ASCD's Annual Conference Planning Committee has chosen the general session speakers for ASCD's 2007 Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, to be held March 17–19 in Anaheim, Calif.
Jonah Edelman
Cofounder and Executive Director of Stand for Children, a nonprofit membership organization that advocates for children and education reform.
Stand for Children advocates for improvements to and funding for programs that give every child a fair chance in life. Since 1999, the grass-roots members of the organization have won more than 60 state and local victories that secured funding for urgently needed programs and services that have improved the lives of more than 1.3 million children.
Manuel Medrano
Supreme Court/Legal Affairs Correspondent for ABC News
An embodiment of the American success story, Medrano's personal journey has taken him from a gang-infested barrio to the pinnacle of journalism as an Emmy Award-winning network correspondent. Prior to becoming a broadcast journalist, he was a federal criminal prosecutor who never lost a jury trial. He braved death threats to successfully prosecute the drug cartel leaders who kidnapped, tortured, and murdered Drug Enforcement Administration federal agent Enrique Camarena. Medrano is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his trial lawyer achievements.
Shakespeare Festival/LA
This unique arts employment program hires young people from the Los Angeles area who are from low-income families and at risk of dropping out of school to create adaptations of Shakespeare plays, providing an opportunity to explore their thoughts and feelings about Shakespeare's themes. In addition to presenting live performances such as the one conference participants will experience, Shakespeare Festival/LA develops innovative curricula to help teachers bring the words of Shakespeare to their classrooms.