CREATING THRIVING SCHOOLS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

While the pandemic has left many students feeling stressed and uncertain about the future, schools can become places that help students learn and thrive in this uncertainty.

Psychological science research has found that providing a sense of purpose and meaning, fostering love and social connections, and encouraging curious exploration can help children thrive despite rising anxiety, trauma, economic hardship, and challenges. In fact, Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman proposes that Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” is more like a ship than a pyramid where the sails that propels self-actualization and helps buffer against fear and uncertainty are purpose, love, and exploration.

This virtual conference will show how students, teachers, and leaders can cope, grow, learn, and thrive in a new normal of uncertainty. It will explore the science and benefits of promoting purpose, restoring connections, supporting self-stories, and cultivating curiosity. Discover ways to create thriving schools and classrooms, meaningful learning, a sense of belonging, teamwork, and collaboration, resilient students, and curious classrooms that will boost learning and thriving in an uncertain Post-COVID Age.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Leading and changing schools for a changing world

The science of purpose and creating purposeful classrooms

Helping students, teachers, and leaders cope, grow, and thrive

The science of social connections and moving from just “me” to “we”

How curiosity counters anxiety and how to create curious classrooms

Strategies for self-care, resilience, and change for educators and leaders

Benefits of games, design thinking, and curiosity for math and reading

The need for purpose, meaning, and exploration in uncertain times

Ways to strengthen student resilience and agency for achievement

Creating schools of belonging and promoting positive self-stories

Providing purposeful, meaningful collaboration and teamwork

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Educators, Parents

Curriculum, Staff Developers

Speech-Language Pathologists

PreK-12 Teachers, Administrators

Learning Specialists, Special Educators

Psychologists, School Psychologists, Counselors

Early Childhood Educators, Professionals

Reading, Math, Science, Technology Teachers

Superintendents, Principals, School Heads

Adolescent Educators, Clinicians, Counselors

Social Workers, Mental Health Professionals

Guidance, Career, College Counselors

College, University Professors

Featured Speakers

Setting Sail: The Need for Purpose, Meaning, and Exploration in a Sea of Uncertainty

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Cognitive and Humanistic Psychologist; Founder and Director, Center for Human Potential; Professor, Columbia University; Honorary Principal Fellow, Center for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne; Former Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania; Host of the #1 Psychology Podcast, The Psychology Podcast, with over 30 million downloads; Columnist, “Beautiful Minds,” Scientific American; Author, Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential (2025), Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization (2020), Twice Exceptional (2018), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2015); Co-Author, Learned Helplessness (2020), Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (2022), Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2016), and “Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity” (2018, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity)

Building Our Children’s Resilience, Wellbeing, and Prosociality Through Positive Connections

Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD

The Neurobiology of Me and We (MWe): Integrating Both for Belonging and Thriving Relationships After COVID

Daniel J. Siegel, MD

From Leadership to Buildership: Build Better Schools While Thriving in Your True Purpose

Robyn R. Jackson, PhD

The Deep History of Ourselves

Joseph E. LeDoux, PhD

Leveraging Curiosity: Detailing Pathways for Maximal Student Wellbeing, Resilience, and Learning

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University; Director, Well-Being Laboratory; Awarded the 2013 “Distinguished Early Career Researcher” Award by the American Psychological Association; Author, The Art of Insubordination (2022), The Upside of Your Darkside (2017),Designing Positive Psychology (2010), and Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life (2009); Co-Author, “How Curiosity Enhances Performance: Mechanisms of Physiological Engagement, Challenge and Threat Appraisal, and Novelty Deprivation” (2024, Happiness Studies), “A Unified Approach to Managing Emotions and Pursuing Purpose in Life” (2023, Cognition and Emotion), “Behaving Versus Thinking Positively: When the Benefits of Cognitive Reappraisal Are Contingent on Satisfying Basic Psychological Needs” (2023, Contextual Behavioral Science)

The Power of Meaning

Emily Esfahani Smith, MA

The New Science of Thriving: Helping Children Flourish in a Post-COVID World

Christina D. Bethell, PhD

PURPOSEFUL BRAINS: CREATING SCHOOLS OF MEANING & PURPOSE TO HELP KIDS THRIVE

Setting Sail: The Need for Purpose, Meaning, and Exploration in a Sea of Uncertainty

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

From Leadership to Buildership: Build Better Schools While Thriving in Your True Purpose

