Published December 8, 2016
MONROE, La. — ULM’s School of Education, in partnership with the Children’s Coalition
for Northeast Louisiana, will host the “What Works Conference: Breaking the Cycle,”
at the ULM Student Union Building from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 9.
This year, the conference welcomes as keynote speaker Dr. Kathleen Budge along with
local experts to help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in northeast Louisiana.
Budge is the co-author of the award-winning book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools. She speaks nationally for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
(ASCD) on how schools can work with community partners to break the cycle of intergenerational
poverty.
The conference will cover the adverse effects poverty can have on children’s lives
and learning abilities. “Local folks have to decide: ‘We’re not going to let the noise
detract us, and we are going to move forward with what we can do in our sphere of
influence.’ They will be amazed at what they can do. It often ends up being about
the basic things, such as helping teachers to build relationships with every single
student and their family,” Budge said. “I’m hopeful, but it’s a matter of people deciding
that it is possible.”
“All have a right to quality care and education, but poverty imposes social, cognitive,
health-related, and stress-related challenges on students every day, and all these
factors affect students’ ability to learn.” said Dr. Lynn Clark, Instructor in the
ULM School of Education and Executive Director of the Children’s Coalition.
Conference discounts are available for teachers, students, and Children’s Coalition
members.
In addition to the conference, a meet-and-greet event with Budge takes place on Thursday,
Dec. 8th at Walker Hall 2-101 from 4-5 p.m. The public is invited to attend and light refreshments
will be served.
For more information, contact Arely Castillo at castillo@ulm.edu or 318-816-2278 or The Children’s Coalition at 318-323-8775.
