Laura Hollis

Activist, Concerned citizen, Designer, Educator/Teacher, Explorer, Filmmaker, Idea generator, Inventor, Journalist, Life mentor, Parent, Performer, Producer, Technologist

Laura Hollis has been Director of Technology at Saddle River Day School since 2012 where she is responsible for overseeing all tech-related purchases, campus initiatives and integration projects. At SRDS, she teaches classes in the IDEAS lab makerspace and video production studio, founded the TEDxYouth club, coaches the lower school ski team and the eSports team, the Rebellion. Laura enjoys collaborating with students and teachers who are interested in using various tech tools to enrich lessons and projects. As a former specialty subject and classroom teacher, she understands the demands on a teacher and looks for ways to use technology to assist in making administrative tasks more efficient, communication easier and of course, to keep the curriculum current and relevant. Above all, she is dedicated to fostering children’s appetite for learning and using technology to motivate and engage students of all ages. She has served as a technology integrator at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City as well as Director of Instructional Technology, Fifth Grade Teacher and Community Service Director at St. James’ Episcopal School in Los Angeles, CA. Beyond teaching and administrative duties, Laura has enjoyed designing and leading professional development workshops for teachers, founding and advising student groups such as video production crews, student reporters and tech leaders and collaborating with other academic technologists around the world. Laura majored in Television, Radio and Film Production as well as Religious Studies at Syracuse University and earned her Master’s degree in Education as well as her Teaching Credential at the University of Southern California. She holds teaching degrees in California, Virginia and New Jersey as well as her California Professional Administrative Services Credential.

Teaching Kids, Being a lifelong learner, protecting our planet

Save the Bees!

3D printing, Curriculum Design, K-12 Education, Makerspace, scriptwriting, techology, video, Virtual Reality

In 2013, students came to me asking if they could lead a TED club and if I would be willing to be their faculty mentor. I jumped at the chance and it led to four high schoolers writing talks which we recorded on campus and sent to TED for review. The following year, I took those four students to volunteer at TEDxMIdatlantic in Washington, DC. They were the first high schoolers to volunteer at the event, working beside adults and college kids. They worked from sunrise to sunset and did everything asked of them. They were inspired by the talks they heard at that event and wanted to start their own at school, thus TEDxYouth@SRDS was born. We applied and received our first license and put together an event that Spring for students on campus. Everything from curation, to the talks, to the production and video editing was ALL done by students. They come up with the theme, design the logos, build the slideshows, book student talent to perform in between talks and promote the event within our school community. We are now in our 9th year of producing that event and have 12 student talks this year plus an alum coming back to be our keynote speaker. It is my privilege to see kids take on the enormous challenge of finding something they are passionate about and speaking in front of their peers. There is nothing like being backstage when a student finishes their talk and walks back relieved and proud of their accomplishment. We have built on our original idea to have students run the entire program but they have also partnered with faculty advisors so that we have more eyes on each talk and more of a partnership between student and teacher. We also usually have one faculty member speak at our event. I gave a talk last year that had been brewing for almost 20 years It was terrifying but one of the most fulfilling experiences I have had as an educator! I was able to attend TED Women in 2019 and it was a life changing experience. I honestly rank that event as well as the four TEDxMidatlantic events I was involved with at the top of my all-time favorite things I have ever gotten do to. When students, faculty and parents think of TED, they think of me and my passion for linking student voices to ideas worth spreading. I wear all of my TED shirts proudly and would love to attend TED Women this year!

Baking - I love to bake, not cook, and I secretly place things in the teacher's lounge to share but no one knows it is me.