Spring Lizard Talks

Lizard Talks take place throughout the year and are an opportunity for professional adults, from within and without our school community, to share their expertise with high school students. This Spring has featured several Lizard Talks on the subject of meditation and consciousness, video game design, and better understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, gender, and sexuality.

Jaime Flores

Hacking Life: The Journey of Self-Knowledge

Jaime Flores is the IT Coordinator at Oak Grove School and a Facilitator of Pneuma Transpersonal Training & Pneuma Breathwork. In the talk, Jaime explored how to unlock the hidden potential of our consciousness by drawing upon the wisdom of both ancient and modern sciences of the mind, including the Allegory of Plato’s Cave. Through this exploration, students were shown ways to approach life’s challenges with greater clarity and purpose.

Michael Hemmert Jensen – Gaming

Oak Grove parent and Software Engineer with 15 years of experience, Michael gave a wonderful presentation on the inner-workings of computer game design and more. Since 2014, he has been working at Riot Games developing systems for managing professional players in Esports tournaments, tracking game stats for broadcast teams and viewers, and handling video for online streaming. Recently, Michael has been working on the League of Legends deploy team, building tools for delivering regular updates to the game. In his free time, Michael loves DIY projects, 3D printing, travel, and, of course, playing video games.

Azalea Corral

Understanding the LGBTQ+ Community: What is Gender and Sexuality?

Azalea Corral is Pacific Pride Foundation‘s Training and Education Manager. She is a Latina woman who is part of the LGBTQ+ community. She is completing her Master’s Degree in International and Multicultural Education. Azalea grew up in both Santa Barbara and Goleta, and has worked professionally to create inclusive learning environments throughout California in places such as the University of California, Riverside, and San Francisco State University. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, playing guitar, and practicing her photography skills.

Lizard Talk

Recent Blog Posts:

Press – Our Pandemic Story

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“Our Pandemic Story,” installed inside the school’s new Reflective Classroom, gives students, families and staff the opportunity to share their individual pandemic stories and to create a shared, community-wide story, according to Head of School Jodi Grass.
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Parent Ed, Social Relationships & Health

Parent Ed – Social Relationships & Health

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Humans are social animals. Does the quantity and quality of our social relationships impact our state of health, future risk of disease, and our life span?  Are the effects of relationships via social media the same or different from those of in-person relationships? Please join our presenter Dr. Pathik Wadhwa in a discussion that will touch on the biological and behavioral science behind social relationships, both in-person and virtual.
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Do Lecture, Meredy

Embracing The Agile Mind

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Former Head of School, Meredy Benson Rice, now the Director of Teaching and Learning spoke about her personal journey as an educator and how students experience education at Oak Grove School as part of the 2015 Do Lecture Series.
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