Need A Speaker To Talk About Kids?
Two years in a row, Spokane’s only conference on adolescent health drew hundreds of professionals from throughout the Inland Northwest and Canada. But now, coordinators of “Healthy Youth: Creating Our Future” will bolster other professional events instead of hosting a third conference.
“We have a large speakers bureau,” says Lyndia Vold. She’s the public health supervisor for the Spokane County Health District and headed the conference planning committee. Vold says that both Healthy Youth conferences were successful, “but now we’re going to try to network with existing workshops.”
In October of 1994 and 1995, the two-day conferences offered updated skills and training for social workers, teachers, counselors, church leaders, police officers and health care professionals working to address the issues facing today’s young people, including suicide, violence, drugs and alcohol, sex, self-esteem and learning disabilities.
“I went two years in a row and thought they were very valuable,” says Lisa Mattson, a counselor at Shadle Park and Rogers high schools. Mattson sponsors diversity groups and works with at-risk populations at both schools. She also facilitated a workshop at the 1995 Healthy Youth conference.
Bob Cameron, a counselor at Lakeside High School, says the most valuable part of the conference for him was the inclusion of kids in each training session, reducing the amount of professional jargon. “After a while, we get locked into thinking we know what’s going on with kids,” he says. “But unless we ask each individual one, we don’t really know.”
If you’re a professional working with adolescents and would like a speaker or training assistance at an upcoming event, call Lyndia Vold at 324-1528.
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