Rose, Marsalis, Wozniak to Keynote NSBA Annual Conference
The National School Boards Association will feature broadcast journalist Charlie Rose, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak as keynote speakers for its 2010 annual conference. More than 5,000 school board members and educators are expected to attend next year’s event, which will be held April 10 to 12, 2010, in Chicago.
“We’re thrilled to have such a talented and engaging group of general session speakers for our upcoming annual conference,” said NSBA’s executive director, Anne L. Bryant. “Each of these individuals has a unique perspective on the issues facing school board members and administrators. Each connects to the educational process from a very diverse viewpoint and will challenge and inspire our attendees to think in new ways about education policy and practice.”
Saturday’s general session on April 10 will feature television host and Emmy-award winning journalist Charlie Rose, the executive editor and anchor of Charlie Rose. During his nightly, one-hour program, Rose engages world leaders, Nobel Laureates, and extraordinary individuals in fields from sports to the arts with intellectual, in-depth conversations and discussions. Rose is also a contributing correspondent to the CBS news program 60 Minutes, and often serves as a moderator at forums around the world.
Headlining Sunday’s general session on April 11, renowned jazz artist Wynton Marsalis will speak on strategies to build and maintain arts education programs in schools and will perform with an orchestra. Marsalis has won nine Grammy awards and a Pulitzer Prize for his work as a composer and trumpeter. He co-founded Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, which offers performances, lectures, radio broadcasts and other events to encourage the appreciation of jazz music.
An advocate for arts education in schools, Marsalis also founded the Jazz for Young People concert series at Lincoln Center, helped create a jazz music curriculum, and hosts an international high school jazz band competition each year.
Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist Steve Wozniak, who will speak at Monday’s general session on April 12, helped shape the modern computer industry with the Apple I and II computers and contributed to the development of the iconic Macintosh model.
For the past 30 years, Wozniak has been heavily involved in education projects--one of the most notable was “adopting” the Los Gatos, Calif., school district and providing it with the most current technologies and teaching assistance. He is co-founder and chief technology officer for Acquicor Technology, Inc., a company that acquires technology, multimedia, and networking businesses.
NSBA’s annual conference offers school board members leadership development, opportunities for collaboration from a nationwide network of colleagues, and workable solutions for school districts. The conference also will feature current national topics affecting education leaders in their local districts, including school district implementation of the stimulus package, and it serves as the host of one of the largest expositions of education products and services in the country. For more information or to register, visit the conference website at www.nsba.org/conference/. Early registration discounts will be available through Dec. 30, 2009.
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (www.nsba.org) is a not-for-profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.
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