5th Annual Horace Mann Upstanders Children’s Literature Conference
Breakout Group Descriptions
1. “Writing With Children”,
Presented by Sam Swope
Sam Swope, award winning author and Dean of New York Public Library’s Cullman
Center Institute for Teachers, will receive the Horace Mann Upstanders Lifetime
Achievement Award for his book “Araboolies of Liberty Street”. The story, about a
group of kids who join forces when a neighbor orders a family to move because they
look different has been the inspiration for school districts that have hosted districtwide Araboolie Days, has been preformed as a musical to rave reviews and has been
featured on public radio’s All Things Considered. Sam credits his students with
inspiring his own creativity and giving his life meaning. His workshop will cover
teaching children to write original, powerful, wacky and sad stories and poems.
2. “Connecting Generations Through Children’s Literature”,
Presented by Amy Strand
Amy is the 2012 Horace Mann Upstanders Children’s Literature Conference Chair. A
child and parent educator as well as a former corporate vice president she will have
on display a collection of her mother’s childhood books from the 1930’s, and will
discuss the legacy of sharing these books with successive generations. During the
workshop participants will explore their own experiences and discuss the value of
cross-generational reading, and related social justice issues. Participants will
receive information as well as a lesson plan to engage children in reading books
from past generations. Both her mother, retired, and her daughter, an educator and
AULA alumnus, will be present at the workshop.
3. “Teaching Children To Appreciate What They Have”,
Presented by Gladys Barbieri
Gladys Elizabeth Barbieri, author and Gold Medal Winner of the Spanish Language
Book Award 2011 for “Rubber Shoes, A Lesson In Gratitude” is a first grade teacher at
Felton Elementary School in the Lennox School District. She received her B.A. in
Communications from the University of San Francisco and her M.A. in Elementary
Education from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Her parents immigrated
to the US, her father from Nicaragua and her mother from El Salvador. Gladys’s
workshop will include information about the balancing act a child learns in becoming
bicultural and bilingual, the importance of literacy in the development of an individual's
success, and writing a bilingual English-Spanish story.
4. “Stranger than Fiction: Exploring ghetto cowboys, street-wise
chess masters, drug-running surfers and baby gangsters”,
Presented by Greg Neri
Greg Neri, is the award winning author of “Ghetto Cowboy” and two other middlegrade books “Yummy” and “Chess Rumble” as well as the young adult novel “Surf
Mules”. In addition, he is a storyteller, filmmaker, artist and digital media producer.
While teaching animation and storytelling to inner city teens in Los Angles he helped
produce over 300 films dealing with issues of teen violence, gangs and drugs. Greg
will discuss writing “provocative, edgy stories for reluctant readers, especially urban
boys, in hopes that these kinds of books—immediate, compelling and told through the
eyes of young males—will open minds to reading.”
5. “Creating A Student Centered Book Award Group”,
Presented by Jennifer Rossano & Sandi Crozier
Jennifer Rossano, Wildwood School head librarian and Sandi Crozier, Wildwood head
teacher grade 5 will lead a workshop on “The Wildwood Medal”. Wildwood School is
a nationally acclaimed independent day school founded on a progressive researchbased approach emphasizing academic excellence and teaching children how to learnto adapt, collaborate and gain perspective. The Wildwood Medal is an award given
each year to a book that displays life skills, literary merit, and appeal to diverse
readers. The award program is designed for students by students. Jennifer and Sandi
will explain how to create an award committee at your school that is student centered
and fun. .
6. “Cowboys of Color”,
Presented by Mayisha Akbar
Mayisha Akbar, Executive Director of the Compton Jr. Posse Youth Equestrian Program
has received a multitude of awards including being inducted into the Cowboys of Color
Hall of Fame, California Legislature Woman of the Year and President Bush’s Point of
Light Award. Mayisha developed The Compton Jr. Posse (CJP) to provide inner-city
youth with year round after school alternatives to the lure of gang and drug lifestyles.
She will show a short film about the equestrian program and explain how CJP has given
inner city kids hope by teaming them with horses. Some of her students will be on hand
to describe how these equestrian activities have helped them to develop responsibility,
discipline and self-esteem, and to set and achieve academic and career goals.