Tailgate Auction

Please don't forget to donate items to be used for the silent auction on Monday night at the Fall Conference. The silent auction will start on Monday around 5:45pm and all items need to be in by Monday morning.

All money raised will be donated to the MS Society (Multiple Sclerosis Society)

Also, make plans now to play in the annual corn hole bean bag tournament, $5.00 per team. The tournament will begin at the end of the silent auction.

Thank you :)

Pre-Registration Deadline

Remember that the deadline for pre-registration is November 1, 2010. Go ahead and get your conference registration forms in or go online to www.asahperd.org and register online for the conference.

Also, remember that your membership needs to be current!!!!!

Fall Conference Keynote Speakers Bio

Debbie Goforth has been an educator and “keeper of hope” in the Texas school system since 1980. She has a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. She has taught at every level, but her primary focus has long been the tumultuous secondary school years. Debbie was a classroom teacher/coach for 24 years before stepping into the administrative role of At-Risk Coordinator 6 years ago. She has retired from the San Angelo school district as of May, 2009 completing 29 years of service in education. At the time of retirement, she entered a new phase of her life: public speaking as a means of advocating for kids of all ages. She has spoken all over the United States motivating and encouraging others who work with our precious children. Her upbeat and positive attitude is contagious and infects everyone with whom she comes in contact. She helps anyone wherever she can. Most importantly, Debbie has always advocated that students, mainly the ones labeled "at-risk," need our empathy not our sympathy. We reach these children by loving them where they are. Debbie has been promoting the phrase “No Child Will Be Left Behind” long before it came into vogue. She has been named Teacher of the Year numerous times on her campuses, but it is not the awards but the rewards of seeing a child succeed that mean the most to her.

Debbie has written a book about working with at-risk students – Scars of Love, Tears of Hope. This book explores the world of education in a surprising new light. It tells the story of numerous at-risk kids that Debbie has taught and counseled over her 29-year-career. It explores the remarkably effective approach she has developed in giving them hope for their future. Scars of Love is based upon eleven attributes that an effective “keeper of hope” must demonstrate, from being approachable and dependable to creating hopes and dreams and showing compassion. It represents the tools that will help acknowledge and validate kids, to making them feel good about themselves and their places in the world. A quote from Debbie, "As a teacher, woman, and keeper of hope, I have a choice. I can choose to leave scars of love on the kids I see and interact with everyday or I can leave scars of hurt. As adults, we all have the same choice. For me, the answer is the only one I am capable of leaving: scars of love."

“Debbie Goforth is the sort of teacher and mentor that every school wants and every child needs in their lives. Her years of experience in bringing hope to children from hopeless situations qualify her as a bona fide expert on the transformational power of love. Time and again, her stories illustrate the age-old truth that, in the absence of love, the most intellectual words simply fall on deaf ears. She brings the human touch to teaching, sharing wisdom that will benefit anyone who would invest in the life of a child.”
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas