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University School of Milwaukee hosted its third and final speaker series event of the 2024–25 school year through its partnership with REDgen on Thursday, Feb. 20. The event featured Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore, clinical psychologist and author of “Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends,” and covered the subject of helping children navigate friendship challenges. It was free and open to the general public.
Kennedy-Moore also led assemblies for Middle School students during the school day, ate lunch with Middle School students, and spoke to Middle School faculty at the end of the school day.
In all presentations, she provided information and strategies to help children learn to make friends, keep friends, and be a good friend. She spoke about common friendship challenges and shared practical ideas for handling friendship rough spots, as well as how feelings affect whether their relationships grow stronger, fade, or fall apart. For the evening presentation, she shared how parents can practice and model skills to meet challenges and support children.
About Kennedy-Moore
Eileen Kennedy-Moore, Ph.D., (also known as “Dr. Friendtastic”) is an author, psychologist, and mom of four, based in Princeton, N.J. She is the creator of the “Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic” podcast, where she answers questions from children about making and keeping friends. Her blog, Growing Friendships, on Psychology Today, has over 5 million views. Kennedy-Moore has been featured many times in major media, including Live with Kelly and Ryan and The New York Times. Her recent books include “Moody Moody Cars” (for ages 4-8), “Growing Friendships” (for ages 6-12), and “Kid Confidence” (for parents).
The USM/REDgen Speaker Series is a partnership between University School of Milwaukee and REDgen, a Milwaukee-based organization which fosters active community conversations around what it means to live a healthy, balanced life with authentic success. This is the year of the formal partnership and speaker series events. More information on speakers who visited USM in previous years can be found here.
