Your potential is our passion.
Motivational Speaker Mike Smith shares experiences to inspire students
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The Role of Laguna’s assembly program is to add value to our school’s curriculum and to bring students and faculty together, creating a sense of community. At Laguna we set aside 45 minutes every Thursday to devote to the assembly program. Assemblies are more than just a change from the school day routine. “Whether they are entertaining, curriculum-based, or simply inspirational, our goal is for assemblies to capture students' attention and to inspire them,” explains Assembly Coordinator Trish McHale. This week, Laguna students had the timely opportunity to hear from Motivational Speaker Mike Smithwho is passionate about empowering high school students across America to "Speak for the silent, Stand for the broken" -- which he actually has tattooed on his arm.
Mike’s candid and authentic message dovetailed with Ms. Tidey’s recent experiential learning unit that extends discussions of vulnerability and transience in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men to the context of larger local, national, and global community issues of homelessness, public health, and street medicine—all of which relate to questions of civic responsibility. Just this week, Laguna students, parents, and faculty participated in a local community survey of those experiencing homelessness.
Given one of the student questions asked at the end of this week’s assembly -- “How can we help?” -- students certainly walked away from Mike’s presentation feeling challenged to be a better person. As a result, a school wide sock drive is now in the works and a collection box is located in the library on the Hope Ranch campus.
Mike Smith is the Executive Director for THE BAY, one of the few non-profit skate parks in the country. He works with young people from all walks of life encouraging them to pursue their passions and live out their dreams. He is also the Executive Director of Skate For Change (SFC), an organization that empowers young skateboarders to help the homeless in their communities. SFC chapters have now spread to major cities nationwide. Mike has skateboarded across the state of Nebraska raising money for these organizations for three years in a row. He plans to extend this journey from New York City to Los Angeles this summer.
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The Role of Laguna’s assembly program is to add value to our school’s curriculum and to bring students and faculty together, creating a sense of community. At Laguna we set aside 45 minutes every Thursday to devote to the assembly program. Assemblies are more than just a change from the school day routine. “Whether they are entertaining, curriculum-based, or simply inspirational, our goal is for assemblies to capture students' attention and to inspire them,” explains Assembly Coordinator Trish McHale. This week, Laguna students had the timely opportunity to hear from Motivational Speaker Mike Smithwho is passionate about empowering high school students across America to "Speak for the silent, Stand for the broken" -- which he actually has tattooed on his arm.
Mike’s candid and authentic message dovetailed with Ms. Tidey’s recent experiential learning unit that extends discussions of vulnerability and transience in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men to the context of larger local, national, and global community issues of homelessness, public health, and street medicine—all of which relate to questions of civic responsibility. Just this week, Laguna students, parents, and faculty participated in a local community survey of those experiencing homelessness.
Given one of the student questions asked at the end of this week’s assembly -- “How can we help?” -- students certainly walked away from Mike’s presentation feeling challenged to be a better person. As a result, a school wide sock drive is now in the works and a collection box is located in the library on the Hope Ranch campus.
Mike Smith is the Executive Director for THE BAY, one of the few non-profit skate parks in the country. He works with young people from all walks of life encouraging them to pursue their passions and live out their dreams. He is also the Executive Director of Skate For Change (SFC), an organization that empowers young skateboarders to help the homeless in their communities. SFC chapters have now spread to major cities nationwide. Mike has skateboarded across the state of Nebraska raising money for these organizations for three years in a row. He plans to extend this journey from New York City to Los Angeles this summer.
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Laguna Blanca is Santa Barbara’s premier private, co-educational, college preparatory day school for students in Early Kindergarten through Grade 12.