Keynote Sessions

Opening Keynote:
Science, Social Studies and Sex Education:  A Compelling Case for Teen Pregnancy Prevention in the Classroom
Glynis Shea

While those of us in the teen pregnancy prevention community believe that comprehensive sex education should be taught in the classroom, we encounter many challenges to this seemingly common-sense strategy.

Schools, and the entire education system, share our goal of ensuring that our young people become productive young adults, but all too often it feels like we speak different languages and have conflicting priorities.

In this workshop/session/lecture, we’ll focus on how to improve our communications skills so that we can make a compelling case for teen pregnancy prevention to our partners in schools and educational settings. Led by an ex-advertising executive, this unique session borrows techniques and strategies from Madison Avenue and applies them to our work.

Tuesday Morning Keynote:
Good Content is Not Enough: How to Make Comprehensive Sexuality Education Work and Why It So Often Doesn't
Konnie McCaffree, Ph.D.

We often hear the term “comprehensive sexuality education.”  What does it actually mean, and what outcomes do we desire?  As teachers, do we want the same effect?  As educators we have been schooled on the importance of knowledge, and probably have spent many years training in the techniques to increase knowledge. Yet, is knowledge enough?  There are many challenges to teaching when the ‘scripts’ children bring to the classroom from their life experiences, their personal identities, the values they hold, and the skills they may or may not have developed are so diverse.  We will work together to examine what may be helpful to our youth as they traverse this very complex time in their lives.