Greetings!

We hope you've had a productive Memorial Day Weekend. We also hope that some of the work we all do will make war less likely in the future. JM

CORRECTION : Since this announcement we realized that Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" is actually the #1 TED talk ever with an astounding 51 million views. Also, we are extending the special rate for the conference in honor of Sir Ken Robinson until the end of the month, Thursday, May 31st. It will then go higher until the conference. Contact us directly ASAP with any special requests. Replying to the e news only goes to us. Ed

Sir Ken Robinson to be Keynoter at AERO Conference

We’re proud to announce that world renowned speaker, author, and educator Sir Ken Robinson will be a keynote speaker at this year’s  AERO Conference , June 28-July 1st at LIU/Post Campus on Long Island.
 
Robinson recently told us, “I’m delighted you have Henry (Readhead from Summerhill) on board. I’m happy, of course, to do anything I can to support the event.”
 
Robinson, whose TED talk " Do Schools Kill Creativity ? " is a top TED presentation with over 14 million views. He keynoted the AERO conference in Portland, OR in 2012. He also wrote the introduction to the AERO book, School’s Over: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education .
 
Sir Ken Robinson’s talk will be live streamed to the AERO conference and he will answer questions from AERO conference participants and will dialog with Henry Readhead from Summerhill. Henry is A.S. Neill's grandson, currently a staff member at Summerhill, and will keynote Saturday, June 30th.

In celebration of this great honor we are rolling back the registration rate until the end of May, the 31st. To see the rate  go to registration . No code is necessary.

Register  here
New Workshop From Two Sudbury Students

Two students from South Jersey Sudbury School will be doing a workshop on the topic of trust. They feel this is key to understanding free schools.
 
“First we will hand out the following quiz and give the audience 5-10 minutes to fill it out. Then we will introduce ourselves and talk about how trust affects all of us, and how trust is important for free schools (this section will be brief). Then we will talk about the quiz we handed out.”
 
Questions for the Workshop:
 
1.    Would you trust your child in a free school environment?
2.    Would you trust yourself as a child at a free school?
3.    Where and when is trust important in day to day living?
4.    Do you think every child is capable of being at a free school?
5.    How do you think we can get parents who don't believe in free school to believe their child will thrive and flourish in a free school?
6.    What got you to believe in free schools and if you don't what fears are holding you back?
 
We will then start by asking 2-3 people what their answer was for the first question and have a conversation on why they answered it in that way. We can do this for each question we have on the quiz.
 
Ending: Neil and I will give a little talk about why and how Sudbury has been so influential on our lives and why it is so important to us and how trust affects free schools and all of us. Then the audience will have a chance to ask us a few questions.

See the rest of the workshops here .
A Crystal-clear and Lofty Goal
By M. Donald Thomas and Lynn Stoddard

“To accomplish any lofty goal, you must have a crystal-clear image of that goal and keep it uppermost in your mind.” — Marilyn King

Read the rest here .
Teens and Screens: An adolescent mental health crisis is brewing. Are smartphones and social media to blame?
Here’s a noncontroversial fact: The sun will rise tomorrow.

Here’s another: If you give a young person more unrestricted free time, there’s a good chance they’ll spend it on their phone, computer, or gaming system.

Read the rest here.
David Hogg Before Santa Fe Shooting: ‘There’s Somebody That Will Not Be Alive Tomorrow’
In a May 17 panel discussion with other student activists, David Hogg of Parkland, Fla., had a prescient message about the devastating effects of gun violence.
One Registration Scholarship Left!

Three people in the AERO network wanted to support AERO and the conference. They paid the full registration fee for two people who needed scholarships to go. We have one left! Contact us directly by replying to this e news if interested. It only goes to us. Anyone else want to do the same?

Some Questions for Attendees and Potential Attendees:
Let us know if you are interested in having a live stream of all of the major talks, keynotes, TED-style presentations and some workshops. We're considering it at the request of a few people who can't make it to the conference. If we get enough interest we'll do it

If you need to stay off campus and are driving contact us.

Let us know if you have a group or particular needs to go to the conference. We don't want people to miss this one!

If you want to volunteer at the conference for a reduced rate, Just reply to this post to respond. It only goes to us.

Why You should go to the AERO Conference

People brainstormed their top ten list of why they go to the conference, and gave us great words of support.  Click here to see a few of those quotes and lists.


Package deal of registration and single or shared room
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