March 28, 2001 — Plans for Sen. Lorraine Berry's annual all-day April 7 Youth Symposium at Palms Court Harborview Hotel are in now high gear.
Winners of the Black History Essay contest on the symposium theme, "Hands Off, Back Off, I'm Special," have been announced, and this week Berry announced the event's keynote speakers. They include Ronald Mincy, professor of Social Policy and Social Work at Columbia University; the Rev. Alberta Ware, director of the Black Churches HIV/AIDS National Technical Assistance and Training Center; and Henry Braddock, clinical psychologist, trainer and lecturer.
Dilsa Capdeville, director of Kidscope; Patricia Odoms, community planning HIV/AIDS specialist; Desiree Lambertis, drug prevention specialist; and Jason Henry, youth ambassador from Antigua, will also speak.
This is the second year for the symposium to have a sexually explicit theme, and the first year for middle school students to participate in an essay contest on that theme.
About 500 students attended last year's symposium, and Berry anticipates a similar number this year. She is asking all English teachers to contact her office with names of students planning to attend the symposium in order to accommodate transportation pick-up and meal planning for the event, which will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The teachers should contact Joyce Ann Harrigan in Berry's office at 774-2696.