Robyn R. Jackson, PhD

The Science and Power of Meaning

Emily Esfahani Smith, MA

Promoting Purposeful Learning in Teens and Schools

Patrick Cook-Deegan, BA

Lecturer, Stanford University; Social Entrepreneur who has developed experiential education programs for mindfulness education (Inward Bound Mindfulness Education), wilderness education (Back to Earth), and social innovation (Brown University’s Social Innovation Initiative); Founder, Director, and CEO, Project Wayfinder - an educational organization funded by the Stanford University d.School to equip students and teachers with tools and skills to create purposeful lives; Former Fulbright Scholar; Author, Redesigning American High Schools for the 21st Century” (2016, Stanford Social Innovation Review

Helping Children and Teens Discover Their Purpose in Life and Thrive

Kendall Cotton Bronk, PhD

Thrive: Reinventing the Purpose of Schools for a Changing World

Valerie Hannon, MEd

The Human Side of Education: Authentic Leadership in Turbulent Times

Julie M. (Wilson) Jungalwala, MEd

Purposeful, Meaningful Classrooms: Establishing Purpose for Yourself and Your Students

Douglas B. Fisher, PhD

Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University; Classroom Teacher, Health Sciences High and Middle College; Co-Author, Teaching Students to Use AI Ethically and Responsibly: Exploring AI With Intentionality, Curiosity, and Care (2025), The Artificial Intelligence Playbook: Time-Saving Tools for Teachers That Make Learning More Engaging (2025, 2nd Edition), Rigor Unveiled (2025), Teaching Students to Drive Their Learning (2023), The Vocabulary Playbook: Learning Words That Matter (2023), Teaching Reading (2022), Confronting the Crisis in Engagement (2022), and Improving Adolescent Literacy (2011)

THRIVING SCHOOLS: RAISING RESILIENCE IN STUDENTS, TEACHERS, & SCHOOL LEADERS

The New Science of Thriving: Helping Children Flourish in a Post-COVID World

Christina D. Bethell, PhD

A Neuroscience Approach to Improving Student Resiliency in Uncertain Times

Horacio Sanchez, MEd

President/CEO, Resiliency Inc.; Former Teacher; Former Mental Health Director and Consultant; Author, The Poverty Problem: How Education Can Promote Resilience and Counter Poverty’s Impact on Brain Development and Functioning (2021), The Education Revolution: How to Apply Brain Science to Improve Instruction and School Climate (2016), and A Brain-Based Approach to Closing the Achievement Gap (2008)

The First Step to Resilience: Don't Make Things Harder on Yourself

Mark R. Leary, PhD

Building Resilience and Psychological Thriving in Times of Chaos and Uncertainty

Emma Sepp??l??, PhD

Taking Time for You: Self-Care for Educators

Tina H. Boogren, PhD

Training the Brain to Thrive: A Framework for Promoting Purpose, Connections, and Curiosity

Cortland Dahl, PhD

Teaching Mathematics for Human Flourishing and Thriving

Francis E. Su, PhD

The Thriving Educator: Empowering Wellbeing Through Purpose, Perspective, and Perseverance

Chase Mielke, MA

Thriving in Today's Age of Anxiety and an Education Mental Health Crisis: Teaching Collective Efficacy to Cultivate Resilience, Mindfulness, and Reframe Self-Stories

Kristen Lee, EdD, LICSW

Behavioral Science Teaching Professor; Associate Teaching Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University; Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker; Psychotherapist; Educational and Organizational Consultant; Contributing Writer, Psychology Today; Author, Clean Slate: How to Make Change Happen (2025), Worth the Risk (2022), Mentalligence: A New Psychology of Thinking (2018), and RESET: Make the Most of Your Stress – Your 24/7 Plan to Well-Being (2014)

CONNECTED BRAINS: BUILDING SCHOOLS OF BELONGING, COLLABORATION, & TEAMWORK

Building Our Children’s Resilience, Wellbeing, and Prosociality Through Positive Connections

Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD

The Neurobiology of Me and We (MWe): Integrating Both for Belonging and Thriving Relationships After COVID

