KU Social Work Day features awards, speakers on the 'face of social work'

LAWRENCE -- Alumni and students of the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas will attend the 53rd annual Social Work Day events Friday, May 2, in the Kansas Union. Awards will be made to social workers from Topeka and to faculty and students in the school.

The theme of the day is "From Ageless to Aging ... The Timeless Face of Social Work." Keynote speakers are Erin Gruwell, an award-winning California teacher whose inspiring story will be featured in a movie next year, and Nancy Kropf, a University of Georgia social work professor whose research focuses on older adults and their families.

Gruwell is a two-time California Teacher of the Year who helped 150 of her most challenging students graduate from high school and attend college -- and even join together to write a book, "The Freedom Writers Diary -- How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them." Universal Pictures will transform their story into a feature film to be released in fall 2004.

Kropf directs the doctoral program in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia.

During lunch in the union ballroom, the Social Work Alumni Society Executive Board and the school will present awards recognizing outstanding achievement.

The Social Work Alumni Society faculty award will go to Mark Ezell, associate professor, and to Jean Peterson, director of practicum, for their teaching excellence and their outstanding contribution to the social work profession.

Each year KU's School of Social Welfare honors two social workers who serve as teachers on a volunteer basis to provide field instruction for students in social work practicums around the state and in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

This year's recipients of the Margo Award for Excellence in Field Practicum Instruction are:

 • Donna Park, Valeo Behavioral Health Care Center, Topeka
 • Tom Schroeder, Johnson County Mental Health Center, Shawnee

Margo awards to recognize excellence in the field by students will go to:

 • Sarah Goodwin, Prairie Village senior, Margo Award for Excellence in Bachelor of Social Work Practicum. She is the daughter of John and Karen Goodwin of Olathe and is an Olathe South High School graduate.

 • Erin Krause, Overland Park master's degree student, Margo Award for Excellence in Master of Social Work Foundation Practicum.

 • Rebecca Wirth, Lawrence master's degree student, Margo Award for Excellence in Master of Social Work Clinical Practicum. She is the daughter of Charlotte Hain of Holt, Mo.

 • Kimberly Brabits, Kansas City, Mo., master's degree student, Margo Award for Excellence in Social Work Administration Practicum.