MomsConnect Conference 2024
The first ever conference just for mothers of middle and high schoolers
A full day event to empower moms with expert advice
Sep 22, 2024
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Palo Alto Events Center, 4249 El Camino Real, Palo Alto
Listen to experts on
COLLEGE MYTHS
A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL JOURNEY
VARIOUS PATHWAYS TO COLLEGE
SELECTING THE RIGHT COLLEGE
AND VARIOUS OTHER TOPICS
Agenda
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Panel: A Successful High School Journey
Panel Moderator: Irena Smith
Panelists
-
Grayson Giovine
-
Alec Katz
-
Judith Lee
-
Millie Roy
-
Brian Safine
Following topics & more:
- Passion project
- Extracurricular activities
- Leadership activities & research programs
- Summer camps
- Volunteer work
- Standardized tests
- APs and college courses
- Using college application counselors- Yes or No, Timing
- Parent involvement
- Grades & improvement
- Managing children (appropriate parent behavior)
- Passion project
- Extracurricular activities
- Leadership activities & research programs
- Summer camps
- Volunteer work
- Standardized tests
- APs and college courses
- Using college application counselors- Yes or No, Timing
- Parent involvement
- Grades & improvement
- Managing children (appropriate parent behavior)
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Panel: Pathways to College
-
Raja Ashraf
-
Sravani Banerjee
-
Rheanna Bates
-
Sonia Kakkar
-
Nida Mirza
Panel Moderator: Irena Smith
Panelists
Following topics & more:
- Course selection & intended major in college
- Financial aid in college
- Balance of time between various activities
- Dual Enrollment
- Community College and UC transfers
- College list selection
- GPA in school influencing college selection
- Options and accommodations for neuro-divergent children
- Gap year options after high school
- Family conflict
- Managing mental/physical health
- Therapy in middle and high school
Timing | Topic |
|---|---|
10:00 am - 10:30 am | Conference opening by bay area leadership |
10:30 am -11:00 am | Opening address by Irena Smith -- “Demystifying college myths” |
11:00 am - 12:00 pm | Panel - “A successful high school journey” |
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch |
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm | Presentation by Louis Newman -- "A Smarter Way to Think About College, and The Best Ways to Prepare for Success" |
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Panel - "Pathways to College" |
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Panel - "College-Goers' Perspective" |
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm | "Chai" bar - networking, and opportunity for 1:1 Q&A with the experts by the poolside |
Irena Smith
Irena Smith, Ph.D., a former English professor and Admissions Officer at Stanford University, has dedicated her life to helping students navigate the college admissions process. She is also a celebrated author and TEDx speaker. Irena wrote the book, "The Golden Ticket," because she wanted to interrogate how we define success—for ourselves, for our children, for others—and to broaden the boundaries of that definition. She approaches the issue of college admissions in a very unique and effective way - one that makes a lot of sense to us. Irena understands the weight of generational expectations, the "pressure" school kids face to perform, and the fear that drives parents to hire "pricey" counselors who promise the world.
Speakers
and college admission experts from Harvard, Stanford, UCs and community colleges...
Louis Newman
Louis Newman, Former Dean of Academic Advising and Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University is a private coach committed to student success, and is also a celebrated author of "Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success," in which he encapsulates the lessons he has learned in academic years of teaching and advising. He has valuable advice on topics such as how to select the right college, what to major in, and how to approach the college admission process holistically.
Brian Safine
Brian is beginning his thirtieth year as an educator in Saratoga. He has held multiple positions in the Saratoga learning community including teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal overseeing guidance. Prior to coming to Saratoga, Brian taught English in Taipei, Taiwan. Brian is a Bay Area native who enjoys and appreciates the diversity found in our community. He holds a bachelor’s degree from U.C. Santa Barbara, a master’s degree, pupil personnel services credential and administrative credential from San Jose State University. Brian encourages his students to pursue intellectual and extracurricular areas of passion during high school and to find a corresponding match in their post-secondary destination.
Sravani Banerjee
Sravani Banerjee is an English professor at Evergreen Valley College, and also teaches in the ASPIRE program, catering to the needs of the Asian students. As the national TYCA Rep, she represents the English departments of the California community colleges at a national level. A global studies fellow from Stanford, Sravani is passionate about teaching and traveling. She is a great mentor and has guided numerous parents and students in the community college pathway or dual enrolment program. Sravani's current project has a threefold purpose: to globalize her curriculum to serve the diverse student population in community colleges, to eliminate the cost of a textbook by building OER on global and social justice issues, and finally to inspire students to be “civically responsible global citizens."
Millie Roy
Mille Roy is an education consultant who provides guidance to High School students for the college admission process. She helps students with high school class selection, summer plans, college search, and college essays. Millie has helped numerous students to navigate the high school journey successfully.
Judith Lee
Judith Lee is an independent admissions counselor empowering ages 12+ to manifest their heroes’ journeys. She lives with her husband and three kids in San Francisco where they enjoy investing in good ideas and great people. Judith is a Bank One Scholar graduate of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and got her undergraduate degree at the prestigious College of William and Mary.
