Virtual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration Planned
The Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce and Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC) will co-host a virtual celebration honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monday, Jan. 18, at noon. Dr. Robin Gadsden-Dupree, family and community partnership specialist at Western University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, will serve as guest speaker. The pre-recorded video will be shared to the public through the College’s Facebook page and its YouTube channel.
Dr. Gadsden-Dupree combines her passion for helping people and communities in her professional and personal life. Since 1991, she has worked for Western Kentucky University, Training and Technical Assistance Services Department, in the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Her job enables her to travel across the country providing training and technical assistance to Head Start programs, school systems and community action agencies in the area of parent engagement/community engagement, adhering to federal guidelines, management and organizational development. She has developed several publications, manuals and materials widely used by Head Start programs across the country. Dr. Gadsden-Dupree also provided start up training and support to Step-by-Step preschool programs in South Africa a few years after apartheid ended. She has been a preschool teacher in New York City; a Head Start director and college adjunct professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; a college campus child care director at LaGuardia Community College; and day care administrator in New York City. Her career has taken her from New York City, to Baltimore, Maryland, and now to west Tennessee.
Dr. Gadsden-Dupree is a native New Yorker and comes from a family of educators and community activists. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jackson, Tennessee Alumnae Chapter. Dr. Gadsden-Dupree serves as co-chairperson for the Social Action Committee; was named Delta of the Year in 2006; and is a member of the board of directors for The Delta Enrichment Life Training Academy, Inc. She also serves as Congressional District 8 Lead Volunteer for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); secretary for the Crockett County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and chair of the Crockett County Democratic party.
Dr. Gadsden-Dupree earned a doctorate in Organizational Leadership and Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University; a Master of Science degree in Early Childhood Education with a specialization in administration and supervision of child care from Queens College, City University of New York; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from York College, City University of New York.
The video can be viewed any time on or after Jan. 18 at noon on the College’s YouTube channel, which can be accessed by visiting www.dscc.edu and clicking on the YouTube icon at the top of the homepage.
###
Photo caption:
Dr. Robin Gadsden-Dupree (second from left) served as guest speaker during the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration. Also participating in the event are (from left) Rev. Gary Meade, rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; Dr. Gadsden-Dupree; Dr. Karen Bowyer, president of DSCC; and Slater Barr, President and CEO of the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce. The prerecorded video will be shared to the public Jan. 18 at noon on DSCC’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.