Every year, KO students hear from a renowned science professional. This year, on Friday, March 9, Dr. Tiffany Jones came to give a talk.
Dr. Jones is a psychologist who has done research on anxiety and stress, and how social media affects our brain chemistry. Dr. Jones graduated from Hobart and William Smith College, with a major in psychology and English and a minor in women’s studies. In recent years, Dr. Jones has been a sports psychology consultant for many schools, teams, and athletes.
The presentation she gave was based around managing stress and anxiety, and the optimal mindset for performance, a topic that is relatable for many students.
Science teacher Tim Allerton had seen a similar presentation elsewhere by Dr. Jones and brought her forward as a possible speaker. It was with this in mind that Dr. Jones was chosen as the Stroud Science Symposium speaker for this year.
“[Mr. Allerton] had witnessed the same activity she had done on stage with the biofeedback, and he thought she would be an interesting speaker. Someone who could relate well to high school students,” said science Department Chair Fritz Goodman.
Mr. Allerton’s statement ended up being correct, as Dr. Jones proved to be a relatable speaker for high school students. “I thought her message was cool, “ said sophomore James Ravalese, “and I thought she was pretty down to earth. She showed that you really have to put in the work when using these techniques for test taking and things like that.”
Multiple students found Dr. Jones’ presentation to be interesting. “I thought it was good; I found it entertaining and interactive,” said freshman Adam Na.
Sophomore Nick Cannata agreed that he learned a lot. “I found it very entertaining and enjoyable,” he said. The assembly had an overall positive reaction within the KO community, with students and faculty alike enjoying the talk.
“I liked the demonstration of the biofeedback,” said Mr. Goodman. “People could actually see the green, blue, and red zone, so she was able to give us a visible representation of the blue zone, where optimal performance occurs. She presented and then demonstrated.”
During Dr. Jones’ presentation she had a student come up on stage, and participate in a biofeedback demonstration. The student, senior Nat Bates, was hooked up to a heart monitor.
Once hooked up, Dr. Jones explained what the different color zones meant and attempted to persuade Nat into one of the zones. This was just one of the ways that Dr. Jones interacted with her audience during the presentation.
While the presentation was entertaining and interactive it was also informative, touching on the topics of a healthy amount of sleep, and a healthy amount of time on a device.
“It let me know that I should be getting a lot more sleep than I was before,” said sophomore Nick Traver. Some other students shared similar experiences. “It was kind of ironic because she was talking about how you need to get sleep, and I only had three hours the night before,” said James.
Dr. Jones’ presentation was originally meant to be on the Wednesday before March break, but due to a snow day, the presentation was rescheduled, to the next day.
“I appreciated her flexibility,” said Mr. Goodman.“She was able to change her flight back to Ohio so that she could still do our assembly. It was very nice. Dr. Jones also came to a full psychology class and answered more questions. She was quite generous with her time.”
