Daily News

Social Entrepreneurism Is Focus of ACCGS Annual Meeting

SPRINGFIELD — ‘Social entrepreneurism’ will be the focus of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s (ACCGS) annual meeting, presented by MGM Springfield, on June 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield. The event will feature Sam Intrator, professor and chair of the Education and Child Study Program, a member of the Urban Studies Program, founding director of the Smith College Urban Educational Initiative, and the co-founder of Project Coach, an innovative, Smith-staffed, out-of-school program that serves children and teenagers in Springfield and uses sports as a means to engage, connect, and empower adolescents and youth living in the city. Teenagers are trained and employed as coaches for elementary-aged children living in their communities. The major objective of the program is youth development and helping college students learn to teach and run these types of programs. Intrator came to Smith in 1999 after more than a decade of teaching and administrative service in public schools in Brooklyn, N.Y., Vermont, and California. Intrator believes that carefully designed programs (both in and out of school) that are led by engaged and committed adults working alongside youth can provide powerful opportunities for young people to acquire and develop personal, educational, and social assets. To this end, his research and practice explores the question: under what conditions do educational programs — both in the classroom and during out-of-school programs — genuinely matter to youth? Since youth most often describe the importance of a caring, committed, and devoted adult as the essential variable in meaningful learning, Intrator also pursues questions around what can be done to recruit, prepare, and sustain high-quality teachers and out-of-school staff within education. Intrator was awarded a W. K. Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship and, while teaching high-school English, was named a Distinguished Teacher by the White Commission on Presidential Scholars. He has authored and edited six books, including Tuned in and Fired Up: How Teaching Can Inspire Real Learning in the Classroom, which was a finalist for the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in education, and Leading from Within: Poetry That
Sustains the Courage to Lead, which received the 2009 Nautilus Book Award Gold Medalist for Poetry. The June 27 meeting will also include the annual election of officers and directors, a recap of the ACCGS successes in the past fiscal year, and the presentation of the 2014 Richard J. Moriarty Citizen of the Year Award, presented annually to honor the memory of Richard Moriarty, a long-time participant in the ACCGS who gave of his time, talent, and personal and professional resources to the local community. Reservations for the event are $40 for members, $60 for general admission, and may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at [email protected].