Aired: April 27, 2009 – 11:00 AM PST
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TITLE: Ten years after Columbine: How much safer are our schools?
SPECIAL GUEST: Nationally recognized educator, speaker, facilitator and trainer; Rick Phillips.
Video editor, writer and satirist, Will Jones and West Shield Adolescent Services lead transport agent and youth leader Dave Munoz discuss school violence in America.
Rick Phillips is founder of “Community Matters” and is the lead author of “Safe School Ambassadors: Harnessing Student Power to Stop Bullying and Violence”. Listen in as they discuss some of the disturbing facts that have come out in Rick’s 22 page report card.
Rick Phillips, MS Ed., is the Executive Director and founder of Community Matters (CM), a California-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is “to engage, equip, and empower young people to be contributors and peacemakers in their schools and communities.” The author of “Ten Years after Columbine: School Violence-Prevention Report Card,” Rick has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, and many print, radio, and regional/national interview shows as an expert on violence prevention and empowering youth. Rick is also the lead author of Safe School Ambassadors: Harnessing Student Power to Stop Bullying and Violence, published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley (April, 2008). As the creator and co-developer of Safe School Ambassadors®, a youth-centered, violence-prevention program that has been implemented in more than 700 schools across the United States and Canada, Rick has become a nationally-recognized educator, speaker, facilitator, and trainer who brings years of expertise and practical experience to schools and communities across the continent. Rick has been a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at more than 350 national and state conferences, including those for the Search Institute, the National School Boards Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Middle School Association. Rick has spoken on topics including; “Empowering Youth to Stop Bullying and Violence,” “Strengthening Adult-Youth Partnerships for Improving School Climate,” “Breaking the Code of Silence,” and “ Building Safer Schools from the ‘Inside-Out.’”
With Rick as lead presenter, Community Matters provides training, facilitation, and consultation to organizations, schools and communities in the areas of:
• Bullying- and violence-prevention education;
• Youth development, with an emphasis on assets development;
• Involving all youth in service and leadership;
• Strengthening and sustaining school and community partnerships; and
• Increasing organizational and professional effectiveness and performance.
Rick earned his Master’s of Science Degree in education from the University of Southern California where he was a recipient of a United States Office of Education Fellowship. He has been a principal and teacher at elementary, middle, and high schools, a school district and county office of education administrator, and a Regional Director at the Healthy Kids Center for the California Department of Education. Rick is a father, grandfather and champion of children and youth.
