Julie Lynch has lived in Minnesota her entire life. She recalls memories of her youth surrounded by bluffs, lakes and the river of Winona. She and her husband have been married for over twenty years and have two teenage boys who appreciate the fun nature provides with hiking, biking, boating and skiing in the St. Cloud area. She enjoys traveling anywhere there’s ocean and great seafood.

Julie loves surrounding herself with fun and laughter. She enjoys bringing fun to her classroom and speaking seminars because humor is such a great release. Music is also a great way to inspire and express moods, so she frequently listens to upbeat modern music, blues, and classical. She also plays French horn and reads books in one sitting whenever possible. Additionally, her favorite evenings typically include romantic comedy or action films and buttered popcorn.

Most of all, Julie enjoys being personable and being authentic. She doesn’t mind being vulnerable because she finds it often creates the very climate for those around her to begin in engaging in real conversation. She adores listening to other people’s stories and learning to connect what she reads, listens to in music, and finds to be true with individual life experience with self and others. Frequently these conversations are the root base of her writings, journal expressions and inspiration for future voice.

Julie’s Professional career includes the following:

Educator: 20 Plus Years of Teaching Experience

• College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University. 3 years.
• St. Cloud State University. 4 years.
• Annandale High School. 17 years.
  

Education:

• Mediation Training—May 2006. Forty hour course in theory/practice in conflict resolution. Qualified neutral under Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice.
  
• Completed four-year program in Spiritual Direction program–Saint Benedict's Monastery, 2004
  
• Master of Arts in Communication—Minnesota State University at Mankato, 1995
  
• B.S. in secondary education with majors in English and Speech/Theatre—Winona State University 1983
  

Affiliations

National Communication Association—NCA is the oldest scholarly speech association in the United States. Annual national conferences are held to promote the most recent, relevant research in communication. The association also provides numerous opportunities for learning and networking with the expertise of those who continue to publish and prove communication theory. www.natcom.org

International Listening Association—ILA site states it’s intention to “promote the study, development, and teaching of listening and the practice of effective listening practice of effective listening skills and techniques.” www.listen.org

Society for Human Resource Management—SHRM promotes leadership and human resources theory and application to release the potential of the individual, the team, the organization. The organization provides networking opportunities for optimum cutting edge competition and success in business. www.shrm.org

International Spiritual Directors—ISD promotes the advancement of spiritual direction on a national level. People can search the site to find spiritual directors, to find opportunities to increase learning of spiritual direction, or to study the results of such meaningful work. Spiritual directors  not affiliated with this organization may not be following the ethics of the desert father or soul friend tradition. www.sdiworld.org

Saint Benedict's Monastery—Saint Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota promotes the ongoing training of spiritual directors while ensuring all individual work is accountable to the supervision group process and standards of the four-year training program in spiritual direction.

Scholarly Creative Achievement and Nationally Recognized Research:

• Co-Facilitator of five-year National Study in Mindfulness
  Co-leader Dr. Maria Roca, Florida Gulf Coast University
  
• Lynch, Julie K. and Dr. Erin Szabo. Healthy approaches to television news viewing: helping children and adolescents cope with television news-induced fear.
  Presented at the National Communication Association Conference, November 2006, Boston, Massachusetts.
  
• Lynch, Julie K., Elizabeth Dudash and Dr. Scott Wells. Ethics in the classroom.
  Presented at the National Communication Association Conference November 2006, Boston, Massachusetts
  
• Lynch, Julie K. and Dr. Erin Szabo. I was afraid I’d get kidnapped, though I only ever saw it on TV.
  Submitted to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference August 2004, Toronto Canada.
  
• Lynch, Julie K. and Dr. Erin Szabo. Reaching out to educators’ sensitivity, Reaching in to students’ needs: cognitive reactions and age-appropriate responses to media-induced fright.
  Directing appropriate response of education system to such media inclusion and background
  Presentation at National Communication Association Conference November 2003, Miami Beach, Florida