The 2022 National Youth Advocacy and Resilience (NYAR) Conference returns in-person to the Hyatt Regency Savannah after going virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference, sponsored by Georgia Southern University’s College of Education, Georgia Youth Challenge Program and Youth Today, will be held March 6-9.
For more than 32 years, the NYAR Conference has provided quality, relevant training for all people interested in the well-being of youth.
“It’s more than just schools,” said Alisa Leckie, Ph.D., NYAR Conference co-chair and Georgia Southern’s assistant dean for partnerships and outreach. “In order to really impact youth and the communities in which they live, we have to look at all of those influences on a child’s life.”
The conference’s keynote presenters include veteran educator, principal and public speaker Gerry Brooks, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Lisa Colbert and The Centergy Project co-founders Linda Beggs and Leigh Colburn. NYAR 2022 will also host 21 featured presenters and more than 100 conference presentations from across the country. The conference sessions, workshops and panels are categorized by NYAR’s 5H Conference Strands — Head, Heart, Hands, Health and Home.
Annual NYAR Conference awards include the Ron Alt Service Award, presented to a community member who embodies selfless service, in honor of the former director of the Housing Authority of Savannah’s drug elimination program. The NYAR High Flying Schools Award will also be presented to select schools with academic excellence from around the country that serve underrepresented or underserved populations.
New to this year’s conference is the NYARt Art Competition. K-12 teachers were encouraged to submit students’ 2D artwork inspired by the theme, “Reimagining Resilience,” for consideration in the elementary, middle and high school categories.
In addition, there will be a screening of the documentary, “We Will Not Be Silent,” produced by Nebraska’s Lincoln Public Schools Library Services Department. The documentary follows the four-month journey of eight scholars from Belmont Elementary School and the mentors who guide them as they prepare for their moving performance at the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Rally and March in January 2021.
For more information on the 2022 NYAR Conference schedule and registration, visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu/conted/conferences/nyar.
About the NYAR Conference
In 1990, the NYAR Conference was founded by Georgia Southern University’s College of Education. During the past 32 years, the conference has grown from a regional conference of 150 participants to a national conference of approximately 1,400 participants from across the globe.
In 2021, the conference changed the name from National Youth-At-Risk to National Youth Advocacy and Resilience. The change was guided by the youth served and has been well received by long-time conference supporters.
