Edtalksmn

Dr. Ann Masten is a Regents Professor of Child Development and the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Masten has studied resilience in children and families experiencing homelessness for more than 25 years in collaboration with shelter providers and school districts in the Twin Cities. Her research focuses on risk and resilience in human development with the goal of informing and fostering practices and policies that support success for young people who have experienced trauma. She is the author of Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development, among many other publications, and regularly offers a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on resilience which draws participants from around the world.

Bryan Boyce is the founder and Executive Director of Cow Tipping Press, which cultivates writers with developmental disabilities and gives readers a new way to think about this rich form of human diversity. As the sibling of a brother with developmental disabilities, Bryan knows firsthand the value and richness of exchange across neurological difference. He seeks to give others this opportunity—an alternative to presuming deficit and pity—through the often inventive, radically self-representative writing of Cow Tipping authors. Bryan is joined by Cow Tipping author Shinoa Makinen, who started writing 2008.

Paul Creager is a Curriculum & Media Arts Coordinator at Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been an educator for nearly 20 years, during which time he's conducted curriculum research in Japan, UK and most recently India as a Fulbright Scholar. Paul is also an award winning documentary filmmaker, and founder of the Square Lake Film & Music Festival. He lives on the festival property north of Stillwater near Square Lake with his partner Angela and two daughters.

Sambath (Sam) Ouk is the English Language Coordinator for Faribault Public Schools. He and his family survived the Cambodian Killing Fields and immigrated to the United States in 1982. Sam has researched, proposed and implemented a variety of programs for newly arrived immigrants and students learning English and has written about the acculturation experiences of refugees. He hopes that through his work he can further the field of English Language instruction and help students and families overcome barriers he and his family faced.

Jenny Wright Collins is Executive Director of the University of Minnesota YMCA. She is a proven non-profit leader committed to transforming Twin Cities communities through youth development, educational equity, cross-sector collaboration, and innovative leadership development. With over 15 years of experience working with youth, she manages programs that engage 8,000+ young people state-wide, including the Beacons Network, University of Minnesota college student development programming, Statewide Youth in Government and the Teen Thrive program in Y branches across the Twin Cities. Jenny grew up in South Minneapolis and attended Minneapolis Public Schools before earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota

Gayle J. Smaller is Executive Director of the New Lens Mentoring Society, which he created in 2014 to close the opportunity gap between students of color and their white peers in Saint Paul Public Schools. Gayle draws on his vast experience as a teacher, principal, and educational consultant and uses a unique multi-generational mentoring and experiential approach to closing the achievement gap. Born and raised in North Minneapolis in a family well-known for its commitment to education and civil rights, Gayle is also a spoken-word artist and poet. He holds a B.S. in Designing K-12 Alternative Learning Environments and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota.

Rebeka Ndosi, L.Ac, MSOM Rebeka Ndosi recently left the education and nonprofit worlds to focus on individual and collective healing. A licensed acupuncturist and level II trained yoga and meditation instructor, she is the owner of Healing Illuminated and co-owner of People’s Movement Center. Rebeka was nominated for an Emmy as producer of TPT’s narrative-changing Black Brilliance, which featured five African American high school seniors. She also teaches yoga and meditation to probational youth in St. Paul, and believes that healing takes place when we are seen and heard as who we really are. Rebeka spoke about incorporating meditation and self-care into our lives.

Dr. Mark Sander, PsyD, LP is Director of School Mental Health for Hennepin County and Minneapolis Public Schools, and a Senior Clinical Psychologist for Hennepin County. As a certified Master Trainer in the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES), he helps develop trauma informed organizations and trauma sensitive schools, and publishes and speaks nationally on school mental health. Dr. Sander discussed how understanding adverse childhood experiences can help schools, and all of us, build self-healing communities.

2014 MN Teacher of the Year Tom Rademacher, and one of his students Arieanna Whitley, discuss how students can help lead and create anti-racist classrooms. Former Minneapolis School Board member, and current State Representative Peggy Flanagan talks about how knowing where we come from can determine where we're going.

This EDTalks focused on storytelling and art and how they can be tools for teaching and learning. Beverly Cottman, tells stories, myths and folktales rooted in African and African-American traditions. Beverly uses storytelling as a powerful tool to transform lives, pass on values, instill pride, evoke self-love and celebrate culture. She developed her expertise as a storyteller during 30 years as an educator in Minneapolis Public Schools and 15 years as a grandmother. Lindsay Walz,founder and Executive Director of courageous heARTS, discussed how our roles as community teachers and learners. Lindsay’s background as a youth worker has been strengthened by her lived experience of trauma. She uses this experience to shine light on the prevalence and impact of trauma in our everyday lives.

Our February 2016 EDTalks featured Bertrand Weber, the Director of Nutrition and Culinary Services for Minneapolis Public Schools who discussed the importance of high-quality school lunches and his innovative work leading the Farm-to-School movement. Dr. Megan Gunnar is the Associate Director of the Center for Neurobehavioral Development, and the Director of the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Gunnar discussed the importance of early brain development and how we need to start engaging children in learning before kindergarten.

Our April 2015 EDTalks featured Kao Kalia Yang, a teacher, public speaker, writer and author of the award-winning book "The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. She spoke about her experiences as a Hmong student in public schools. Dana Mortenson, co-founder of World Savvy believes deeply in the transformative power of global education. Dana discussed the importance of globally competent teaching. Our emcee for the evening was Tane Danger.

We kicked off our 2016-17 season of EDTalks with a discussion on demographic data - how the demographics of Minnesota and the metro area have changed over time, and what these changes mean for our communities and our classrooms. Ruth Hamberg, Engagement Specialist from MinnesotaCompass presented "Who Is Minnesota" and gave us a foundation of our community's demographics. KaYing Yang, Policy Director for the Coalition for Asian American Leaders, discussed "Who Are We Talking About? The Importance of Disaggregating Data" and how digging deeper in to data sets can help communities advocate for equity. Javier Morillo was our emcee for the evening.