SESSION TYPE: Featured Speaker (Panel) SESSION TITLE: Cry for Help: Adolescent Depression and Suicide STRAND: Whole School Issues DAY: Friday TIME: 11:15 - 12:30pm LOCATION: Sutton Parlor South, 2nd floor

An estimated 9% of 12 to 17 year olds experienced at least one major depressive episode during the past year. When unaddressed, depression can lead to poor performance in school, strained relationships with family and friends, alcohol and substance abuse, and even thoughts of suicide. Tragically, the great majority of teens suffering from depression go untreated. Fifteen percent of U.S. high school students report serious thoughts of ending their lives in the past year, and suicide is the third leading cause of death in 11 to 18 year olds. This session will look at teenage depression and mental illness from a variety of perspectives, focusing on the challenges these conditions bring to schools and how schools can deal with them effectively.

BIOGRAPHY

Kelly A. Caci, MA, is a practicing school psychologist in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District in Newburgh, NY. She has worked at both the elementary and middle school levels, providing counseling, crisis intervention, and consultation to students, as well as working with teachers and parents to support students’ social-emotional functioning. Caci is also an executive board member of the NY Association of School Psychologists (NYASP), and has provided workshops on suicide awareness and prevention, developed by NYASP and the NYS Office of Mental Health. She is also an adjunct professor in the School Psychology department at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and a NYSUT Educational Research & Dissemination Trainer.

Courtney Knowles is Executive Director of The Jed Foundation, a national nonprofit working to reduce emotional distress and prevent suicide among college students. In this role, Knowles has launched the Peabody Award-winning Half of Us campaign with mtvU and a new online resource center to support families transitioning from high school to college (www.transitionyear.org). Previously, Knowles led awareness and social responsibility campaigns for a diverse list of organizations including Outward Bound, General Electric, March of Dimes, Anheuser-Busch and The Equality in Marriage Institute.

Dave Marcus has written a book about a remarkable school counselor who works with kids of all backgrounds as they apply to college. It’s called Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right College - and Find Themselves. Bloomberg News rated it “A+.” The book, published by Penguin Press, will be out in paperback this summer. Marcus also is the author of What It Takes to Pull Me Through, a look at the secret lives of teenagers (Houghton Mifflin).

He has been an education writer and foreign correspondent at U.S. News & World Report, the Boston Globe, the Miami Herald, and the Dallas Morning News, where he was the co-winner of a Pulitzer Prize for a series on violence against women. After a stint as a high school teacher at Deerfield Academy and a visiting professor at Ithaca College, he returned to journalism. He lives on Long Island and covers higher education for Newsday, and he’s a frequent speaker at colleges, high schools, churches and synagogues. For details, see www.DaveMarcus.com

Amelio A. D’Onofrio, PhD, is clinical professor and founding director of the Psychological Services Institute in the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University. Dr. D’Onofrio trains and supervises doctoral level psychologists and specializes in the treatment of trauma. He maintains a private practice in psychotherapy and clinical supervision in New York City, and consults to schools and mental health agencies. He is author of Adolescent Self-Injury: A Comprehensive Guide for Health Care Professionals (Springer Publishing, 2007).

***BOOK SIGNING AT ONSITE BARNES & NOBLE BOOKSTORE TO FOLLOW SESSION (click here for schedule)