08/06/2010
Two topics of major concern to school administrators — classroom discipline and bullying — will be discussed by three panels of educational leaders on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the 2010 Francis J. Cheney Educational Issues Conference on the SUNY Cortland campus.
Presented by the College’s Educational Leadership Department, this year’s conference, titled “A Seminar on Proactive Discipline: Implementing Strategies to Address Administrative Challenges,” will run from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. in Sperry Center.
Although 80 area school administrators and students enrolled in SUNY Cortland’s Educational Leadership Department have registered to attend, more are still being accepted. The conference, which includes lunch and refreshments, is sponsored by the Francis J. Cheney Conference Fund and the Cortland College Foundation. To register or for more information, contact the Educational Leadership Department by calling (607) 753-2444 or e-mailing janice.eaton@cortland.edu.
Named after Francis J. Cheney, who was the Cortland Normal School principal from 1891 until his death in 1912, the educational conference was conceived and co-sponsored by Cheney’s granddaughter, Louise M. Conley of Princeton, N.J.
The formerly biennial conference became annual last year, said Kevin Mack, who chairs the College’s Educational Leadership Department. He works with an 11-member advisory board composed of regional school administrators to organize the annual summer daylong conference and fall and spring semester breakfast meetings.
Mack views the upcoming conference as an opportunity for constructive collaboration.
“The conference’s mission is to create a learning community for educational leaders that enhances and supports the success of all students and stakeholders through ongoing professional development, refinement of leadership skills and networking,” he observed.
Following registration and refreshments from 8-8:30 a.m., Mack will open the conference.
A series of learning sessions will follow at 9 a.m., 10:25 a.m. and 1 p.m., with three different participant groups — educators at elementary schools, middle schools and high schools — meeting concurrently during each session. The arrangement is designed to encourage the free exchange of ideas in a small group setting.
One panel will address the topic of “Bullying: What Works and What Doesn’t?” Presenters will include Scott Budelmann, an attorney who directs labor relations for the Madison-Oneida Board of Cooperative Educational Services; and Ralph Hesse, a retired psychologist who works with CNY Development Services and serves as an adjunct instructor in psychology at SUNY Cortland and TC3.
A second panel will explore the subject of “Coordinated, Consistent and Creative Discipline: What Works When You Have Exhausted Everything Else?” The speakers include Gary Astles, a retired middle school principal from the Trumansburg (N.Y.) Central School District; Maria Smith, an elementary principal at Adirondack Central School District in Booneville, N.Y.; and Susan Vickers, an assistant high school principal at Cazenovia (N.Y.) Central School District.
The third panel will discuss “Communications With Parents/Guardians: How Do We Talk Discipline?” The panel will include Chantal Bailey, assistant middle school/high school principal in the Fabius-Pompey (N.Y.) Central School District; Denise Cook, an elementary school principal in the Deposit (N.Y.) Central School District; and John Durkee, high school principal at Marcellus (N.Y.) Central School District.
The conference will conclude at 2:15 p.m. with evaluations.