Daniel J. Siegel, MD

We Are Crew: Creating Schools of Belonging and Teamwork

Ron Berger, MEd

Rebuilding Relationships and Conflict Recovery After COVID-19

Candice D. Barnes, EdD

Purposeful, Meaningful Collaboration: Teaching Students How to Work Together

Trevor L. Muir, MA

Founder, New Teacher Academy; Founder, EpicPBL; Adjunct Professor, Grand Valley State University; Educator, Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation; Member, Michigan Department of Education Personalized Learning Initiative; Board Member, Aquinas College Education; Author, The Collaborative Classroom: Teaching Students How to Work Together Now and for the Rest of Their Lives (2019) and The Epic Classroom: How to Boost Engagement, Make Learning Memorable, and Transform Lives (2017); Co-Author, New Teacher Mindset: Practical and Innovative Strategies to Be Different From Day One (2024)

The Psychology of Belonging: Boosting a Sense of Belonging in Schools

Kelly-Ann Allen, PhD, FAPS

Neurodiversity in Schools: Creating a Culture of Belonging

Lauren Hough Williams, MSEd

Neurodiversity in Schools: Creating a Culture of Belonging

Maxwell Schneider, MA, MHC-LP

Flexing Muscles: Re-Awakening Atrophied Social Connections and Skills Needed for Post-Pandemic Learning

Karen S. Norris, PhD

Flexing Muscles: Re-Awakening Atrophied Social Connections and Skills Needed for Post-Pandemic Learning

Rhonda Vincent, PhD

CURIOUS MINDS: CULTIVATING CURIOSITY FOR LEARNING, COPING, & MENTAL HEALTH

Leveraging Curiosity: Detailing Pathways for Maximal Student Wellbeing, Resilience, and Learning

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD

Thriving and Curiosity: Ensuring Young Children’s Wellbeing, Achievement, and Curiosity

Prachi E. Shah, MD

Curiosity in the Classroom: Promoting Curiosity, Exploration, and Scientific Thinking

Jamie J. Jirout, PhD

Building a Curious School

Bryan R. Goodwin, MA

President and CEO, McREL International; Former Teacher; Author, Building a Curious School: Restore the Joy That Brought You to School (2020) and Out of Curiosity: Restoring the Power of Hungry Minds for Better Schools, Workplaces, and Lives (2018); Co-Author, The New Classroom Instruction That Works: The Best Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2022), Learning That Sticks: A Brain-Based Model for K-12 Instructional Design and Delivery (2020), and Unstuck: How Curiosity, Peer Coaching, and Teaming Can Change Your School (2018)

Creating Curious Classrooms

Kathleen M. Kryza, MA

Master Teacher; CIO, Infinite Horizons; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015), Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom (2011), Inspiring Elementary Learners (2008), Inspiring Middle and Secondary Learners (2007), and Differentiation for Real Classrooms (2009)

The Future of Education: Applying Cognitive Science, Design Thinking, and Games to Bring Purpose, Passion, and Curiosity to the Classroom

Lindsay Portnoy, PhD

Cognitive Scientist; Associate Teaching Professor in the Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership, Doctor of Education Program, Northeastern University; Former Teacher; Co-Founder of Immersive Science Learning Company, Killer Snails; Author, “An Opportunity for an Improved Post-Pandemic Education” (2021, Age of Awareness), Game On? Brain On! The Surprising Relationship Between Play and Gray (Matter) (2020) and Designed to Learn: Using Design Thinking to Bring Purpose and Passion to the Classroom (2019)

The Neuroscience of Curiosity: How Curiosity Affects Learning in Children and Adolescents

Matthias J. Gruber, PhD

STORYTELLING BRAINS: SUPPORTING SELF-STORIES, AUTHENTICITY, & AGENCY

The Deep History of Ourselves

Joseph E. LeDoux, PhD

Redirect: Strengthening Students by Editing Their Self-Stories

Timothy D. Wilson, PhD

The Power of Student Agency: Developing Purpose, Grit, and Positive Change

Anindya Kundu, PhD

Sociologist; Assistant Professor, Educational Policy Studies, Florida International University; Member, Career and Technical Advisory Council, The NYC Department of Education; TED Resident Speaker with over 6 million views; Author, The Power of Student Agency (2020) and “Making Distance Learning Vibrant: Student Agency is Key” (2020, Education Week); Co-Author, “The Unique Agency of Parenting-Strivers: An Anti-Deficit, Asset-Based Exploration of Black and Latinx Students with Children” (2022, Education for Students Placed at Risk) and "Grit and Agency: A Framework for Helping Students in Poverty to Achieve Academic Success" (2017)

A Neurological Approach to Thriving: Building Student Strengths and Self-Stories in Schools