FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE���������������������������������� September� 2004

Contact:� Pat Payne � (317) 226-2430 or Rebecca Bibbs, (317) 226-4530

IPS Hosts National Multicultural Education Conference

��������� The IPS Office for Multicultural Education will sponsor its 17^th annual IPS Conference on Infusion of History and Culture in the School Curriculum Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2004 at historic Crispus Attucks Middle School, 1140 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street. The theme for the nationally recognized conference is Touching the Spirit:� Effective Strategies and Practices for Educating Urban Students.

����������� Featured speakers include Dr. Pedro Noguera, acclaimed urban sociologist, author and professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, R. Nikki Myers, founder/director of CITYOGA in Indianapolis and James Loewen, historian and author of Lies My Teacher Told Me. Concurrent workshops will feature interactive sessions facilitated by practitioners who are experts in the fields of educating urban students, child advocacy and parent involvement. A community partnership luncheon expo will highlight businesses and organizations that embrace diversity and effectively collaborate with public schools.

In addition, a cultural bus trip to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio is scheduled for October 16, the Saturday preceding the conference.� The chartered bus will depart from Crispus Attucks Middle School. Cost to board the bus is five dollars ($5.00) for conference participants and their family members.��

Pat Payne, Conference Director, says, �The conference is designed with the village concept in mind and is relevant for educators, parents, community residents, policy makers, labor unions, business representatives, churches and government officials. In order to understand and address the problems of educational neglect and social injustice, we must stop playing the blame game and come together to discuss the challenges, confront the pitfalls and develop strategies that respond to the unique needs of a diverse population of students and their families.��

Registration is thirty�-five dollars ($35) for IPS personnel and parents, ninety-five dollars ($95) for non-IPS and twenty dollars ($20) for university students.� To register, call (317) 226-2430.������������������������ �����������������������������������������������