CORVALLIS, Ore. - National experts, along with local teachers and agencies, will discuss successful methods of improving children's school performance and preventing risky behavior as part of a lecture and panel discussion at Oregon State University on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The event will run from 4 to 6 p.m. in Memorial Union Room 206 and is free and open to the public.

Teachers, counselors, parents, and agency representatives who work with children and adolescents are especially encouraged to attend, as well as media who want to learn about national research that identifies programs having positive results for children's behavior.

The keynote speaker is Brian Flay, a professor in the Department of Public Health at OSU. Flay is director of the youth core at OSU's new Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, as well as a national researcher with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Cancer Institute. His speech is titled, "Promoting Positive Behaviors in Children and Adolescents: What Works."

Following Flay's talk, there will be a panel discussion with local school and agency experts moderated by OSU's Megan McClelland, an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences.

Panelists include Gerhard Berhner, a third-grade teacher at Adams Elementary School in Corvallis; Kelly White, substance abuse and gambling prevention coordinator at the Benton County Department of Public Health; and Marilee Muirhead, substance abuse prevention coordinator at OSU.

The panel will discuss how to promote positive behavior in children and adolescents, including what programs work and the challenges that educators and agencies face in a recessionary time of budget cuts.

The event is part of the Cynthia and Duncan Campbell Lectures on Childhood Relationships, Risk, and Resilience.

Source: 

Megan McClelland, 541-737-9225

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