Last night, Lausanne SEL kicked off its inaugural Speaker Series. More than a hundred Lausanne community members registered to see Jonathan Mooney, best-selling author of The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal and Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines.
"Jonathan was a great speaker," said Lausanne parent Kerry Connors. "I loved his book. I read it one sitting and did a lot of highlighting. It's rare to find a useful book on this topic that comes from a first-hand perspective that is really helpful. I appreciate Lausanne offering this speaker series, this is our first year at Lausanne and I am very impressed with the SEL program!"
The dynamic speaker talked for about forty minutes, discussing Neuro-diversity and his perspective on how learning differences should be acknowledged, celebrated, and harnessed to help us fulfill our dreams.
"It's important to talk about the various aspects of SEL and how they impact the lives of our students and our own lives," said Director of Lausanne Learning Amber Colvin. "Mr. Mooney's argument that learning differences are not problems with the child, but rather problems with an educational system that doesn't embrace and celebrate difference, is so crucial to Lausanne Learning's mission of transforming schools and encouraging lifelong learning."
After his discussion, the audience had the opportunity to participate in a question and answers session with Mooney.
"Jonathan was so engaging," said Greg Graber, Lausanne's Director of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). "One of our main objectives in putting this monthly speakers series together was to find experts in their respective fields who can add value to our community members' experience at Lausanne by presenting on timely topics. We are excited about our upcoming events."
Next in the speaker series lineup, guests will have the opportunity to join a virtual chat with Chanda S. Murphy, an adjunct professor, mother, yoga instructor, sports enthusiast and meditation teacher. Her specialties include helping employees avoid burnout, teaching children to manage emotions effectively and coaching athletes to channel adrenaline successfully.
The entire speaker series is offered on Zoom and is free. For those who can not attend the live presentations, the sessions will be recorded and posted. More information on the speaker series and registration for the next event may be found at https://www.lausannelearning.com/sel.
Watch the full video from last night's speaker series event featuring Jonathan Mooney here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCYTt7MZ9yA&feature=youtu.be