Crucial Conversations About Cognitive Diversity

Join Us for Season Six!

The next episode of Crucial Conversations takes place on Wednesday, October 18, with Julie Skolnick.

In October, the 2e Center’s Maria Kennedy will be talking Julie Skolnick, founder of With Understanding Comes Calm.

Learn more about Julie’s work here.

Julie passionately guides parents of gifted and distractible children, mentors 2e adults, trains educators and advises professionals on how to bring out the best and raise self-confidence in their 2e students and clients. A prolific write and beloved speaker, Julie hosts The Haystack 2e Adult Membership Group, which welcomes all ‘2e adult needles,’ hosts Let’s Talk 2e! Parent Empowerment Groups, produces virtual conferences, and publishes “Gifted & Distractible,” a free weekly newsletter. Her book, Gifted and Distractible: Understanding, Supporting, and Advocating for Your Twice Exceptional Child, is due out in October 2023. Located in Maryland, USA, Julie’s clients and audience hail from all four corners of the globe.

ABOUT:

The Bridges 2e Center for Research and Professional Development is delighted to bring you a sixth season of Crucial Conversations about Cognitive Diversity! Formerly known as Critical Conversations about Cognitive Diversity, this monthly webcast features in-depth conversations with the top minds in gifted and twice-exceptional education.

Our host Maria M. Kennedy first joined the Bridges Academy staff as the director of the Phoenix Program. After successfully growing the program each year, she has taken on the position of director of the Bridges Educational Group. A speaker, author, and advocate, Maria has been featured on “Bright and Quirky,” as a panelist and educational expert. Several schools have used her webcast, ‘Strengths, Challenges, and my journey as my son’s advocate,” for teacher training. An educator for almost 30 years, Maria received her B.Ed. and M.Ed. in education from Manchester University (U.K). She earned Advanced Teacher Status from the Manchester Department of Education for her ability to develop curriculum and her skills within the classroom. She traveled internationally, teaching students and training teachers how to tap into the strengths of their gifted and challenged students. As a result of her work she has received several awards: “Teacher of the Year,” in North Carolina, “Golden Apple, Elementary Teacher of the Year,” in the Cayman Islands, and “New American Hero, an award for teaching and leadership excellence,” in Louisiana. Maria believes that to be an effective educator you must continue to learn and grow as a person. With this in mind, she constantly reads and works closely with leading educators in the field of 2e education.