Stressors have always lurked in our schools, threatening students and diverting significant amounts of
educators’ time and energy from teaching the academic and life skills that are so crucial for student
success. As we travel further into the 21st Century, messages from television, music, and social media
represent only a few of the growing threats that surround students’ school and home lives. Experts cite
rising rates of student depression and suicide, and threats of verbal and physical harm seem more
difficult to quell than ever before. This energy-packed session tackles modern stresses head on,
reviewing sources of stress from academics/grades, sports and other activities, social media, friends,
family, and more, incorporating an interactive approach that recognizes the limits of educators and
parents to protect students from stresses and focuses instead on practical strategies that empower
students to become more resilient, finding confidence, intrinsic motivation, and resolve to achieve
success regardless of how many times they have fallen short. Those attending will take away inspiring
activities and approaches that strengthen students’ sense of purpose and belief in their abilities to
overcome their circumstances and pursue success in school and in life. Specific strategies for gifted,
average, and struggling students from a wide variety of circumstances will form a foundation, but
teachers and administrators attending the session will take an active role in providing specific
circumstances from their own experiences as the basis for much of the workshop’s discussion. Teachers
and administrators will improve students’ resiliency by:

• Demonstrating an ability to construct a climate for resiliency in classroom, sports, and activity settings;
• Extending workshop examples to students with whom they work in their schools; and
• Incorporating strategies for stress management and resiliency into lesson, practice, and activity plans.

Date:    July 27, 2022

Time:        9:00AM-2:30PM

Location:               BHS ROE

Presenter:           Jim Kestner

Audience:              6-12 Teachers and Administrators

Cost:                       $125.00

Hours:                    5