“Everyone is doing better than I am! They’re all so much smarter and the work is so easy for them. I feel like I can’t compete or that I need to take all advanced classes or even 5 APs!”
Taming the Tempestuous Sea
Students and Experts share stories and advice about successfully navigating and surviving the high expectations of the Gunn community featuring Denise Pope, Ph.D.
May 4, 2011
Gunn High School, Spangenberg Theater
7 - 9 pm
• Listen to Gunn students share their stories of academic peer pressure and the challenges of living in a high- achieving place like Palo Alto
• Learn coping strategies and tools to help your child from our expert panelists Denise Pope; Katya Villalobos, principal of Gunn High School, and child psychologist Lea Goldstein
• Get your questions answered! There will be a question and answer period during the program.
Due to the high level of education and success of our community, many of our children perceive that they just aren’t smart enough and can’t compete with other students who they think are smarter, harder workers and more talented.
How do we encourage a more realistic perspective, maintain appropriate academic support and reinforce common values for our kids? What can we do for the students who feel they are failing because they are not the super achievers? Due to feeling that they are inadequate, these “middle of the road” students often want to get off the track and stop striving.
Our Experts
Denise Pope, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education and Co-Founder of Challenge Success, a research-based intervention that aims to reduce unhealthy pressure on youth and champions a broader vision of youth success. For the past eleven years, she has specialized in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. Challenge Success is an expanded version of the SOS: Stressed-Out Students project that Dr. Pope founded and directed from 2003-2008. She lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. Her book Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students was awarded Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal. Dr. Pope is a 3 time recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Outstanding Teacher and Mentor Award.
Katya Villalobos is currently the principal at Gunn High School. She first came to Palo Alto Unified in 1995 and began her teaching in US Government, Contemporary World History, and US History. She has served as an assistant principal at Palo Alto High School and as principal at Capuchino High School in San Bruno. Her background is in curriculum, instruction, and students services. Her greatest passion is to foster an environment where students can learn.
Lea Goldstein, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist with over twenty-five years experience working with adults, adolescents, and families. Dr. Goldstein specializes in working with teens and families with a focus on healthy adolescent development, transitions to adulthood, and substance abuse issues. She is the co-author of the book, titled “Drugs and Your Kid: How To Tell If Your Child Has a Drug/Alcohol Problem and What To Do About It”, with Peter Rogers, Ph.D., published by New Harbinger Publications. Dr. Goldstein currently maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Menlo Park, CA.
Contact R Ruth-Anne Siegel , or Sigrid Pinsky , for more information.
No comments :
Post a Comment