FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 4, 2006

FOR INFORMATION: Cecelia Price, 502/585-3291 (work) 502/891-7239 (pager)

Approximately 750 elementary teachers from Catholic elementary schools will gather on Friday, August 11, to celebrate the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. This event, called “Getting a Grip on Teaching Today: Renewing and Reinventing Ourselves as Teachers,” will take place from 8:00 a.m. to noon at Churchill Downs (4th floor) and will include prayer, a motivational speaker and a presentation from Rebecca Jackson of the WHAS Crusade for Children. An agenda appears below.

Educators will hear a motivational talk from keynote speaker John Findlater.  Findlater is an educational consultant who served as a teacher and administrator in the Archdiocese of Detroit Catholic schools for more than 25 years. One of his most exciting challenges was the establishment and development of an inner-city Catholic school in Detroit called Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Academy.

Rebecca Jackson will present the Crusade’s 2006-2007 grant for special education materials to Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly. The $54,320 grant will be used for Earobics (software that assists primary grade students with reading deficits), classroom sound field systems for high schools, and Crusade for Children library materials.

There are 916 K-8 teachers in 40 Catholic elementary schools serving seven counties of Central Kentucky.

AGENDA

Getting a Grip on Teaching Today:
Renewing and Reinventing Ourselves as Teachers

8:00-8:30 a.m.	Teachers arrive and enjoy continental breakfast
8:30-9:00 a.m.	Welcome (Leisa Speer, Superintendent of Catholic Schools) Opening Remarks (Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly) Presentation of WHAS Crusade for Children Grant Check (Rebecca Jackson to Archbishop Kelly) Opening Prayer (Archbishop Kelly)
9:00-11:50 a.m.	Keynote Presentation by John Findlater
11:50 a.m.-12:00 noon	Closing Prayer (Father Joseph Atcher, Chief Education Officer)