National Prevention Symposium to Showcase the Latest Research and Strategies for Combating Youth’s Most Critical Health Risks

SEATTLE, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- School and community prevention professionals from across the country will gather in Seattle from July 28 to 30 to attend the ninth annual National Prevention Symposium: Learning from Our Past ... Creating Our Future, presented by Comprehensive Health Education Foundation (C.H.E.F. (R)), a national leader in prevention education.

Attendees will learn about the latest research and strategies for addressing the most critical health risks facing youth today, including obesity, alcohol and other drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, smoking, sexual activity, and violence and bullying.

Leading off this year’s National Prevention Symposium will be keynoter LouAnne Johnson, best-selling author, educator and the inspiration for the movie Dangerous Minds, which starred Michelle Pfeiffer. Other keynote presenters include Barbara Coloroso, author of the groundbreaking book The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander; Dr. Terry Tafoya, a Native American storyteller and family therapist; Timothy Condon, PhD, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; and Daniel McGoldrick, director of research for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

A wide variety of prevention and professional development workshops -- covering topics such as advocating for Safe and Drug-Free Schools, building partnerships with “differently motivated” youth and keeping schools safe -- will be offered to meet the specific needs of attendees. In addition, C.H.E.F. will be hosting a number of events in celebration of its 30th-year anniversary that will give attendees opportunities to network with other dedicated prevention professionals from around the country.

All Symposium sessions will be held at the downtown-Seattle Renaissance Madison Hotel, 515 Madison Street. For more information on this year’s National Prevention Symposium, or to register, call 800-323-2433 or visit the C.H.E.F. Web site at http://www.chef.org/ and click on “events.”

The 2004 National Prevention Symposium is sponsored by United Learning, the Channing-Bete Company and the Washington State Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention Resource Center.

Founded in 1974, Seattle-based Comprehensive Health Education Foundation is a nationally known nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health and quality of life through education. A leader in prevention education, C.H.E.F. is the developer of multiple Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) proven-effective programs and Here’s Looking at You(R), the most widely used K-12 drug prevention curriculum in the country. For more information about C.H.E.F., call 800-323-2433 or visit http://www.chef.org/.

Comprehensive Health Education Foundation

CONTACT: Debbie Pitcock Crawley, Director of Marketing of ComprehensiveHealth Education Foundation, +1-206-824-2907, ext. 1890, or debbiepc@chef.org