Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

YOUTH TRACK AGENDA
7:30 AM – 6:00 AM Registration CITY HALL LOBBY
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast OSCEOLA BALLROOM
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM TRAINING INSTITUTES OPENING SESSION OSCEOLA BALLROOM
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM Break
THURSDAY • JULY 26
Charting a Course for Children’s Mental Health: Change Agents Required
UNBREAKABLE: The Dewey Bozella Story
You would think he would just give up. But Arthur Ashe
Courage Award winner, Dewey Bozella didn’t. Bozella
found the ultimate path of freedom after 26 years of
wrongful imprisonment. Bozella’s early life was one of
hardship and turmoil, having been exposed to trauma and
violence. Foster care and life on the streets defined his
youth. In 1983, Bozella’s life took a dramatic turn when he
was convicted of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to 20 years to life in
Sing Sing prison, Bozella maintained his innocence. Anger at his imprisonment
gave way to determination, and instead of becoming embittered, he earned his
GED, bachelors and master’s degrees, worked as a peer counselor, and fell in
love and got married. Through it all, Bozella found strength and purpose
through boxing, and became the light heavyweight champion of Sing Sing
prison. Unyielding in his innocence, Bozella never gave up fighting in or out of
the ring. When new evidence was uncovered that exonerated him, he was finally
released in 2009 after being in prison for more than 26 years. Today, Bozella
devotes his life to helping others. The Dewey Bozella Foundation is dedicated to
fulfilling his lifelong dream of working with high-risk youth to teach them
discipline, the value of hard work, perseverance, and courage. Through boxing,
Dewey and the Foundation hope to inspire youth to set goals, follow their
dreams, and, most important, never give up.
10:15 AM – 12:00 PM JAMES DURBIN OF AMERICAN IDOL:
Overcoming Obstacles and Pursuing Your Dreams
James Durbin lit the American Idol stage on fire with his
powerful performances, and now the Season 10 alum is
setting the music world aflame with his debut music video
and album “Memories of a Beautiful Disaster.” As a youth,
James was diagnosed with both Tourette’s and Asperger’s
Syndromes. Affected by these conditions and by his father’s
death of a drug overdose, his talent has helped him
overcome the obstacles that he faces day by day. Overall, Memories of Beautiful
Disaster is an audio document of Durbin’s life as he’s lived it. “I am looking
back on my life. Parts were disastrous, and there are some things I wished never
happened. But I can look back and appreciate things that I once considered
disasters as things of beauty. They make me who I am today. I’d never go back
and change anything.” With that attitude, and the fact that he set the table for his
SUN A
190 Training Institutes 2012