Students all over the country are constantly being told to stay off drugs and be nice to each other, but this month a new face spoke about the cause to Altoona.
On Feb. 11-12, the school district had a guest speaker motivate the students to; not do drugs, drink alcohol or bully other students. Craig Conrad spoke to high school students during an assembly on Feb. 11. He also had a session at the junior high that evening which was open to the parents and students of the district, and spoke to elementary students on Thursday. Students say Conrad changed their perspective on those topics.
Conrad traveled from Colorado to speak. He was a high school teacher for 26 years. During his teaching career, he was nominated and won many national titles and appeared on a few television shows. Some of those honors include being listed in Who’s Who Best Teachers in America, the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education from Colorado Governor, Roy Romer, and awarded the first ever National Tradition of Excellence Award. Conrad has also been featured on ABC World News and NBC Nightly News programs, and CBS The Early Show.
He has been publicly speaking for 22 years.
“I’ve been professionally speaking for 22 years, but if you count the years in the classroom 30. I was a wood shop teacher, and every Friday I’d share a story will my students about not doing drugs and to be nice to each other. I lost some students over the years, and I spoke at their funerals. I started thinking to myself what I could do to prevent that from happening,” Conrad said.
The Unstoppable you has five phases to it.
The first phase is an all-school assembly which will change student’s perspectives with true life experiences. The second phase is a school leader session which creates a discussion on how to make the school Unstoppable.
During the third phase, Conrad talks to the whole community on how to work together, or “bundle up and stick together.” The elementary students of the district get involved with phase four. Students will learn they can accomplish anything if they stay unstoppable. The fifth and final stage infuses the staff with a healthy dose of enthusiasm and appreciation for their profession.
Conrad hopes his audience gets something out of every speech he makes.
“I hope the audience understands if you’re going to be great you have to grow where you’re planted. You may say there’s nothing to do in Altoona, but everywhere I go people say there’s nothing to do there. You can’t blame the city or neighborhood you lived in to how you live your life. You don’t have to live in New York, Miami, Los Angeles to have a good life,” Conrad said.
To learn more about Craig Conrad visit his website www.craigconrad.com
