Mary Kay Morrison Contact Information Founder/Director Humor Quest 322 Canary Drive Caledonia, IL 61011   Phone: 815-885-2373 E-mail address: [email protected] Website: http://www.questforhumor.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/marykaymorrison Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marykaymorrison Blogs: http://www.humor-quest.blogspot.com/

About Mary Kay Morrison

Mary Kay Morrison is a teacher who has taught at virtually every level of the educational spectrum, while facilitating keynote presentations and workshop sessions for the past 30 years. Her work includes integrating what we know about cognitive research on the emotions (particularity humor) and movement to classroom application. In addition to humor and stress management, Mary Kay frequently conducts seminars on brain research, leadership, ADHD, group facilitation, parenting and mentoring. Mary Kay is founder and director of Humor Quest. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) and was 2010 conference chair. As a member of the Illinois NCLB implementation team, she conducted “Train the Trainer” sessions for the State Board of Education on school improvement and mentoring. She is the education advisor for the Funny Lit Project offered through World Laughter Tour.

Books

• Her recent publication, Using Humor to Maximize Learning; Exploring Links between Positive Emotions and Education is the text for humor studies courses at several universities and is the text for the groundbreaking international graduate Humor Academy offered by the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor.



Articles (Most Recent)

• IAE-Pedia -Using Humor To Maximize Learning - http://iae-pedia.org/Using_Humor_to_Maximize_Learning



Keynote Addresses

• Humor in Education Conference, 2010, Izmir, Turkey
• AATH International Humor Academy, 2010, Disneyland, California
• IASCD Kindergarten Conference 2010, Schaumberg, IL
• Bradley University Student Leadership Conference, 2010, Peoria, IL
• Art Council Workshop, 2010, Rockford, IL
• ISHS International Society for Humor Studies, 2009, Long Beach, CA
• Chicago Principal Association, 2009, Chicago, IL
• Kishwaukee College Fall Orientation, 2009, Malta, IL
• Barnes and Noble Education Week Seminar, 2009, DeKalb, IL
• Strategic Planning Harrison School District, 2009, Wonder Lake, IL
• Using Humor School Seminar, 2009, Phoenix, AZ
• YMCA Leadership Workshop, 2009, Rockford, IL
• Rock Valley College Tutor Conference, 2009, Rockford, IL
• 4-H Leaders Conference, 2009, Winnebago County, IL



Workshops

• Humor; The Educator's Toolbox (1-3 hours)
• Bullying; No Laughing Matter
• Staff Meetings with Pizzazz
• Stress and Learning; The Bucket Strategy (1 hour)
• What is your humor style? (1 hour)
• It's all about ME! (Movement and Emotions) ( 1-2 hours)
• Humor is a Funny Thing (1 hour)
• Research Causes Cancer in Rats (2 hours)
• Got Stress? Survival Strategies (2 hours)

ELN WEBINARS

TESTIMONIALS

“I have had the privilege of experiencing Mary Kay Morrison's talents through presentations, workshops, webinars, teleconferences, and the facilitation of a board meeting. I don't know of anyone who can match her enthusiasm, expertise, and passion. She has presented around the country and internationally--the results are the same regardless of the language--she blows people away! Anyone wanting to chat with me personally about her abilities may contact directly. Be prepared--I can go on about her for hours.”

“When we decided to hold a conference about the power of humor in education in our school, I did some research about experts in the field and found Mary Kay Morrison. I emailed her to give information about our conference and ask her if she would be willing to come to Turkey to lecture Turkish teachers. I did not know that I was going to gain a wonderful friend. “For months, we corresponded about the content of the conference to meet the needs of Turkish teachers and about cultural differences in humor. It turned out that Mary Kay’s humor is universal! Except for a few jokes that are based on language differences, we could use everything she suggested. “Our conference was for 250 Turkish teachers and academicians from all over Turkey. One of the teachers wrote on her feedback form: “I had great fun in learning today, and I am going to carry everything I learned today to my classroom! When all the teachers who attended the conference start to use more humor in their classrooms, Mary Kay will have touched the lives of at least 5000 Turkish children!”