Dear Friends and Colleagues,

 

It gives us great pleasure to invite you to our first conference for teachers, administrators, and parents in the public and private sectors. This conference is sponsored by Journey School, the first public charter school in the Capistrano Unified School District and the fifth in all of Orange County. Journey School offers a creative curriculum by blending the California State Standards with a Waldorf-inspired teaching approach.

 

Inviting the Creative Arts Back Into the Public School Classroom

 

Multiple brain research studies have found that the arts can underlie a quality education. Unfortunately, this understanding is often overlooked in mainstream public education, due to budget cuts and the added focus on testing.  Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers, laments, “What we have lost in the demand for accountability is the rich, well-rounded education that we all want our children to have.” 

 

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Journey School will host a conference that will explore these important issues. Well-known author and speaker Joseph Chilton Pearce, the author of eight books including national bestseller "Magical Child", will be opening the conference with his keynote address entitled,  “Cultivating Creative Minds.” For over thirty years Pearce has written and lectured internationally on the development of intelligence in children. Renowned as a child development specialist, he has been a guest lecturer at most major universities here and overseas. His talk will be followed by an afternoon presentation by educator Patti Connolly entitled “Nurturing Creative Minds in the Classroom.” And, various childhood development experts and teachers will offer innovative ideas and hands-on strategies during morning and afternoon breakout sessions.

 

We are honored to welcome Ms. Caprice Young to this event. Ms. Young is the CEO of the California Charter Schools Association, California's charter school membership and support association, which works to increase student achievement by supporting and expanding California's quality charter public school movement.  Ms. Young, as well as several public and private school representatives, will take part in a late-afternoon panel discussion that will permit direct questions. The panel, entitled “Schooling the Imagination”, will be moderated by Tim Connolly, who has been a private and public school administrator, teacher, mentor and parent.

 

Please review the enclosed materials, and feel free to call 1(877) STIC-220 for more information.

We look forward to seeing you at this exciting event!

 

For more information, click here: http://www.journeyschool.net/stic/flyer.htm

To register, click here: http://www.journeyschool.net/stic/registration.htm