Conferences

The 3rd Annual Sources of Urban Educational Excellence Conference: Research to Practice
On April 26, 2008, undergraduate and graduate students from Georgia State’s College of Education will present their research and findings on topics pertaining to urban education during the Crim center’s 3rd Annual Sources of Urban Educational Excellence Research Conference. The purpose of the conference is to highlight the work and research of students participating in the college's urban education program and to create a forum for dialogue amongst all stakeholders who work with our urban children and communities. These programs include the Urban Teacher Leaders (UTL) master's program, the Preparing Urban Leaders in Special Education (PULSE) program, Urban Research Fellows (URF) and the Georgia Teacher Alternative Preparation Program (GTAPP). The Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence also invited special guest lecturer, Ms. Gloria Merriex, an award-winning math teacher from Florida, to speak on adopting culturally-relevant practices for instruction in urban classrooms. The conference will be held in the College of Education building.

On Friday, April 25th, 2008, forty exceptional students will arrive in the city of Atlanta to showcase the amazing outcomes of teaching innovation and passion. These students attend Duval Fine Arts Academy located in Greensville, Florida. Of Duval Elementary’s students, 87% are African American with 95.7% of the students classified as economically disadvantaged. Their phenomenal teacher is Ms. Merriex!

Gloria Merriex is a fifth grade teacher that has taught for 25 years at Duval Fine Arts Academy. Ms. Merriex is an example of one teacher in one classroom demonstrating effective but unique techniques. Ms. Merriex provides examples of teaching excellence. This phenomenal fifth-grade teacher has created an award-winning music program “Rapping with Math” in order to reinforce student skills with enjoyable movement and chanting, resulting in an increase in her students’ FCAT math scores. She has successfully set an example for the adoption of culturally-relevant practices to teaching and serving her students. Incorporated in the musical approaches that she has created are references to math terms, fractions, percentages, Roman numerals, measurements, formulas, etc. Shortly after developing this innovative program, she was named Alachua County, Florida’s “Teacher of the Year”.

She says that, “After many years of teaching I have discovered that learning requires active involvement for young children. My search for innovative ways to engage students in academic activities to enrich their learning experience never ends…You’ve got to fit the needs of the child. If one way doesn’t work, you have to find something else. Some [teachers] might push some students in the corner, but not in my class.”

Come join Georgia State University, student researchers from the College of Education, Ms. Merriex, and her students on April 26, 2008 for an enlightening and educational conference that you will not want to miss!

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, please call (404) 413-8070 or visit http://education.gsu.edu. For driving directions, visit www2.gsu.edu/~wwwstc.

Power of the Word Conference
In addition to the Crim Center’s presentation at three major conferences on the value of collaboration and community partnerships in Tampa, Florida and Honolulu, Hawaii, the Center co-sponsored the Power of the Word Conference: Ancient African Literacy Traditions exhibiting ancient Malaysian transcripts. This conference focused on highlighting traditional excellence in education and excellent teachers in the field of urban education that have made efforts toward the promotion of literacy in urban students. Participants in this conference included students and speakers from Morehouse Medical School, the Oakland Public Schools in California, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University. This conference also negotiated credits for participating faculty from some of the universities for staff development and continuing education credits.

The 19th Annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture Series
On Thursday, November 1, 2007, the Alonzo A. Crim Center and the College of Education at Georgia State University hosted the 19th annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture/ COE Speaker’s Series featuring Dr. Mark Alexander. Dr. Alexander is an epidemiologist and co-chair of the 100 Black Men of America National Health and Wellness committee. He is also the director of Youth Movement, a 100 Black Men of the Bay Area initiative that works to improve the health and fitness of at-risk children through physical activity and mentoring.

“Obesity and high blood pressure affect children’s attitudes, their attention span, their ability to concentrate and their test scores. By not investing in the fitness of children, teachers and communities are shooting themselves in the foot.”

These words of wisdom came from Dr. Mark Alexander, the co-chair of the 100 Black Men of America’s National Health and Wellness Committee and featured speaker of the Crim Center’s 19th Annual Benjamin E. Mays lecture, held on November 1, 2007, at Georgia State University. Dr. Alexander gave an attention-grabbing lecture titled “Health, Fitness, Education and Community: A Comprehensive Look at the Development of Black Children.” Lecturing across the nation, Alexander hopes to help convince communities to make sincere efforts towards improving the health of the 25 million children who are either overweight or at-risk for obesity. He pays special attention to urban neighborhoods where fast-food chains run rampant. Thank you Dr. Alexander for your inspiring words!