Discussion Panel, Moderated by Laura Duran
How to Find the Right College?
Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 7PM – Mountain View High School – Spartan Theater
Hear from four professionals involved in recruiting, applications and admissions on how to find the right college and where to look for great programs that will hopefully lessen the stress of applying.
Panelists: Lorenzo Gamboa – University of Santa Clara, Jermaine Rucker – University of Idaho, Riley Stewart – Reed College, Morgan Volkart – Lehigh University
Moderated by: Laura Duran, Counselor, LAHS College and Career Center
Peggy Orenstein
Let’s Talk About Sex: How a New Generation Navigates Hookups, Porn, Love & Consent
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 7PM – Los Altos High School – Eagle Theatre
In this talk, Orenstein combines her research with voices of both boys and girls (as well as those between or beyond genders), to discuss the impact on high school and college students’ sexual scripts of mainstream media, social media and porn; hookup culture; changing expectations around consent; the politics of sexual pleasure; the diversity of sexual orientations; gendered power dynamics. With humor and compassion, she separates myth from reality, ultimately giving parents, educators and young people the conversational tools they need to ensure safe, pleasurable, mutually satisfying sexual encounters and intimate relationships.
Jennifer Wallace
Never Enough: Mattering as a Solution to Toxic Achievement Pressure
Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 7PM – Crittenden Middle School – Auditorium
In this eye-opening talk, Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture, explores its harmful impact on our kids, and delivers the powerful solution: mattering, the psychological concept of feeling like you add value and are valued regardless of your external achievements. Wallace provides a practical mattering framework that parents and educators can use to tackle achievement pressure at home and in the classroom.
Ruth Whippman
BoyMom: Exploring the Challenges of Raising Men in the Modern Age
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, 7PM – Los Altos High School – Eagle Theatre
With young men in the grip of a loneliness epidemic and dying by suicide at a rate of nearly four times their female peers, Whippman asks: How do we raise our sons to have a healthy sense of self without turning them into privileged and entitled brats? How can we find a feminism that holds boys to a higher standard but still treats them with empathy? And what do we do when our boys won’t cooperate with our plans?
Dashka Slater
Accountable: Dealing with Racism in Our Own Backyard
Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 7PM – Mountain View High School – Spartan Theater
Join the author, Dashka Slater, discussing the propulsive and thought-provoking true story about the revelation of a racist social media account that changes everything for a group of high school students and begs the question: What does it mean to be held accountable for harm that takes place behind a screen?
Announcing the MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series for 2024-2025
The MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series is thrilled to unveil our speaker line-up for the 2024-25 school year! Local and nationally recognized experts will lead parents in conversations about wide-ranging topics, including navigating the evolving cultural landscape around sex, parenting in our high-achievement environment, exploring the difficulties of parenting boys in contemporary society, learning about a case study in racism at a local high school, and making informed decisions about higher education.
NEXT UP:
Discussion Panel, Moderated by Laura Duran
How to Find the Right College?
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 | 7PM | Mountain View High School – Spartan Theater
Hear from four professionals involved in recruiting, applications and admissions on how to find the right college and where to look for great programs that will hopefully lessen the stress of applying.
Panelists:
Lorenzo Gamboa – University of Santa Clara; hyperlocal, looking at Catholic colleges/Jesuit schools with mission of service, social justice, commitment to the community.
Jermaine Rucker – University of Idaho; looking at public universities who are WUE members, benefits to studying and living outside of California as an alternative to UC/CSU. (WUE: The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a tuition savings program that makes attending out-of-state colleges and universities more affordable for students in the West.)
Riley Stewart – Reed College; Member of Colleges that Change Lives, liberal arts college experience, distinctive grading philosophy, rate of students pursuing advanced degrees, Reed Thesis. (Colleges that Change Lives – Distinctly Different Liberal Arts Colleges)
Morgan Volkart – Lehigh University; Member of CACHET , interdisciplinary majors, research opportunities, business, looking at schools farther away from home. (CACHET – national coalition of colleges and universities committed to promoting opportunities for students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM))
Moderated by: Laura Duran, Counselor, LAHS College and Career Center
EVENT CALENDAR
Peggy Orenstein
Let’s Talk About Sex: How a New Generation Navigates Hookups, Porn, Love & Consent
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 7PM
Los Altos High School – Eagle Theatre
Jennifer Wallace
Never Enough: Mattering as a Solution to Toxic Achievement Pressure
Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 7PM
Crittenden Middle School – Auditorium
Ruth Whippman
BoyMom: Exploring the Challenges of Raising Men in the Modern Age
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, 7PM
Los Altos High School – Eagle Theatre
Dashka Slater
Accountable: Dealing with Racism in Our Own Backyard
Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 7PM
Mountain View High School – Spartan Theater
Discussion Panel, Moderated by Laura Duran
How to Find the Right College?
Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 7PM
Mountain View High School – Spartan Theater
Please check back throughout the school year for more detailed information and registration for each event. MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series events are free, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors.
RESERVE YOUR SEAT
Our events do fill up. As we add events, we will also add links to our registration information. Check back here often to reserve your spot!
Our Sponsors
The MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series is made possible thanks to the continued generosity of our sponsors.
