Communities In Schools of NC Holds Annual Training Conference

Raleigh, N.C. - Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC) gathered educators, community leaders and business leaders earlier this week for their annual training conference. This year’s conference addressed current issues in education such as the rising gang issue among youth, internet safety, and the link between bullying and school violence.

Mario Corona, a former gang member and current CIS of the Greater Los Angeles area staff member, delivered the keynote address during the conference luncheon. Mario commended the work of the educators and community leaders in attendance and shared his own personal story which first began at the age of thirteen in a street gang in Los Angeles.

Mario told participants that his poor behavior as a high school student became worse because that was all the administrators and educators began to expect of him. “I guess you could say that my behavior became somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Mario told the group. Mario credits a high school teacher’s encouragement in helping him graduate. Since then, Mario has completed degrees at Pierce Community College and California State University Northridge. Most recently, he received a MSW from the University of Southern California (USC) with the hope of returning to USC for his law degree.

Mario also led a session which explored precursors that tend to lead to gang involvement and some of the gang intervention strategies and models that are being implemented by CIS of Greater LA to prevent gang violence.

About Communities In Schools of NC, Inc.
Communities In Schools has earned its place as the nation’s leading community-based organization helping kids succeed in school and prepare for life. There are 36 local operational programs in North Carolina serving over 400 schools and other sites. During the past school year, CIS served over 100,000 youth and family members and it maintains a presence in the four largest school districts in North Carolina. For more information on CISNC visit www.cisnc.org.