Tagged With "United Way"

Beth Tomlinson challenges a room full of 100 people to imagine her hand is a brain. Her wrist, the brain stem, which controls functions such as breathing and heart rate. Her thumb, the limbic system, which controls emotions and the fight-or-flight response. Her fingers, the cerebral cortex, where thinking and reasoning takes place. A typical learning brain is like a fist, all pieces working together. But for students who experience trauma — anything from divorced parents to sexual abuse to a...

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), like experiencing child abuse or witnessing domestic violence, are some of the most intense sources of stress that children can experience. This toxic stress produces an abundance of stress hormones that can rewire a child’s brain and body, causing cognitive and social delays and long-term health concerns. Along with immediate health and educational effects, ACEs have also been linked to higher rates of damaging behaviors, like smoking, excessive alcohol...

Eighteen months ago, sudden school closures left students throughout the Lehigh Valley struggling with previously unimaginable challenges. Covid-19 stole their classrooms, in-person relationships with teachers, and crucial social skill learning time with their peers, leaving an unprecedented traumatic experience in its wake. Additionally, more than 140,000 children in the U.S. lost a primary or secondary caregiver in a pandemic-associated death, further traumatizing many. To help students...