Keynote: Breaking Down GRIT into teachable Skills and supportive approaches 

Katie Pagnotta

Katie Pagnotta is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, functional success educational consultant, and creator of the Brain- and Body- Aligned Responsive Systems (BBARS) of Excellence framework. She guides educators, administrators, and school staff in a strengths-based approach that leverages the human design and empowers the development of the necessary mindsets and habits that lead to re-envisioned success; success balanced with wellness and goal attainment. 

Katie’s recently published book, Empowered by the Human Design; Utilizing the BBARS of Excellence Framework to Foster Student and Educator Success includes interview segments from 18 experts within the fields of education, psychology, and neuroscience including Leah Kuypers, author of The Zones of Regulation, Mike Anderson, author of Tackling the Motivation Crisis, etc. and Lynn Lyons, author of The Anxiety Audit, etc. The book is a work of collective wisdom synthesized in a user-friendly way to facilitate practical application for educators. Its reviewers have called it, “a powerful and practical new model for regulation and resilience”, “required reading for all educators”, “a gift to the field”, and “a game-changer”