will be held the day of the conference. Attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, especially dried pasta and canned baked beans, to the conference registration table in the UMF Olsen Student.

Participants are welcome to attend one or multiple sessions and registration is not required. For more details on the conference, visit http://teachereducation.umf. maine.edu/diversity-conference/2009-2010/.