SEX IN CONTEXT:

HOURS AND RATES

August 13th, 9:00-4:00
August 14th, 9:00-4:00

Individual Rate: $1250
Group Rate: $1000
Student Rate: $500

Early Bird Individual Rate: $1150
Early Bird Group Rate: $850

*Group rates apply for three or more participants

*Early Bird registration ends May 15th

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Sexuality is fundamental to who we are as human beings and integral to every child's intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. However, in our current moment, fewer than half of our students receive basic knowledge about human anatomy and reproduction. Far fewer, even, receive comprehensive sexuality education that includes the relational and self awareness skills to thrive in their sexual landscapes.  

In a world where intimacy, agency, and joy are left out of sexual messaging to children and teens, students are often left on their own to construct healthy sexual experiences. We educators can turn the tide on this form of injustice and neglect, truly providing the comprehensive sexuality education our students need and deserve.

We are fortunate to have entered an era in which schools recognize the necessity of social-emotional well-being and attending to the needs of the whole child. Strengthening holistic sexuality education is paramount to each child’s healthy development, and professional development is integral to the strength of each institution’s programming.

The two-day Sex in Context conference will provide a dynamic space of deep learning and community where participants can immerse themselves in the foundational principles that underpin comprehensive PreK-12 human sexuality education. Attendees will learn relational, ethical, and pedagogically sound teaching strategies, skills for surmounting institutional obstacles, and pathways to cultivating community momentum and support.

On Day 1, participants will engage with keynote speakers who are experienced and innovative veterans in the field, learning fundamental information that will frame their practice moving forward.

After identifying their institution’s individual needs, on Day 2, participants will select several workshops that support their next steps as they strengthen the sexuality education programs at their schools. 

COMPETENCIES AND TAKE-AWAYS

• Connect key principles to each school’s mission statement

• Deepen skills to create institutional change

• Create a tangible plan for a pedagogically and developmentally sound curriculum that meets real student need

• Hear relevant experiences from current and former Upper School students

• Utilize effective teaching pedagogies

• Center inclusivity and best practices for meeting the needs of students of all gender and sexual identities

• Effectively address pushback from parenting constituencies

• Establish authentic partnerships with families around raising sexually healthy children and adolescents

KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Deborah Roffman, educator, consultant and author of many books including Talk to Me First:  Everything You Need to Know to Become Your Child’s Go-to Person About Sex; But How Did I Get Here in the First Place: Talking to Your Young Child About Sex; and Sex and Sensuality: The Thinking Parent’s Guide to Talking Sense About Sex. Named one of Time Magazine’s “Top Sixteen Parenting Experts for the 21st Century,” A human sexuality educator, consultant, and author based in Baltimore, Maryland, she has taught sexuality education in grades 3-12 at the Park School for more than 40 years. In addition to her constant writing and teaching, she’s worked with parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, students, alumni, and trustees at more than 400 schools and organizations across the country, and she’s published widely throughout the national media. 

Shafia Zaloom, health educator, curriculum designer and author of Sex, Teens and Everything in Between. Shafia has worked with thousands of children and their families in her role as teacher, coach, administrator, board member, and outdoor educator. She has contributed articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous parenting blogs. Shafia’s book, Sex, Teens and Everything in Between has been reviewed as “the ultimate relationship guide for teens of all orientations and identities.” It is one that “every teen, and every parent and educator - and every other adult who interacts with teens - should read.” Shafia is currently a health teacher at the Urban School in San Francisco, teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and develops curricula and trainings for schools across the country. She was honored by the San Francisco Giants Foundation in 2018 for her work with Aim High, a program that expands opportunities for students  and their teachers through tuition-free summer learning enrichment, and was recently granted CAHPERD’s Health Teacher of the Year Award for 2021. Her work has been featured by many media outlets including, The New York Times, USA Today, NPR, KQED, and PBS. 

Dr. Cara Natterson, MD is a leading voice in puberty and adolescent health. A pediatrician, speaker, and the co-host of The Puberty Podcast, she is the author of ten books, including the bestselling This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained and the New York Times bestselling The Care and Keeping of You series. When her own kids started puberty, Cara founded Order of Magnitude, the first company aimed at making this stage of life more comfortable with product and content. Cara graduated from Harvard college and Johns Hopkins Medical School, trained at UCSF, and lives in Los Angeles.

Perrin Ireland, researcher, illustrator and artist. Creator of Thirsty Science Newsletter and substack. Perrin Ireland’s work is a collaboration with the natural world, scientists, and the viewer, whose engagement informs her visual and performance research. She has built an art practice inside scientific and policy institutions, telling stories situated between what we know about the planet and our belonging to it. She began by illustrating a marine biology lab’s research at Brown University while earning a science degree. From 2012-2022, she created watercolor animated videos about climate change, oceans, and endangered animals at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Her work has appeared at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Discover Magazine, Nature Magazine, Scientific American, Damn Joan Magazine, Physics World, and The Rumpus. Recent experience includes the 2022 Format Festival in Bentonville, Arkansas; a Summer 2022 Carpenter's Boatshop Residency in Pemaquid, Maine; a 2021 Works on Water residency on Governors Island and the ICAMiami/Knight Foundation Art + Research Center's Fall 2021 Oceanic Archive Semester.