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Enhancing Community Partnerships: Negotiating the Digital Divide at Harrisonburg High School
Course# TD1327
NOTE: You must pre-register for lunch and each concurrent session you plan on attending.
Men of Character is a Harrisonburg High School mentoring program that works to create a community of practice presenting positive male role models to: (a) develop
character and leadership skills, (b) promote healthy lifestyle choices, (c) develop stronger communication, anger management, and conflict resolution skills, and
(d) promote positive relationship building among peers, parents, and community stakeholders
The Negotiating the Digital Divide project offers enormous possibilities and opportunities by providing "at-risk" male Latino students with 21st century technology
skills. The Men of Character participants are encouraged to explore the use of technology as a means of personal and public expression, in terms of validating their
positive choices, and to establish a "Pay It Forward" environment whereby they establish their role in the community to reach out to younger Latino men and encourage
their positive development. The premise of the Pay It Forward concept is that any person can implement their lives at any time by doing a good deed for another person
without any expectation of being paid back.
Session attendees will be presented with data supporting the 'need' for a program like Men of Character at Harrisonburg High School, student created projects,
and an understanding of how the Negotiating the Digital Divide project can be used to provide an authentic 'voice' assisting "at risk" Latino males in
understanding the importance of their personal role in the community. Considering the data regarding the Latino population of Harrisonburg and surrounding areas,
and what is known about the positive impact of technology access and skill, session attendees will leave with a sense of how they can create an immediate
intervention on several levels, whether this be creating a similar program or integrating a technology supported 'pay it forward' project to give Latino youth
an authentic voice in the community.
Presented by George Font, Karen Kellison, Rick Castaneda, Diana Flick
Monday, April 6, 2009
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Conference Room 3, Festival Conference and Student Center
The Training and Development Department supports the Madison mission and assists in job performance improvement by offering learning opportunities that enhance the knowledge, skills and talents of AP Faculty, Classified staff and Wage employees.
