The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education (CEURE) will host a summer symposium on culturally relevant education in urban and rural schools on Saturday, June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center. Four outside scholars will lead discussions and breakout sessions for an anticipated group of more than 100 local teachers and administrators.

Kathy Wood, associate professor of elementary education and reading and director of CEURE, and Paul Theobald, professor and Woods-Beals Endowed Chair of CEURE, are excited about the symposium and have wanted to organize such an event for many years. They hope participants will learn how to amend lessons in order to better teach material to students.

“The symposium is a good way to connect the ‘urban’ and the ‘rural,’” Theobald said. “Participants will be able to think deeply about the differences and similarities teachers experience in their work lives. We plan to make this symposium as interactive as possible, and hope that what teachers can take away from this is the knowledge that teaching becomes more relevant and less of a chore when the curriculum is focused around the lives of students.”

Geneva Gay, professor of education at the University of Washington, will deliver the lunchtime keynote. She and Tyrone Howard, associate professor of urban schooling at the University of California, Los Angles, will serve as experts on urban schools. Aimee Howley, associate dean for research and graduate studies, and Craig Howley, associate professor of educational studies, both at Ohio University, will serve as experts on rural schools. Symposium participants will receive complimentary copies of the speakers’ books.

“The experts can help teachers make more sophisticated assessments of what they’re observing in the classroom,” Theobald said.

Theobald also said the symposium can benefit any faculty member at Buffalo State. “Anyone who is concerned about how a discipline is taught in urban and rural classrooms can benefit from attending the symposium,” he said.

Wood said teacher candidate supervisors on campus have asked for ways to gain further understanding about urban and rural environments. She hopes to make the symposium a tradition at Buffalo State.

The first 100 teachers to register will receive a $75 stipend. Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend this free event and register by tomorrow. Contact Diane Mercuri, staff assistant, CEURE, at 878-3610.