Dr. Kelly Lake, professor of early childhood education, demonstrated the importance of early childhood development at the 37th Annual Faculty Lecture on Wednesday, April 13 in the Garvin Theatre.
The Annual Faculty Lecturer is the highest honor that can be received at City College. The instructor is nominated by faculty and students.
The lecture titled, “The Power of Resilience=C7,” focused heavily on the ability to overcome the obstacles of adolescence. Lake discussed the importance of giving children the tools to deal with any challenges that are thrown their way.
Dr. Kelly Lake, the 37th annual faculty lecturer, Tuesday, April 12, outside the Garvin Theatre at Santa Barbara City College. Lake is an early childhood development professor at City College.
“Life is not always easy, life is not always convenient,” Lake said. “And sometimes it doesn’t come in a big box with a pretty bow on top.”
Lake’s focus over the course of the speech were the “seven C’s” that encompass the power of resilience. Those seven words were competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control.
He used these terms along with a series of questions to compose a speech that was a window into the pasts of everyone who spoke.
Throughout the lecture, Lake kept coming back to the idea of the “bike ride,” which represented childhood. He compared failing to falling off of a bike and being taught to get back on and try again.
“Trying and failing was just a part of the process,” said Darrell Forthe, an instructor of early childhood education.
All of the stories shared by Lake and the speakers involved failure. The stories were a testament to the importance of building resilience in children.
The fourth ‘C’ deals with character, which is incredibly important to have a moral center, Lake said.
“Our sense of morality, our sense of right and wrong gives us the opportunity to keep making smart choices.”
Esther Frankel, a computer information systems professor. She discussed how her character had been shaped by her parents who were Holocaust survivors. She said they “provided a realistic view of a very complex world at a relatively early age.”
Lake closed his lecture by discussing the importance of the last ‘C,’ control.
“Don’t let anyone ever out-prepare you, out-work you or out-hustle you. And that’s how we maintain control,” said Paula Congleton, head softball coach.
The overarching idea Lake was trying to impart was something that he opened up with, “to learn to be resilient [is] a skill we have to be taught.”
Superintendent-President Dr. Lori Gaskin addressed the crowd after the speech, saying it was “an amazing journey into the life of early childhood education.”
