2019 Annual Parenting Conference - REFLECTIONS ON RAISING SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN

Join local educators and mental health professionals who will share their passion and experience on developing successful, happy and resilient children. Get inspired to broaden your parenting aspects from their reflections on:

• Building intrinsic motivation
• Developing leadership via effective communication
• Understanding impact of family of origin
• Learning empathic conflict resolution
• Decoding teenagers' rebellion and rebuilding closeness
• Finding and challenging oneself during college application

Contact: Jingshan Zhang (617-785-4240), Sandra Liu (732-809-1901)

Featured Panelists

Kevin D. Bals is the principal of High Technology High School, which was ranked by US News as the #1 STEM high school in the country for the past five years. With over 30-years' experience as an educator, Kevin strives to inspire and encourage students to be creative problem solvers and to reach beyond their own dreams and aspirations. He received his M.A. in Educational Leadership from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Susan Chilvers, Ph.D. is the founder of The New School of Monmouth County. Her pedagogical and life philosophy is based on educating a whole child. Using a hands-on, project-based, integrated model, she has created a learning environment that is collaborative, non-competitive, non-authoritarian, student-centered and peer/teacher supportive. The New School has focused not only on producing academic and intellectual achievements, but also on integrating social and emotional development. Susan brings us 50 years of experiences <teaching the love of learning>.  She received her Ph.D. from University of Massachusetts.

Jeri Quirk, Ph.D. has worked with children and families for 50+ years in several capacities. She is the co-founder of three Sudbury schools, including The Jersey Shore Free School. Jeri has long been apprehensive about the negative impact of coercive education on children, teenagers and our society. She deeply enjoys experiencing the healthy emotional development and the myriad learning pursuits of children who are free to follow their inner passions. She has a Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Mental Health Counseling.

Hui Shi is a certified special education and bilingual education teacher in NY and NJ, with a master's degree in these areas and in Early Childhood Education from Columbia University. She recently resigned from her positions as teacher supervisor at Teachers College, Columbia University and adjunct professor in the School of Education of St John's University, in order to pursue her doctorate degree in School Psychology.

Scott Taylor, Ed.D. is the Superintendent Highland Park Public Schools in NJ and an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University and Montclair University. He is a recognized leader in the cultivation of social-emotionally rich school culture. The Academy of Allied Health and Science he once led was known as one of the first National Service Learning Leader Schools. He received his doctorate from Columbia University.

Ying Wang M.D. is a Pennsylvania-based psychiatrist. She emigrated from China at 11, and her quest for cultural and self-identity continues to this day. She received her MD from Yale University and completed her training at Harvard Medical School. She has taught medical students and residents and enjoys mentoring inquisitive young minds. As a community psychiatrist, she works with under-served, at-risk patients, and those with complex medical comorbidities. She also serves as an expert consultant to physicians in other specialties. Besides her professional field expertise, Ying also brings us first-hand experiences as a 1.5 generation immigrant, a "role-model" kid who attended Ivies and became a doctor.

Moderators:

Sandra Liu is the president of PCE club. She has been passionately practicing <Journey to Intimacy>, <Nonviolent Communication> with the PCE volunteer team during the past two years. She holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from NJIT.

Joy Zhao is the founding principal and subsequent Director of Academics at YingHua International School, one of the first private schools on the East Coast combining Chinese immersion education with International Baccalaureate accredited programs. She is passionate about dual language education and has extensive experience in teacher training, parent education, and designing inquiry-based Chinese immersion curriculum for Pre-K through 8th Grade. She holds two master''s degrees in U.S., one in elementary education and the other in community counseling.