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Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Award-winning journalist and author
Denise Dubravec
Winnetka Campus Principal/Assistant Superintendent of New Trier High School D203
Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It
NOTE: First 100 households will receive a free copy of Never Enough. Books will also be on sale. No registration required.
In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools. Parents, educators, and community leaders are facing the same quandary: how can we teach our kids to strive towards excellence without crushing them?
In Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It, award-winning reporter Jennifer Breheny Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture and finds out what we must do to fight back. Through deep research and interviews with today’s leading child psychologists, Wallace shows what kids need from the adults is not more pressure, but to feel like they matter, and have intrinsic self-worth not contingent upon external achievements. Parents and educators who adopt the language and values of mattering help children see themselves as a valuable contributor to a larger community. And in an ironic twist, kids who receive consistent feedback that they matter no matter what are more likely to have the resilience, self-confidence, and psychological security to thrive.
Ms. Wallace began her career in television at 60 Minutes, where she worked as a journalist for many years. She is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She will be in conversation with Denise Dubravec, the Winnetka Campus Principal/Assistant Superintendent of New Trier High School, District 203. Ms. Dubravec is in her twenty-sixth year as a school administrator and has enjoyed a 12-year tenure within the New Trier community.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded but not livestreamed and will be available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Event Sponsors
- The Alliance for Early Childhood
- The Avery Coonley School
- Baker Demonstration School
- Barrington D220
- Beacon Academy
- Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School
- Brickton Montessori School
- Catherine Cook School
- Chiaravalle Montessori School
- Chicago Jewish Day School
- Compass Health Center
- The Cove School
- Evanston Scholars
- Evanston Township High School D202
- The Family Institute at Northwestern University
- Family Service Center
- Foundation 65
- The Frances Xavier Warde School
- Francis W. Parker School
- Glencoe D35
- Gorton Center
- Grayslake Community High School D127
- Haven Youth and Family Services
- Hyde Park Day School
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Kenilworth D38
- Lake Bluff D65
- Lake Forest Academy
- Lake Forest Community High School D115
- Lake Forest Country Day School
- Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools
- Latin School of Chicago
- Leo Catholic High School
- Loyola Academy
- Lycée Français de Chicago
- Mindful Psychology Associates PC
- Morgan Park Academy
- New Trier High School D203
- New Trier Parents’ Association
- North Shore Country Day
- Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations
- Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy
- Pope John XXIII School
- Rebel Human
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
- Resurrection College Prep High School
- Rogers Park Montessori School
- Roycemore School
- Sacred Heart Schools
- Santa Clara University School of Law
- Science & Arts Academy
- Stevenson High School D125
- University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
- Wilmette Public Library
- Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District
- Wolcott College Prep
- Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.)
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