April 2020

By Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2020 With schools closed because of the coronavirus, educators in vast stretches of rural California are struggling not only to teach their students but to reach them. From the mountain hamlets of Northern California to the farming communities of the Central Valley to the desert towns near the U.S.-Mexico border, small schools are grappling with how to serve far-flung, impoverished students with less access to at-home internet, spotty...

Amidst the fear and uncertainty of the Covid19 lockdown in China, 26 year old Lele experienced something more terrifying than the virus itself. Her husband fashioned a weapon from a kitchen stool and beat her semi-conscious as she held her 11 month old baby in her arms. There was nowhere to go, no services to support, no possibility to flee. She had to spend several more weeks with her abuser before she could reach safety. On the other side of the world in Greenland, the capital city banned...

By Kellie Hwang and Michael Massa, San Francisco Chronicle, April 22, 2020 Bay Area leaders were first in the nation to take dramatic action aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.Many thought it was going too far. But in the days and weeks following the shelter-in-place orders here, governors and mayors across the country followed the Bay Area and California’s lead. The Chronicle examined weekly coronavirus case rates, or how many new cases were reported per 100,000 people, for...

By Lydia Zuraw, Kaiser Health News, April 22, 2020 America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical staff account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides. Some of them do not survive the encounter. Many hospitals are overwhelmed and some workers lack protective equipment or suffer from underlying health...

By   P. Berman, K. Hecht & A. Hosack They are having such a good time. I hate to interrupt . But that little boy matches the description of who I am looking for! Officer Fernandez had been watching Claire, Davy, and Kevin as they ate their snack underneath the tree. In some ways, they just seemed liked a carefree group. However, only Davy really seemed carefree. Something seemed to be on the woman’s mind, she looked so serious. And, one little boy was dominating the conversation while...

By   A. Hosack & P. Berman, K. Hecht Claire hadn’t slept well all week. She was worried about Kevin, but she hadn’t called ChildLine. How could she? She had no idea where he lived or what his last name was. This Saturday, if Kevin showed up at the park, she had to find a way to get this information from him. the night before she took Davy to the park next week. She packed the snack with particular care. She would watch what he ate. Davy always ate all the peanut butter and jelly...

Announcing FREE Trauma-Informed Schools Book Club. Please join me in a community book club using the Facebook page Trauma-Informed Schools Book Club . https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938017869661667/ We will be starting with two chapters (16 & 17) from Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students: Second Edition that were made FREE online thanks to Oxford Psychology - one on Secondary Traumatic Stress, and another on Crises & Natural Disasters with chapter author Ben Fernandez .

We have been so encouraged to hear how HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) is resonating with the ACES Connection community and are thrilled to see our community continue to grow. Here we present the fourth mini-blog in our series on the Building Blocks of HOPE. Children need ample opportunities for productive social and emotional development. Developing social and emotional competencies describes the fourth of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE . What do we mean by social and...

By Joe Truss, Culturally Responsive Leadership, April 5, 2020 I am finally sitting down, after 3 weeks of shelter in place. (sigh) I am just starting to calm down enough to think, and write, and reflect. Here are my reflections on the coronavirus, distance learning, and what the hell it means for our education system. Ok. Here’s the current reality. The coronavirus is spreading and we are averaging a thousand deaths per day, 13,000 deaths as of April 7th, 2020 . I am sure it has gone up, and...

By Brendan Quealey, Traverse City Record-Eagle, April 19, 2020 Nash Nichols was ecstatic when his hair grew back. The now 3½-year-old’s long, blond locks first fell out shortly after he began chemotherapy. His mother, Angie Nichols, can’t forget the day it happened. Nash sat next to his grandfather, lifted his hand to scratch his head, and returned with a handful of hair. Nash looked up, unaware anything was wrong, and said, “Papa, that’s my hair.” It was a traumatic experience — one of many...

By Yasmin Anwar, Berkeley News, April 17, 2020 The intense social isolation, stress and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 is shaping up to be its own mental health pandemic. Already, spikes in post-traumatic stress disorder are being documented among vulnerable populations, health workers and other front-line personnel. In the latest in a series of Berkeley Conversations: COVID-19 live webcasts, UC Berkeley psychologists Dacher Keltner , Sonia Bishop and Frank Worrell offered advice on how to...

By Eleanore Catolico, Chalkbeat Detroit, April 16, 2020 Brianna and her friends were all smiles in the car, soaking in their high school football team’s win. The 14-year-old replayed the joys of the day in her head: the corny jokes, prank calls, improvised dance routines. Then she was jolted by the sound of a loud pop. A man with a rifle was shooting at someone in the street. The smell of smoke filled the air as the onslaught of bullets blasted through the car, leaving Brianna with bullet...