'No Child Left Inside' topic of conference

The Messenger 03.19.08

“No Child Left Inside” — a conference to explore the benefits of unstructured, outdoor play — is planned from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. April 17 at Boling University Center at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
This conference is being co-sponsored by the Colleges of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and Education and Behavioral Sciences. In addition to featured speakers, there will be breakout sessions for health care and child care professionals, community leaders, resources managers, teachers, youth leaders and parents.
The conference is open to the public.
Ken Finch, president of Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood, will begin the conference with the topic “The Play Imperative: Restoring the Nature of Childhood.” Other speakers and topics are Dr. Terry Neu, professor at the Isabelle Farrington School of Education at Sacred Heart University, “Benefits of Unstructured Outdoor Play on Children’s Health,” and Mike Butler, Tennessee Wildlife Federation executive director, “Tennessee Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights.” Dr. Laura Brown, UT Martin assistant professor of health and human performance, will close the general sessions with “Educational Benefits of Outdoor Play.”
The pre-registration fee (through April 14) is $25; at the door it will be $35. The fee includes lunch and conference materials. For more information, contact Dr. Paula Gale, UT Martin professor of soil science, at (731) 881-7326 or e-mail pgale@utm.edu.

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