Bridging the Gap 2022-2023 STEM Educator Wellness Reboot

The Bridging the Gap conference team is excited to announce the inaugural Bridging the Gap STEM Educator Wellness Reboot, which will be held virtually on January 31, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This day-long virtual conference will feature keynotes and small group interactive sessions to carry K-16 educators into the New Year and through the second semester with all that is needed to stay healthy and motivated. The goal of this program is to provide STEM educators with research-based information and take-aways to promote physical and mental health and well-being.

All 2022 Bridging the Gap attendees automatically will be registered to attend the virtual STEM Educator Wellness Reboot, much of which will be accessible in recorded form afterwards.

The Happiness Plan:
What the Latest Science is Telling us about
Diet, Lifestyle and Brain Health

Dr. Ann Kulze will be the opening keynote on January 31, 2023, to launch the virtual Bridging the Gap STEM Educator Wellness Reboot.

With contagious enthusiasm, Dr. Ann brilliantly will transform the riveting body of new science as it relates to diet, lifestyle and brain health through a talk that is engaging, easy-to-grasp and truly actionable.

Whether your goals are to reset the stress button, ignite your intellectual power, beat depression or unleash your body’s full potential for vitality and disease prevention, this talk will be your gateway to exuberant health. You will be moved and inspired, but most importantly, you will walk away with take-action-today motivation and the complete package of cutting-edge guidance to optimize the health of your brain and body.

This talk is for you if you want to:

• transform mental wellbeing
• boost focus, memory and overall brain power
• reduce stress, anxiety and depression
• reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia
• dramatically improve the health of the entire body

NOTE: This 90-minute session with audience Q&A will be offered live and will not be recorded. 

Dr. Ann is a best-selling author, physician and highly sought-after motivational speaker in the areas of nutrition and healthy living. 

She received her undergraduate degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from Clemson University and her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, where she received numerous academic honors and graduated as the valedictorian of her class. With her formal training in both nutrition and medicine, along with extensive “hands on” experience as a wife, mother of four, and as an expert in the kitchen, Dr. Ann has distinguished herself as a one-of-a-kind “real world” nutrition and wellness authority. 
 
Dr. Ann is the author of six books including her best-selling, award winning Eat Right for Life series. She has been featured in many national media outlets including the Dr. Oz show, Oprah and Friends Radio, Time Magazine, USA Weekend, NPR and Prevention Magazine among others. Hundreds of businesses, including some of the country’s most prestigious medical centers, have used her books to help guide their employees to better health. With her online Healthy Living School, and her e-courses, she is taking her unmatched ability to inspire and educate to even greater heights.

What the Latest Research is Telling Us about Optimal Sleep

Sleep plays an important role in physical and cognitive health. Good sleep can improve your mood, your memory and concentration, and it can decrease inflammation. Effective sleep even can keep you healthy and well by supporting your immune system.

Mary Ellen Wells, Ph.D., Director and Associate Professor of Neurodiagnostics and Sleep Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will speak to What the Latest Research is Telling Us about Optimal Sleep. Her presentation will address the steps you can take to improve sleep and she will offer guidance for those seeking additional testing and support for optimal sleep in 2023 and beyond.

Aging with Grace: What Does Science Tell Us
About Living to Old Age?

Dr. Charles Semelka from the Wake Forest Baptist Health Department of Geriatric Medicine will share the latest research on optimal aging in his talk: Aging with Grace: What Does Science Tell Us About Living to Old Age?

Dr. Semelka received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his undergraduate degree in biology with a minor in Spanish from North Carolina State University. Dr. Semelka is the Nursing Home Associate Medical Director for the Bermuda Village Nursing Home Skilled Nursing Facility, and he is a co-investigator with the Wake Forest Baptist Health Hospital Department of Epidemiology.

Promoting Digital Wellness through a Neuroscience-Based Curriculum

The human brain goes through tremendous developmental change during adolescence. This renders teens especially vulnerable to mental health issues, which can be exacerbated by technology use. Come hear Rosa Li, Ph.D., Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Kelley Brill, M.S., Middle School STEM and Technology Instructor at Miami Country Day School, discuss the vulnerability – and opportunity – of the adolescent brain, and how they have come together to create a free psychology- and neuroscience-based curriculum that promotes healthy technology use to teens.