"Earlier this fall we had the pleasure of meeting Steve Seskin and being entertained by him at our kick off for the 2003-2004 school year. Each year the entire teaching staff of School Administrative Unit #13 gathers for an opening celebration and this past session was the most powerful one yet!"

– Gwen Poirer, EdD,
Superintendent
Silver Lake, New Hampshire

"You are a monster! Our audience hung on your every word. You are truly an inspiration to all who follow in your footsteps."

– Michael Lasko,
TAXI Music Conference

"You made this one day in a lifetime a celebration to remember for a long time to come."

– Deborah Brown,
CAPP, Conference Manager
Keynote Speaker

Steve Seskin, co-writer of the song “Don’t Laugh at Me,” presents excerpts from one of the premier character education programs in schools today as part of his keynote address at national education conferences, kickoff regional staff meetings and many other events. The goal of the Operation Respect/Don’t Laugh at Me project is to create emotionally safe, nurturing environments for children, where they can learn academics as well as respect, compassion and how to celebrate rather than be threatened by diversity. It is not about “tolerance,” it is about acceptance. The presentation features many other songs that speak of related issues which children of all ages deal with on a daily basis.

Steve also presents inspirational keynote speeches at universities and music conferences. As a successful songwriter, he draws upon the experiences all songwriters face, and helps his listeners hold these experiences as inspirational guides for their continued work in the craft of song. He enfolds his songs into his keynote speech presentation deftly, encouraging thousands of listeners to sing before your eyes.

Steve will have you wiping away a tear one minute and laughing out loud the next. His songs all have messages that touch the hearts of everyone: from the feelings of a little boy missing his father, to growing up and being true to yourself, to one of his most well know themes of being considerate to and respectful of one another as expressed in “Don’t Laugh at Me.”

In 2005 Steve started a new program in schools. As an "artist in residence" he will come to a school and spend several days teaching the kids songwriting, leaving them with a love of creativity that will hopefully last a lifetime. During this program he actually writes songs with the children and records a CD for them as part of the visit. The songs they write are geared towards themes of character education although not exclusively.

Keynote Speech Highlights

 West Virginia Teachers Annual Conference, Charleston, WV 2002/2003
Road Rally - TAXI, Los Angeles, CA 2002/2003
National Reading Styles Institute Conference, San Antonio, TX 2003
California Peer Counseling Conference, Sacramento, CA 2003
Nassau Tract Conference on Safe Schools, Long Island, NY 2003
Moline Illinois School District Character Education Kickoff, Moline, IL 2003
Chicago Hawthorne School District Kickoff, Chicago, IL 2003
Alameda Educators Conference, Hayward, CA 2003
St. Marys Teacher Accreditation Program, Moraga, CA 2002/2003
CSUH Teacher Accreditation Program, Hayward, CA 2001/2002/2003
National Albinism Conference, Concord, CA 2002
SELPA West Contra Costa Annual Meeting, Concord, CA 2002
Stanislaus Union School District Kickoff, Modesto, CA 2002
California Administrator Conference, Monterey, CA 2002
SELPA Sacramento Directors Meeting, Sacramento, CA 2002
Hayward California School Board, Hayward, CA 2001
Mental Health Symposium, California State University, Hayward, CA 2004/2005
Learning Disabilities Association of California, Ontario, CA 2002
Appearance with Barbara Colorado Markham Public Library, Toronto, Canada 2002
Calgary City Teachers Conference, Calgary, Canada 2004
World Youth Kindness Conference, Corona, CA 2004/2005
The What Works Symposium, Washington DC 2005
The National Board For Professional Teaching Standards Conference, Washington DC 2005

return to top