LCI Speakers for Parents & Students
Montrose hosts award-winning writer and professor Abigail Favale in its unique speaker series, after recently featuring for in-house parenting expert Deborah Farmer Kris.
As a school that partners with parents as their daughter's first and most important educators, Montrose continually seeks to provide expert resources to support parents. The LifeCompass Institute Speaker Series, free and open to the public, offers speakers who support that goal.
On Wednesday, April 26, Montrose welcomed Dr. Abigail Favale of the University of Notre Dame's McGrath Institute for Church Life, speaking on The Genius of Women: Why Girls Matter.
Dr. Favale's story provided a narrative of hope for the capacity crowd in the M&M Building, at a time when much of the news about teenage girls is negative. She shared her inspiring journey of how she discovered her own dignity as a woman, a Catholic and a feminist.
"On the first day of school this year, I shared my 'essential question' with students, parents and faculty: What do girls need to flourish and become the best version of themselves for others? Our speaker tonight is aiming to answer this question," said Head of School Katie Elrod.
Dr. Favale's story provided a narrative of hope for the capacity crowd in the M&M Building, at a time when much of the news about teenage girls is negative. She shared her inspiring journey of how she discovered her own dignity as a woman, a Catholic and a feminist.
Dr. Favale is a writer and professor in the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. With an academic background in gender studies and feminist literary criticism, she writes and speaks on topics related to women and gender from a Catholic perspective. Winner of the J.F. Powers Prize for short fiction in 2017, her books include Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion and The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory. Her essays and short stories have appeared in publications such as First Things, The Atlantic, Church Life and Potomac Review. She holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
In March, Montrose hosted parenting expert Deborah Farmer Kris speaking on Making Friends With Your Inner Voice: How Self-talk Can Help Teens (and Parents) Flourish.
"When we face a challenge, our inner voices can support and inspire us. But too often an inner voice can be our harshest critic, flooding us with negative self-talk," says Mrs. Kris. In her talk, she shared research-based strategies to harness your inner voice, practice reframing and tame your mental chatter.
Some of Mrs. Kris's strategies were featured in a recent article in the Boston Globe, There's an easy way to retrain the nasty internal voice telling you you're not good enough.
In March, Montrose hosted parenting expert Deborah Farmer Kris speaking on Making Friends With Your Inner Voice: How Self-talk Can Help Teens (and Parents) Flourish.
"When we face a challenge, our inner voices can support and inspire us. But too often an inner voice can be our harshest critic, flooding us with negative self-talk," says Mrs. Kris. In her talk, she shared research-based strategies to harness your inner voice, practice reframing and tame your mental chatter.
Some of Mrs. Kris's strategies were featured in a recent article in the Boston Globe, There's an easy way to retrain the nasty internal voice telling you you're not good enough.
As the LifeCompass Parent Educator, Mrs. Kris consults with Montrose School on its parent education program. Drawing on her decades of experience as a school administrator, speaker and child development expert, she provides practical wisdom and support for parents at school and parent events and workshops. Founder of Parenthood365, she is a columnist and consultant for PBS Kids and writes about education for MindShift, an NPR learning blog. Her work has been featured in the Washington Post. Mrs. Kris holds a BA in English and a BS in Education from BU and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University.
An independent school for girls in grades 6-12 guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church.
