Q-and-A with Suzanne Savall, principal of trauma-informed elementary school in Spokane, WA

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Suzanne Savall, principal of Otis Orchards Elementary School in Spokane’s East Valley School District, says she didn’t really know what she was signing up for, but the words “complex trauma” resonated with her in 2008, when she heard about a workshop that was being offered by the Washington State Area Health Education Center (AHEC).

From the moment 54 teachers and support staff, including custodians and cooks,  finished the six-hour workshop in 2008, they never looked back. After five years -- the last two during which Natalie Turner, AHEC assistant director, and AHEC project associate Bonnie Wagner did monthly training workshops with the school’s teachers and staff, and weekly on-site consulting -- Otis Orchards can call itself a trauma-informed school. What’s the difference between then and now?

Here’s a conversation that Suzanne Savall and I had about how Otis Orchards changed to a trauma-informed school, and what the effects have been.

Q: How did you hear about this training? 

Savall: I knew that another school had been trained in complex trauma. Those words resonated with me. I believe it was because I had ACEs in my childhood. I was a brand new principal. After teaching here for 25 years, I knew that lots of our kids had complex trauma. When the assistant superintendent asked if I could get 95% of the staff to volunteer their time for six hours, I said: "I can do it." And we did it. We had everybody but one staff member.

Q: How did you get the staff interested?

Savall: I told them it was an opportunity. I told the staff that they would get something special and our kids would get something special. I told them that we're starting on a journey and there's no turning back. “If you're interested in looking at things through a trauma lens, stay here,” I said. “If you're thumbs down, maybe you'd better move on.”

Q: What was the most useful thing you learned at the workshop?

Savall: The brain research was profound to me – how toxic stress changes the development of a child’s brain. And how kids can go through terrible things and have resilience through it all.....[Continue reading....]