MERGE: Auburn

MERGE: AUBURN

Welcome to MERGE: AUBURN! Join us for an exciting event at Drake Middle School as we kick off the best conference of the year! MERGE is designed to bring teachers, student leaders, and guests together in this unique development approach. With the emphasis of a teacher-designed conference, we hope that you will come together with us and move forward better for the next school year.

Who can attend MERGE? Anyone! The cost includes two meals, a conference shirt, door prizes, and loads of quality tutorials on how to be a more inclusive educator and leader of our differently-abled students. If you want to learn from some of the most engaging speakers and educators, you wont want to miss MERGE!

About our Speakers

HK Derryberry is a highly sought after motivational speaker who lives in Columbia, Tennessee. With his long-time friend, mentor and speaking partner, Jim Bradford, he has shared his amazing story of hope and determination with more 150,000 people nationwide since 2017.

Born July 13, 1990 at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, HK arrived three months premature due to an automobile accident that took his nineteen year old mothers life. His father, now deceased, abandoned him at age five and his paternal grandmother has raised him. The automobile accident and premature birth left HK with physical and intellectual disabilities, including blindness and cerebral palsy.

HK was featured nationally in USA Today, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and The Huckabee Show on TBN. His book, “The Awakening of HK Derryberry” is an Amazon best seller and the 2017 Audi Award winner for the nation’s best non-fiction faith based audio book.

Never one to allow his disabilities to hinder his capabilities and due, in part, to his always positive attitude, HK is a graduate of the Tennessee School for The Blind where he served as a cheerleader and, as a senior, was selected by his classmates to receive the school’s most prestigious honor “King of the Senior Prom.” HK served two terms on the Nashville Mayor’s Advisory Council for People With Disabilities, received Nashville’s Trey Pointer “Young Citizen of The Year Award,” attended The Leadership Forum For People With Disabilities at Vanderbilt University, and is a graduate of Tennessee Partners in Policy Making Leadership Institute. He currently serves on the Miracle League Columbia Tennessee board...an ADA-compliant baseball park and playground for people with disabilities.

When speaking, HK’s audience takeaway is “The Only Disability Any Of Us Have In Life Is A Negative Attitude.”

Join us for a day with H.K., Jim, and many other dynamic speakers at MERGE: AUBURN on July 16th.

Host or Publisher Project Outreach Gulf Coast