Local educators to speak at student summit

Educators of Woodbury High School and Rowan University will be keynote speakers at the 16th annual Students United for Respect and Equality Summit

Retired Woodbury High School Principal Denise Dunham and Jon T. Mills, an assistant director of Rowan University’s Office of Social Justice, Inclusion and Conflict resolution, will be keynote speakers at the 16th annual Students United for Respect and Equality Summit, bringing together 350 Gloucester County high school students for workshop discussions of issues facing young people.

The event will take place on Thursday, March 17, from 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Rowan University’s Mark Chamberlain Student Center in Glassboro.

Under the conference theme “United We Stand,” summit participants will attend workshops on racism, relationship skills, issues just for young men or young women, stereotypes, LGBTQ, teamwork/trust and “following your dreams.” What they learn is to be shared with other students at their schools.

Denise Dunham began her career in education as a music teacher in Camden and subsequently worked in the city’s school administration before moving to the Northern Burlington County school district and finally to Woodbury High School, from which she retired in 2014. Her guiding belief throughout was the power of unconditional acceptance and unrelenting encouragement can change young lives and fulfill their dreams.

Mills is the assistant director for Multicultural Inclusion Programs in the Rowan University Office of Social Justice. Known on campus as J.T., he works to promote equity and cultural competence in the university community, with the goal of improving lives and reversing the legacy of inequality across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religious affiliation.

The S.U.R.E. conference is co-sponsored by the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, Rowan University’s Office of the President, The New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and Juvenile Justice Commission and the Gloucester County Youth Services Commission and Municipal Alliances.