Dr. Nida Mirza is a licensed clinical psychologist with unique expertise in mindfulness for optimizing wellness, multiculturalism, emotion regulation, and women’s health. Dr. Mirza works with high achieving students (and their parents) in stress reduction and those coping with perfectionism, procrastination, worry, guilt and imposter syndrome. She is adjunct clinical faculty at Stanford's psychiatry department and also teaches psychology and counseling skills to undergraduate and graduate students as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University and Palo Alto University.
Dr. Nida Mirza
Sonia Kakkar
Sonia Kakkar has an extensive background working with children, adolescents, adults, and families, particularly those who are navigating symptoms of anxiety and depression. She utilizes evidence-based practices to help her young clients explore their thoughts, behaviors, and gain valuable insights into patterns to impact positive change. Sonia helps young adults enhance their coping strategies, cultivate self-awareness, and foster healthy relationships to become more resilient in the face of life’s stressors. She is passionate about improving the mental health of children and has an excellent understanding of the stressors that school-going children face in the bay area.
Grayson Giovine
Grayson is the founder of Zenith Tutoring and is one of the world’s leading experts on the SAT and ACT. Grayson's Perfect Score Program specializes in helping students achieve perfect scores; in fact, they guarantee 1580+ on the SAT or 36 on the ACT for qualifying students. Despite Zenith’s reputation for perfect scores and helping students at the high end, they work with students of all ages and ability levels. They firmly believe that all students are capable of achieving their lofty goals—even if that goal is perfection—if they’re willing to start early and work hard.
Raja Ashraf
Raja Ashraf has spent her career identifying, understanding and articulating how individuals across industries make an impact at work and in their communities. As an Assistant Director in the MBA admissions office at Stanford Graduate School of Business and an Associate Director for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business she evaluated applicants for admissions, trained new hires on identifying high potential leaders, led interviews and supported initiatives to increase the diversity of the applicant pool. Now, as a Director at Bancroft Advising, she helps aspiring MBAs and mid-career professionals craft a powerful narrative that highlights their leadership and impact and works with them to communicate their story to different audiences.
Rheanna Bates
Rheanna Bates, guides high school students to become strong writers, confident self-advocates, and adventurous learners. As a Harvard College graduate, she knows firsthand the demands of elite colleges and prepares students to succeed through recognizing their own strengths, following their passions, and embracing their stories. Twenty years of experience as a Hollywood story editor, writing coach, and tutor have honed her expertise in supporting a wide range of students with improving their self-awareness, confidence, and communication skills to create a compelling admissions narrative. Rheanna helps students to find best-fit colleges that will best support them.She also organizes pro bono college essay workshops for Bay Area first-generation college applicants, and mentors students as a volunteer for BATS Scholars.
Alec Katz
Alec is chasing his dreams to not only help middle and high school students discover and pursue their passions, but also to provide college students with a platform to provide mentorship. His organization, Curious Cardinals, has featured on CNN and in Forbes highlighting the vision to create a community of lifelong learners and doers. He was recognized in the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Education and Youngest category. At Stanford, he won awards from Nasa for a satellite he designed, and worked for Stanford’s GPS Lab and Lockheed Martin as one of the only undergraduate researchers.
Aarya Pandit
Aarya is a recent Biology graduate from Tufts University and will be starting med school at the Tufts School of Medicine in July 2025. He went to Saratoga High School. He is enjoying his gap year by shadowing specialists, volunteering and traveling the world. In his free time he enjoys working out, singing, and the outdoors.
College-Goer Panelists
Akshar Sarvesh
Akshar (He/Him) is a 4th year BS/MS student at Stanford, studying Computer Science and Music. Akshar graduated from Saratoga High School in 2021. In high school, he was captain of the Men’s Golf Team his senior year, and started a cover rock band, “The Firecrackers.” At Stanford, he is a member of the Chamber Chorale. This past year, he served as the Music Director for the all original comedy a cappella group, “The Stanford Fleet Street Singers.”
Anushka Sanyal
Anushka is in her final year at Stanford University, studying Human Biology with a concentration in Health Systems & Policy. Anushka is interested in improving health outcomes through evidence-based interventions at individual, organizational, and policy levels.
Oishika Barat
Oishika Barat is a program manager at Google. She graduated from UC Irvine last year with a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Business Administration.
Shlok Gore
Shlok Gore graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Microbial Biology and Data Science. Exploring ideas, asking questions, and trying new things are all that Shlok incorporates into his everyday life, whether it be in classes, athletics, music, or conversations.
Shreya Pujari
Shreya Pujari is a graduate from the Berklee College of Music with experience in digital marketing, sync licensing, and PR. She recently completed a B.M. in Music Business and Mediterranean Music to further her passion for international cultures and the music industry. She is currently working on launching her start-up "Global Notes."
Sanketh Santhosh
Sanketh Santhosh is a Class of 2024 graduate from UCLA with a major in Political Science and minor in Education Studies. He is also a proud transfer student, spending the first 2 years of his undergrad at West Valley College in Saratoga. At UCLA, he was a Campus Tour Guide, Academic Peer Counselor, and volunteered with underserved children in Venice through an on-campus organization called Kids Korner. In his free time, he enjoys drumming, thrifting, exercising, and watching movies.
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