WHAT: Salem State University will host the 19th annual Youth at Risk Conference (YAR), which will include two keynote speakers, Sixto Cancel and Pamela Garramone. The conference will be comprised of workshops including; Cancel’s Think of Us Demo; Student Athletes and Mental Health: Recognizing Concerns and Utilizing Best Practices; and Marijuana and the Developing Brain. The conference includes breakfast, lunch and a musical performance by the Andover Show Choir. Keynote addresses are open to media. Members of the general public wishing to attend can purchase tickets on Friday between 8-9 am at the Gassett Fitness Center.
WHEN: Friday, May 31, 2019
Sixto Cancel, morning keynote: 9:15 am – 10:15 am
Keynote: “Using Tech and Data to Rethink Permanency”
Pamela Garramone, afternoon key note: 1:15 pm – 2:05 pm
“Seven Ways to Feel Happier, Instantly!”
WHERE: 225 Canal St
O’Keefe Center Complex
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WHO: Sixto Cancel: Named one of Forbes Top 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs in 2019, Cancel’s lived experience in foster care fuels his passion for shifting system policy and practice through the use of technology and data. As CEO of Think of Us, Cancel co-led design and execution of the first ever White House Foster Care and Technology Hackathon, which resulted in new federal regulations, new funding for tech in foster care, six additional hackathons, local technology initiatives, and helped shift the national conversation about foster care and tech. Cancel has served as a young fellow at Jim Casey Youth Opportunities since 2010, where has worked on youth engagement, asset development, and permanency. Visit thinkof-us.org
Pamela Garramone, MEd: Pam Garramore teaches Positive Psychology – the Science of Happiness – to middle and high school students, teachers and corporate employees. She is a Positive Psychology Life Coach and Founder of the happiness incubator . She’s been awarded the MSSAA Gerald H. Silverman Award and the MIAA Welness Partner of the Year Award. It was when Garramone realized she wasn’t all that happy, she decided to study how to be happier with former Harvard University Professor Tal Ben-Shahar. She now practices and teaches happiness habits on pamgarramone.com.
About the Youth at Risk Conference:
The Essex County Community Foundation established the YAR conference in 2000 as a response to the need for increased collaboration and coordination among the many providers of services to at-risk youth in and around Essex County. As of 2015, Salem State has taken over the program and pledges to carry on the YAR mission of trainings and outreach. The conference remains an amazing opportunity to tap the wealth of expertise in Essex County on the topic of youth at risk. It continues to be a one-of-a-kind and most anticipated annual event.
The annual Youth at Risk (YAR) conference is the region’s only annual all-day conference for professionals who work with at-risk youth. The conference is geared toward individuals working with and caring for youth in a variety of settings—family, community, school, religious, healthcare, human service, recreational and legal. Attendees include social workers, psychologists, youth counselors, family therapists, educators, school adjustment counselors, guidance counselors, community and public health workers, program managers, agency and organization CEO's, police officers, juvenile court personnel, lawyers and volunteers.
For more information please contact yar@salemstate.edu or 978-542-2085.