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2008 NASP Convention Keynotes

Yearbook 2006: A Web-Based Documentary About the Displaced Senior Class of 2006

Sponsored by Sopris West Educational Services, a Cambium Learning Company

1:00–3:00 p.m., Thursday, February 7

Josh Goldblum, Principal and Creative Director, and Joshua Cogan, Art Director, bluecadet Interactive, Washington, DC; Jordan Bridges, Benjamin Franklin High School Graduate, New Orleans, LA

Schools play a vital role in the recovery of children and families in the aftermath of crisis, providing a sense of community and the opportunity for healing. Slowly, re-opened schools became beacons of hope in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Benjamin Franklin High School, a magnet public charter school, was one of the first.

Creators Joshua Cogan and Josh Goldblum narrate a guided journey of Yearbook 2006, an interactive narrative project that followed Benjamin Franklin’s senior class, one of New Orleans only returning senior classes in the aftermath of the storm. By giving a human scope to the event, the project shows how the trauma of Katrina affected students and how they were able to heal. In the process of creating this Webbased documentary, Cogan and Goldblum received an intimate understanding of how students from varied walks of life respond differently to disaster events. They share these lessons using photo and video collected in the weeks and months following the storm and leading up to graduation. Project participant Jordon Bridges shares his experience of evacuating to Virginia and then returning to New Orleans to finish his senior year.

View the project at www.y06.org.

Josh Goldblum is the founding principal and lead designer for bluecadet Interactive (www.bluecadet.com). Josh has produced a wide range of websites including a number of corporate sites, fully administrable e-commerce sites, videorich CD-ROMs and educational games. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including Communications Arts and People magazine, and has won several prestigious awards, including Best Education Site at the Museums and the Web, a MUSE Gold Award at the American Association of Museums, and the Macromedia Site of the Day.

Joshua Cogan is a documentary photographer and anthropologist whose work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, and Travel and Leisure magazine. Using his training in anthropology, Joshua works to provide context to shifting cultural landscapes through his photography. He recently received the German Marshall Fund Fellowship for his work on agribusiness in Brazil and is publishing his first book, Cochin Diary, of interfaith relations in India.

Supporting Children in the Aftermath of Crisis

Sponsored by Sopris West Educational Services, a Cambium Learning Company

1:00–3:00 p.m., Thursday, February 7

David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, Thelma and Jack Rubinstein Professor of Pediatrics, Director, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Good to Know: The New Orleans Recovery School District (RSD) anticipates that approximately 79 public and charter schools will be open for the 2007–2008 school year, roughly two thirds of pre- Katrina levels. For more information on the status of schools in New Orleans, visit http://www.nolapublicschools.net.

Disasters and crisis events, whether they have a direct impact on an individual child or family or a large population, can have profound and longlasting effects on children that result in significant difficulties with learning, academic failure, and emotional and behavioral problems. In the aftermath of a crisis, school mental health personnel are often the first—and too often the only—responders to address the mental health needs of children. Any adult who interacts with children in the aftermath of a crisis can be a potential source of assistance and support; but if unprepared, they can instead be a source of further distress. School staff need to understand the likely adjustment reactions to crisis, how they may affect learning, and how to help children cope.

Keynote speaker David Schonfeld, MD, reviews the common reactions of students and adult staff to crisis situations, the risk factors for difficulties with adjustment, and some of the underlying reasons why parents, teachers, and other school personnel often underestimate children’s adjustment difficulties. He discusses the importance of commemorative activities, like the Yearbook 2006 project, which can aid the recovery process and outline guidelines about how schools can help engage students in such processes. Dr. Schonfeld shares examples drawn from over 20 years of experience consulting with school systems throughout the country and abroad on crisis preparedness and response.

David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, is a developmental–behavioral pediatrician, the Thelma and Jack Rubinstein Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and Director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (NCSCB) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (www.cincinnatichildrens.org/school-crisis). He has written and lectured extensively nationally and internationally on pediatric bereavement, school crisis response, and the mental health needs of children in crisis situations. Dr. Schonfeld served as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) national Task Force on Terrorism from 2001 to 2004 and as a consultant to the NYC Department of Education following the September 11 terrorist attacks. He also is actively engaged in school-based research and is the current chair of the Committee on Pediatric Research for AAP, a member of the AAP’s Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council, and president of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.