Denver Mayors Office Executive Dr. Maria Lucero to Serve as Keynote Speaker for EWCs Childrens Conference
May 3, 2006
TORRINGTON, WY - Maria Guajardo Lucero, Ph.D., executive director of the Mayor's Office for Education and Children, Denver, Colorado, will serve as keynote speaker for the EWC-sponsored program "Adelante Ninos - Onward, Upward, To Higher Education, Wednesday, May 17, 2006, EWC Fine Arts Auditorium at 9:00 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
"This program, presented in coordination with the Goshen County School District, seeks to increase the expectation of elementary-aged students for college enrollment and to familiarize these students with college life," states Anne Gardetto of Eastern Wyoming College and program coordinator.
As keynote speaker, Dr. Lucero will speak during the conference's First General Session on "Excellence: Today and in the Future," 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m., EWC Fine Arts Auditorium. Following the First General Session, she will also lead a parent educational workshop on "Parent Engagement in School and its Effect in Bolstering Student Achievement."
Focusing on the first two decades of life, the charge of Dr. Lucero's office is to champion educational advancement for children and youth in the capitol city area. She oversees operations from Head Start to providing high school students an even start to postsecondary education. A licensed clinical psychologist, in 2004 she was invited by Denver Public Schools to serve as a commissioner on the Secondary Reform Commission.
Her educational experiences range from preschool to higher education. Dr. Guajardo Lucero has served as a therapist for Denver Head Start, a bilingual school psychologist for Denver Public Schools, and adjunct professor at Metropolitan State College and UCD and now a trustee for the University of Denver. Her research in dropout prevention guided her work at the Colorado Department of Education as the Dropout Prevention Coordinator and as co-director of the Latin American Research and Service Agency. She also served as the founding executive director of Assets for Colorado Youth, a $10 million positive youth development initiative funded by the Colorado Trust Fund.
Maria recently was awarded the "Ghandi, King, Ikeda Award" for her leadership and commitment to excellence in public education. She is now a national spokesperson on topics of educational attainment, positive youth development and the strength of diversity. Her publications include "The Power of Parents: Parent Engagement in Schools and the Developmental Assets."
Dr. Guajardo Lucero graduated with honors from Harvard University and earned her Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Denver. She is also a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. A daughter of migrant parents, she currently has a son enrolled in Denver Public Schools.
Maria is an author, mother, community volunteer, and a national speaker.
For more information and/or to pre-register for this conference open to the public at no cost, please contact program coordinator Anne Gardetto, EWC Student Services, 307.532.8328.
