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Early Education Conference - Cultivating Resilience: Building Belonging - Saturday, October 1

Belonging is a central message of Christ. To belong is to feel secure. Without belonging, we are alone. We know students crave feeling accepted and valued and they need strong connections with both their families, teachers and peers. Research confirms caring relationships with educators motivate students to engage in the learning process. Belonging is our primary human need. Beyond food and shelter, nothing promotes human flourishing like having people and a place of belonging. In Christ, we can find true belonging: True belonging is being fully known and being fully loved. We long to belong, and so do our students.

We are all one in Christ (Gal 3:28).

Speakers: Joy Roberts and Julie Widman, Friendzy Co.

Joy Roberts is the co-founder of Friendzy, curriculum designer, speaker, teacher, and social-emotional learning advocate. She believes every student deserves a chance to succeed. At a young age she experienced childhood trauma understanding first hand that our greatest wounds come from people. Yet God has designed and hardwired us for connection and community. This has fueled her entrepreneurial spirit to launch a resource into schools that equips students to navigate the social and emotional challenges they have faced and will encounter. 

Julie Widman holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Washington. She went on to study Audiology and while in graduate school, Julie found herself drawn to looking at the whole child and the impact a hearing handicap had on their education. A decade ago, Julie began to recognize another disability in children. Coping skills and relational strategies were needed for not only her own children to successfully navigate their feelings and social situations but social emotional competence was often missing in their peers as well.