Featured Speakers

Learn how to take care of yourself during periods of change. Highlights include the six stages of burnout and setting healthy boundaries.

Diagnosed with �brain damage� and severe dyslexia, Mr. Karpovich has discovered that strength comes from challenges. He is a successful Certified Speaking Professional with a long list of professional affiliations. He incorporates personal stories with humor and information when he speaks about self-esteem, leadership, avoiding burnout, and violence prevention.

Mr. Karpovich is scheduled for the general session on Thursday morning, October 18. In addition, after the general session on Thursday, Mr. Karpovich will present a workshop for students dealing with self-esteem, �Designing Your Destiny,� and one for a general audience, �Contagious Leadership.�

What does the gift of reading really mean? Ms. Pearl will explain why reading is so important in her life, will discuss a bill of rights for readers, and will offer suggestions for good books -- so bring notepads!

Nancy Pearl was the recipient of the American Library Association�s Allie Beth Martin Award for 2000. Her role as executive director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library is to promote and celebrate the written word and to develop a �community of the book� in the state of Washington. She reviews books for the Seattle Times, Booklist, Library Journal, and KUOW-FM, Seattle, and is an author-interviewer for Evergreen Radio Reading Service. She has been a librarian, college instructor, book columnist, and book store manager.

Here's your opportunity to speak your mind! Share your ideas and concerns with fellow students in this open forum. All students are invited to attend.

The forum will be facilitated by LVA National Student Advisory Board member Paul Arcand. When asked what led him to LVA, Paul remembers the day his roommate asked him to read an article from the newspaper, and he had to struggle to make out most of the words. A high school graduate, he had never learned to read past a fourth grade reading level.

With some hesitation, Paul attended his first LVA student meeting in 1993. Within the first year of his involvement with LVA, Paul was chosen to represent other students from his Rhode Island affiliate at the 1993 LVA national conference, in Louisville, Kentucky. Paul later became chair of the student track at the LVA conference in 2000 and 2001 and was in charge of the student raffle for both of those years. He's been on National Student Advisory Board since 1997 and worked as a VISTA for the LVA-RI state office in 1999.

The experience of joy can banish fear, promote excellent health, and provide energy during hard times. Learn the physiological roots of joy and how to apply its principles in your literacy workplace.

Pat Wagner and her husband, Leif Smith, own Pattern Research, a 25-year-old education and research business in Denver specializing in the support of innovators. Ms. Wagner conducts over 100 programs each year, focusing on workplace issues such as conflict management, leadership, planning, productivity, and communications. She is the author of Building Support Networks for Schools and The Bloomsbury Review BookLover's Guide. Her good-humored and practical programs emphasize collaboration and accountability.

Ms. Wagner also taught in the portfolio development program at Metropolitan State College of Denver for five years and has conducted programs for workplace and academic educators on how to improve teaching skills with adult audiences. She has a liberal arts degree from Loretto Heights College with an emphasis in performance and written communication, and studied community education and conducted field work at Goddard College.

Students attending this session are in for a real treat! Mr. Amos' inspirational talk is aimed at making students believe in themselves and their potential. Experience Wally Amos in person as he shares his persistence, tenacity, and never-give-up attitude!

Mr. Amos has achieved worldwide fame and awareness as the father of the gourmet chocolate chip cookie industry. A promoter at heart, he has used his fame to support educational causes. Since 1979, Mr. Amos has been LVA's national spokesperson.

On the lecture circuit, Mr. Amos addresses audiences at corporations, industry associations, and universities with an inspiring "do it" attitude. In every job he has held, Mr. Amos has started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. Before entering the cookie business, he worked for the William Morris talent agency, where he represented Simon & Garfunkel and The Supremes. After years in the entertainment industry, he decided to go full-time with his weekend hobby of selling cookies... and the rest is history!