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The Oct. 18 session of the Institute for Retired People (IRP) will feature Sharon Contreras, superintendent of the Syracuse City School District. She will discuss the district’s five-year plan for ensuring the success of the city’s students.

The IRP program runs from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. IRP sessions are held at the First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville. For more information, visit http://uc.syr.edu/irp, call 315-443-4846, or e-mail cmkarlho@syr.edu.

Contreras began her career as a high school English teacher and then a curriculum specialist at the high school level in Rockford, Ill. Soon thereafter, Contreras was appointed principal of the award-winning Lewis Lemon Global Studies Academy magnet school. She implemented one of the nation’s first multi-tier literacy initiatives. Contreras was promoted to area superintendent over elementary, middle and high schools. Later, she became assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services, with responsibilities for special education, gifted, pre-kindergarten and ESOL programming.

In 2004, she accepted the position of chief academic officer for the 52,000-student Clayton County Public Schools in Jonesboro, Ga.

In 2007, Contreras became the chief academic officer for Providence Public Schools in Rhode Island. She implemented an Aligned Instructional System, improved the graduation rate and rolled out a Pathways to Prosperity initiative to provide high school students with greater access to college and careers.

Contreras attended Binghamton University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English literature. She also earned a master of arts in teaching; a master of arts in English literature and a master of science in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently completing her Ph.D in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is a dissertator.

IRP is a community program established by University College of Syracuse University, dedicated to the principle of lifelong learning.

The Oct. 18 session of Thursday Morning Roundtable will feature Stephen A. Rogers, editor and publisher of The Post-Standard, and Tim Kennedy, president of Syracuse Media Group.

The pair will discuss the changes taking place at the Post-Standard as they move to a three-day-a-week print schedule. The changes are part of a restructuring that will bring the newspaper and the website under the same umbrella. The new company will be called Syracuse Media Group.

TMR meets from 8:15-9:15 a.m. at Drumlins, 800 Nottingham Rd.

For further information, contact Sandra Barrett, director of community programs, 315-443-4846 or visit www.uc.syr.edu/community/tmr. The TMR program is broadcast on WCNY-FM, 91.3 on Sundays at 8 p.m. and at www.wcny.org/radio/thursday-morning-roundtable.

“Health Care for Homeless Veterans: VA’s Five-Year Plan to End Homelessness,” the third in a five-part seminar series, will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 16, from 5:30-7 p.m. in SU’s Life Sciences Building Auditorium.  

Adam Ormsby, program coordinator of Health Care for Homeless Veterans in Upstate New York, will discuss the physical and mental health needs of homeless veterans. Ormsby will share startling statistics of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as serious psychiatric and physical health diagnoses. Support services available for low-income veterans and financial assistance available to prevent veterans from falling into homelessness will be addressed. Ormsby will share the VA’s plans for improving employability and increasing independent living for those who have served our nation.

All seminars are free and open to the public. No registration is necessary. Parking is available in the Booth Garage and the Q4 lot.

For more information, visit salute.syr.edu/seminars or call 315-443-9297.

In 1944, under the direction of President Franklin Roosevelt, nearly 1,000 war refugees from countries across Europe were brought to Fort Ontario in Oswego. The Oct. 4 session of the Institute for Retired People (IRP) will feature Elizabeth Ann Kahl, a former member of the Safe Haven Board of Directors. She will discuss how the president’s decision altered the lives of those refugees and the small community that gave them shelter and hope.

Kahl was raised in Muncie, Ind., where she attended Ball State Teachers College and Marian College, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She moved to the Syracuse area in 1970 and taught English in various schools in the area until 1982.

Kahl received a master’s degree from SUNY Oswego in 1982 and became a computer program developer in education for federal grants. She began her advanced studies at Syracuse University and remained at SU as a computer consultant for faculty for 20 years. She served on the Safe Haven Board of Directors from 1999– 2010, was elected vice president in 2003 and board president in 2005.

The IRP program runs from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. IRP sessions are held at the First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville.

 The Oct. 4 session of Thursday Morning Roundtable will feature Andy Mager, project coordinator for the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign, and Jack Edwards, member of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs.

The pair will discuss the partnership between the Onondaga Nation and Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) that is developing a major statewide educational campaign to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first treaty between the Haudenosaunee and European settlers. The Haudenosaunee retain the Two Row Wampum Belt on which this treaty was originally recorded.

Mager has worked as an activist for more than 30 years in the peace, environmental and social justice movements. He served on the staff of the Syracuse Peace Council for the past 10 years and coordinates the work of NOON. Mager’s work with people of the Onondaga Nation began in 1982, when he coordinated the development and implementation of two highly acclaimed collaborative yearlong educational series.

Edwards works on a variety of environmental issues and is actively involved in the organizing of the Symbolic Enactment as part of the Two Row Wampum Campaign.

TMR meets from 8:15-9:15 a.m. at Drumlins, 800 Nottingham Rd.

 For further information, contact Sandra Barrett, director of community programs, 315-443-4846 or visit http://www.uc.syr.edu/community/tmr. The TMR program is broadcast on WCNY-FM, 91.3 on Sundays at 8 p.m. and at www.wcny.org/radio/thursday-morning-roundtable.