#CATCA2017

Approximately 1 in 4 children suffer neglect or abuse. They bring their anger, betrayal, and hurt to school as they keep a shattered home life secret. In sharing her own personal experience of abuse, Louise Blank takes you behind the mask of behavior many children wear. She also shares the simple words her teachers offered that lifted her out of a very dark hole and helped to pull back the mask.

Making a difference in someone's life doesn't take grandiose gestures. The simplest of kind gestures and words rose again and again in my mind when I had to choose what road I would head down. Many of those came from teachers.In this presentation, I provide a firsthand look behind the mask and share how teachers supported and encouraged a belief that I could be so much more than my circumstances.

There will be some hard, emotional moments in this presentation but there will also be lots of humour. While I was a bad-ass, thankfully anger wasn't my only defence mechanism. Humour helped me survive some very dire circumstances and it connected me to the teachers who used humour to diffuse situations.

I  have lots I want to share and look forward to seeing you February 23.