WhyTry Founder to Speak at Tulane on May 13

Christian Moore, the founder of WhyTry, will conduct a free, informational workshop entitled “Motivating & Empowering Youth” on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Stibbs Conference Room inside Tulane"s Lavin-Bernick Student Center. The event is sponsored by the Tulane School of Social Work.

Moore, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, developed the WhyTry program used in more than 6,000 schools, private and public mental health agencies, group homes, and youth detention centers across the world. The WhyTry program focuses on teaching social and emotional skills using a practical, multisensory approach to engage youth and help students overcome challenges and achieve success in school and for the rest of their lives.

WhyTry started in January 1996, when a professor asked Moore to write down how he had continued his education with his severe learning differences. He was an undergraduate student who was near graduation despite having sixth-grade math abilities and seventh-grade reading and writing skills. He wrote the words “Why Try?” on the top of a piece of paper. Below the question, Moore wrote 15 principles he used to overcome his challenges and WhyTry was born.

While earning his Master of Social Work at Brigham Young University, he worked as counselor at an alternative high school, when he began to teach the WhyTry principles using visual analogies. The youth he worked with were overwhelmingly visual learners, limiting the effect of verbal teaching. He provided his ideas and tools to a local school district, which used them to reduce truancy and failure in their most at-risk students.

Today, Moore has become an internationally renowned speaker, addressing more than 100 conferences and workshops each year.

For more information, contact jhalm@tulane.edu.