You've Been Lied to About Other People
Strangers are more honest and less hostile than your feed suggests. What 17,000 lost wallets, online trolls, and bullying research reveal about everyone else.
Read the articleArticles by Chad Kempel
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What happened, why it worked, and how you can use it.
A real story first, then the research behind it, in plain words. Written for students, parents, and the educators who stand in front of them.
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9Articles
4 to 8Minutes to read
SourcedEvery study cited
Counselors and teachers: each article ends with what students and schools can do. They come from Chad’s three high school assembly talks.
Documents for schools →You've Been Lied to About Other People
Strangers are more honest and less hostile than your feed suggests. What 17,000 lost wallets, online trolls, and bullying research reveal about everyone else.
Bullies Don't Pick Fights. They Pick Targets.
The Karate Kid says win the fight. The research says bullies pick kids nobody will defend. What the movie gets wrong, and what actually got me off the list.
My Father, Nuclear Fusion, and Anything Is Possible
My father ran the design of the buildings where fusion ignition finally happened, ten weeks after he died. The wagon, the hatchet, the sign, and the research on goals you might not see finished.
Keep the Warning, Question the Verdict: What Mt. Shasta Taught Me About Doubters
Friends told me I’d die on Mt. Shasta. What I kept from the warnings, what I ignored, and a 30-minute exercise from the research that students can use on any goal.
We Never Had a Falling Out. We Just Drifted.
A friend I’d drifted from died by suicide in 2012. What I do differently now, the research behind it, and what students and schools can do.
You Don't Need a Best Friend to Belong Somewhere
When my friends left campus at lunch, a pickup football game taught me what belonging really takes. The research, plus what students and schools can do.
When Will I Ever Use This? What I Learned Teaching Math in Prison
My kids already ask why they need to learn math. The best answer I’ve found came from five years teaching inside San Quentin.
What to Do the Day After You Fail
I failed to set a world record by 46 minutes, then by four. Why a near miss hurts more, and what to do the day after you fail.
Why You Freeze Under Pressure, and How to Snap Out of It
Ever locked up right when you needed to move? I did, in an eighth-grade locker room. What the freeze response is, and how to break it.
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For educators and administrators
Every topic here is a talk your students can hear in person.
These articles are the written version. The assembly is where it lands, with the room quiet and the whole grade in one place. Chad Kempel is a high school assembly speaker based in Boise, Idaho, booking schools statewide and nationwide, including California, where he grew up. See all three talks and pricing.
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Grit · Goals · Setbacks · Mindset
Anything Is Possible
The flagship →The all-school assembly. What it takes to decide, fail, and go again.
Stress · Loss
The Weight You’re Carrying
Mental health →Naming what students carry, and a tool to set it down.
Belonging · Bullying · Kindness
I Walked the Hallways Alone
Belonging →The anti-bullying and belonging assembly. What it takes to notice the student standing by himself.