Blog

We Are Resilient is a resilience approach for educator wellness that helps teachers take care of themselves and mitigate the negative impacts of secondary trauma and/or compassion fatigue . I am honored to provide a no cost support opportunity for educators during this unique time. Join our Resilience Circle for Educators (video of what a circle is) and learn about our approach, We Are Resilient (link to website resources) . As an educator, you are negotiating many feelings, both in your...

By Chad Dion Lassiter, Penn Live, August 31, 2020 In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, protests have erupted across the nation. The news cycle has been dominated by one graphic scene after another of a police officer killing an unarmed, subdued Black man. Unfortunately, children born at the turn of the millennium are growing up against a backdrop of unending images of lethal police brutality and violent White supremacy. It is well-documented that prolonged exposure to violence is...

I am SO excited for our next episode, and you should be too! Join us Thursday 9 /3 as we welcome our speical guests Leora Wolf-Prusan and Livia Rojas from the SAMHSA funded Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) . We will get an exclusive preview of the soon to be launched School Crisis Recovery & Renewal project, discuss the upcoming virtual learning institute focused on Grief Sensitivty as well as explore the many amazing FREE resources the MHTTC has to...

By Howie Knoff, SmartBrief, August 31, 2020 Throughout this pandemic, the American public has sometimes had to choose between science and beliefs, between objective data and personal testimonials. And while the medical, social, economic and educational toll from the COVID-19 virus is unprecedented, some of the effects have been politicized by our leaders, and sensationalized by the press. Sadly, the latter has occurred when discussing the emotional status of our students as districts prepare...

By Kara Harris, Bloomberg CityLab, August 24, 2020 When students in Minneapolis, Denver and Oakland eventually return to their classrooms, one group will be notably missing from school grounds: the police. After the killing of George Floyd and the resulting “defund the police” movement to divert resources to other types of community services, the Minneapolis School District was the first of several in the U.S. to end its relationship with the local police department. On June 2, the school...

In the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics , last year there were 56.6 million students attending K–12 schools, of whom 5.8 million are enrolled in private schools and 50.8 million attend public schools. The nation’s 50.8 million public school students are a portrait of an emerging majority people-of-color America: 23.7 million (46.6 percent) are white, 13.9 million (27.4 percent) are Latinx, 7.7 million (15.2 percent) are Black, 2.9 million (5.7 percent)...

It is happening. The grand experiment of full school distance learning is on for teachers and families of California. Educators have been asked to source some sort of magic to heal the disease of a broken educational system as it crumbles under the pressures of inconsistent and insufficient funding, tremendous variance in school community capacity for distance learning, and countless organizational structures being taxed to their limits. The pandemic continues, job losses increase, and fires...

From Housing Matters, Urban Institute, August 12, 2020 What happens in our neighborhoods is reflected in our schools. Inequality in our neighborhoods translates to inequality in our schools. And discrimination that has a hand in shaping our neighborhoods, has a hand in shaping our schools. About 70 percent of K–12 students attend an assigned school . If housing near higher-performing public schools is unaffordable, then those schools are also out of reach. Housing vouchers help nearly 2.2...

Robin is a brilliant, passionate, and vocal school nurse with almost two decades of experience as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. She is the Legislative Co-Chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association and she joined us last week for A Better Normal community discussion about back-to-school (or not) plans families are facing this school year. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing...

I am SO excited for our next episode, and you should be too! Join us Thursday 8/20 as we welcome our speical guests Judee Fernandez and Michelle Kurta from the Meaning Makers Collective . We will discuss what it takes to create cultures of care and connection in our schools, how to develop a system that supports collective care for staff and prioritizes the wellbeing of adults in school settings. It is gonna be great! Weekly themes include: How do we create physical and psychological safety,...

By Clare Ryan and Berry Streets, The Sector, June 23, 2020 Children who have experienced trauma may find it more difficult to regulate their emotions and behaviours than other children. Understanding the impact trauma can have on brain development can help inform practical responses to these children’s needs. This short article describes how practitioners can use strategies that help calm children’s bodies in order to help calm their minds and emotions – specifically, the...

By Deborah Temkin, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, July 14, 2020 In response to growing concerns about children’s mental and physical health, state policymakers have enacted laws to require schools to take an active role in supporting their students’ wellbeing – from requiring a minimum amount of time dedicated to physical activity, to requiring access to clean, potable water, to providing access to mental and physical health services, to implementing a range of preventative...