Conference Highlights: June 19th 2008

On June 19th, I drove to The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville CT with three of my students to attend the ISGP Conference(Independent School Gender Project) We stayed in the dorms for three days and went to lectures, concerts and workshops all about empowering women! There were quite a few amazing things about this conference that I'd like to share with you.

The guest speakers were incredible. If you need some inspiration, go out and buy the book calle Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. Here is what you need to know about her:
" Immaculee Ilibagiza was born in Rwanda and studied elctronic and mechanical engineering at the National University of Rwanda. Her life transformed dramatically in 1994 during the Rwanda genocide whne she and seven other women huddled silently together in a cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house for 91 days! Four years after the Rwandan tragedy, Immaculee immigrated to the US and began working for the United Nations in NYC. She has since established the Left To Tell Charitable Fund to help others heal from the long-term effects of genocide. "In all of my countelss hours with her, in a multitude of private and public settings, this transcendentally spiritual woman always and I mean always- shines a light that captures everyone within its boundaries" says internationally renowned author and speaker Dr. Wayne W. Dyer." http://www.lefttotell.com/
The bottom line is, that this woman went through the most horrific ordeal you can imagine and her story ends up being one of forgiveness and hope. I cant describe the peace and love that feel in this womans presence. She is an inspiration to anyone who is suffering in anyway to use the power inside of you to survive.

The next amazing woman who spoke was Lori Schneider. She has traveled to the corners of the earth in search of unique cultures, people and challenging experiences. She was a teacher much like me who woke up one day at the age of 43 and discovered numbness in over 50% of her body. Within two months, it had spread throughout her entire body. The doctors uttered two little letters from the alphabet and her life was changed - MS. When the crippling shock of the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis wore off, she quit her job, left her husband and decided to climb the highest peak on each continent known as the "7 summits" (yeah...CRAZY) She has already conquered Africa, Europe, South America and North America and now she is heading for Australia and Antarctica this year. I dont quite understand how she is funding her new found passion and freedom from work and she never quite said how she got her health under control, but we certainly saw her strength and power in her photos as the only woman in each hiking group.

Another highlight in my opinion, was a concert by a woman named Edie Carey. She has 4 albums and is a Boston-based, folk-pop singer-songwriter. S he sings about the usual old resentments, creativity, anger, lost frienships, lust and of course love, but somehow she is not your typical folk singer...she told hilarious stories inbetween each song. "Her story telling is rich with humanity and insight". http://www.ediecarey.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/ediecareymusic

The last thing I want to tell you about is the workshop I went to on FOOD! You MUST check out the newly updated government site where you should set up a profile and enter all your foods, and it literally tells you what you are missing and what things you are doing well. Check its out: http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and if you have children...this is something you should really do with them...it makes them feel like they are doing a computer game but they are really learning about their nutrition. (My Pyramid Tracker)

All in all, this was a fantastic conference that I would recommend to women across the world. They gave us a recommended reading list in case you want to check out any of these books:

• Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan by Sally Armstrong
• The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
• The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom by Phyllis Chester
• Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide by Maureen Dowd
• Sex and Power by Susan Estrich
• A Tribe Apart: A Journey Into the Heart of American Adolescence by Patricia Hersch
• Kite Runner by Haled Hosseini
• Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kiddler
• Cant Buy Me Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel by Jean Kilbourne
• Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
• Why Gender Matters: What Parents & Teachers Need To Know About the Emerging of Science of Sex Differences by Leonard Sax
• Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons
• Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write About Bullies, Cliques, Popularity and Jealousy by Rachel SImmongs
• Slut: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation by Leora Tanebaum
• Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boysfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosiland Wiseman
• Where The Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan Douglass
• Gutsy Girls: Young Women Who Dare by Tina Schwager
• The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins
• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both by Laura Stepp
• Closing The Leadership Gap: Why Woman Can and Must Help Run the World by Marie C. Wilson
• Why Women Should Rule The World by Dee Dee Myers
• So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents can do to Protect Their Kids by Levin and Kilbourne