The Community Speaker Series promotes district-wide learning about education, child development, wellness, and parenting. It is open and free to all members of the K-12 learning community.
The intention of the series is to encourage proactive parenting that supports children’s and adolescents’ social and emotional development as well as their academic achievement.
Through this series, District 86 and District 181 enlist top experts to inform and inspire our community as a means to enrich the school-family partnership that undergirds the education of our students.
What Do You Say?
How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 -9:30am – 11:00pm
In Person at The Community House
If you’re a parent, you’ve had a moment–maybe many of them–when you’ve thought, “How did that conversation go so badly?” William Stixrud Ph.D. and Ned Johnson have 60 years of combined experience talking to kids, and the most common question they get from parents and educators is: “What do I say?”
Johnson and Stixrud show how to engage in respectful and effective dialogue, suggest new ways to handle specific thorny topics, and provide a manual and map for communicating more effectively with your child.
The Emotional Lives of Teenagers:
Raising Adolescents Who are Connected, Capable, and Compassionate
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
6:30pm -8:00pm Zoom Webinar
Adolescent mental health isn't about feeling good, calm, or relaxed, but about having the right feelings at the right times, and knowing how to manage those feelings effectively.
Lisa Damour Ph.D. offers guidance to adults on how to help teens open up, and how to keep teens from being overwhelmed by their emotions or feeling at the mercy of their moods. She provides concrete strategies for dealing with teens’ arguments, risk-taking, emerging romantic lives, friendships, social media, and more.
No More Mean Kids
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
7:00pm - 8:30pm (Register)
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
9:30am – 11:00am (Register)
In Person at The Community House
Katie Hurley LCSW discusses the critical role empathy development plays in improving a child’s relationships, mental health, and ability to work through difficult times.
She presents an overview of the impact of bullying and cyberbullying, and then provides a proactive approach for empowering empathy and resilience in our children. Barriers to both are discussed. Parents will leave the program with concrete strategies for increasing empathy, kindness, and resilience.