FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: May 22, 2003

Contact: Allan Cook, 206-7007

Conference addressing barriers to learning to be held at UIS

SPRINGFIELD – The Teacher Education program at the University of Illinois at Springfield will present “Increase Your ISAT Scores by Addressing Student Barriers to Learning,” a one-day conference to be held June 25 on the UIS campus.

The program will feature a series of workshops on topics such as “Gangs, Violence, and Crime”; “Mental Health Barriers Affecting Students’ Behavior”; “Peace Begins at Home”; and “Who Helps the Helpers?” Kim Armstrong, executive assistant to the president for intercultural and community affairs at Blackhawk College, will deliver the keynote address. Other speakers will include UIS faculty members Carol Rankin, assistant professor of Human Services, and Kyle Weir, assistant professor of Human Development Counseling.

Dr. Armstrong holds a degree in physiological/neuropsychology with an emphasis in child development from Howard University and has done postdoctoral training in neuroscience at the Beckman Institute for the Advancement of Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Registration is required and must be received no later than June 18. Cost is $15 for full-time students and $45 for all others. Teachers can earn CPDU credit for an additional $15.

For more information and registration materials, go to the conference website at www.uis.edu/teachereducation/conference/ or call 325-3639 or 206-7007.

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