May 15, 2001 Vol.XV No.5 
 

SUMMER CONFERENCE PLANNING

 

    The Association Program Committee, comprised of Ted Grocki(Rensselaer), Ron Friedman(Long Beach) and Peter Nowyj (Fulton) have begun final planning for the Summer Conference in Cooperstown. The conference is scheduled for August 12^th and 13^th, Sunday and Monday, and will be held again at the Otesaga Hotel, which is situated at the foot of picturesque and historic (The Deerslayer) Otsego Lake. The theme of the conference is Distance Learning and how the new technologies can be used to address the problems currently facing our schools. Alltel, a telecommunications company serving central New York among other regions, will assist the Association in developing a “hands on” program to demonstrate the various technologies and techniques which can deliver high quality, interactive educational programming to virtually any place in the state. This programming can be used to address any number of problems, including teacher shortages in critical disciplines, the need to provide specialized instruction on a cost effective basis and  home schooling.

    Additional presentations will focus on the Virtual School and legal questions raised by the use of this technology. Among the speakers at the Cooperstown will be the well known author of ” Lost Boys”, James Garbarino, Professor at Cornell University. Professor Garbarino is also the author of “Parents Under Siege,” which chronicles the tragic shooting at Littleton, Colorado and which has not as yet reached the bookstands. Copies of both will be on hand at the conference. Also planned is the appearance at the Sunday night reception of a student musical group from Newburgh CSD. They will be the guests of the Association during the day on Sunday and will then join us for the reception and dinner.

    Conference registrations went out last week and should be returned as soon a possible. The Otesaga is a popular summer venue and our experience from last year is that rooms are sold  quickly. The Association has reserved additional rooms this year but we anticipate them to be taken by mid June. We look forward to seeing many of the districts there again. Please contact Nancy DePaulo at 518-462-5300, 518-436-0210(fax) or nd@degraff-foy.com with any questions.