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Guest speaker series starts Sept. 30

Date: 9/16/2015

LONGMEADOW – The Special Programming Committee will sponsor a new guest speaker series featuring three presenters this year and there are plans to continue the program during the next three years.

Shelly Warren, substance abuse response coordinator for Longmeadow Public Schools and a member of the Special Programming Committee, told Reminder Publications the focus of the guest speaker series was to find presenters on topics such as reducing stress, managing pressures, and finding balance in life.

The first guest speaker is Christine Duvivier, who will present on Sept. 30 about untapped potential in students. Her lecture is entitled, “Beyond the Myths of Education – A Better Frame of Reference.”  

“Ms. Duvivier has a background in both business and positive psychology,” Warren said. “She likes to concentrate on what she calls, ‘the bottom 80 percent of students,’ whose innate abilities may not shine as brightly in an academic setting, but nevertheless are important for life success.”

The second guest speaker is Dr. Ruth Potee, a family medical doctor who practices in Greenfield and co-chairs the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County, Warren said.

Potee’s lecture is entitled “Under Construction: What Every Parent Must Know About Your Tween/ Teen’s Brain Development” and will take place Nov. 10.

“She’s going to speak about what we know about brain development through the tween and teen years and how brain development impacts students decision making and risk taking behaviors,” Warren said. “She has a particular focus on drug and alcohol use as well and how the brain is more vulnerable at that point in time to the effects of drugs and alcohol and how that frame parents’ approaches to that issue with their kids.”

The final speaker is Lynne Lyons, author of “Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: Seven Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children,” who will present on Feb. 9.  

“She’s going to focus on strategies to cope with anxiety and pressure and manage day-to-day life strategies that parents can use to support their kids,” Warren said.  

All guest speakers will present on their respective dates at 7 p.m. in the Longmeadow High School auditorium.