Blog

My friend Eileen recently revealed a staggering observation she'd made about parenting amid the pandemic. "Some parents feel ashamed if they can't buy the latest, greatest gadget for their kids." It triggered from her an impassioned treatise that expensive gadgets aren't necessary for a child's entertainment. She argued, "You can tell stories with a child, create a puppet show with socks, invent a new game, build a doll house out of a cardboard box!" You just need imagination and a simple...

Chloe Yang, 3/4/21, positiveexperience.org/blog We are thrilled to share a new resource, Spreading HOPE . The Spreading HOPE publication describes why HOPE exists, our mission, and more specifics about our goals and strategies. As the demand for HOPE and positive childhood experiences mounted throughout the last year, the HOPE team faced an ever-growing need for a resource that identifies, distills, and presents the HOPE vision, values, and pathways toward change. Development of Spreading...

Preparing Students for a Multicultural World It is well known that a long history of challenges with racial segregation and inequality exists within many communities and educational systems. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin (the site of SaintA headquarters), it is reported that the rates of hyper-segregated school systems have returned to similar rates that were present in the 1960s. Fighting for social justice that dismantles the structural processes that cause hyper-segregated schools and...

WE ARE NOT ALONE Using our RESILIENCE to break the cycle of trauma and move forward with healing. Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/we-can-heal-from-our-parents-addiction-and-other-aces-tickets-143805798013 --------------- Approximately 1/5 children (including adult children) have experienced their parent's addiction, so we KNOW that we are NOT alone in our experiences. But we also know that it can FEEL incredibly lonely. That's why we have created this series: COMMUNITY X...

Last month New Jersey unveiled a unique action plan to help families and communities protect against and heal from the effects of adverse childhood experiences that can cause harm to individuals and families for generations. After a year of living under intense pandemic pressures, the need has likely never been so great. Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, impact four of ten youngsters in New Jersey across racial and economic lines according to a 2019 report . These traumas – such as...

Registration for the event is at the link below. This is the Thursday session that runs from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 11th, 18th, 25th, April 1st. Join the conversation with DiDi Delgado, Debby Irving, Fiyah Angel, Nandi K., and Dr. Shamell Bell for an interactive class & discussion forum on dismantling oppression in this current era of resistance. Don't miss the last version of the live class Discussion topics will include: • Practicing Anti-Racism • Which Black Person Do I Follow...

The answer is yes and three educators, all members of Delta Kappa Gamma (the women educators' honor association), will engage in a Zoom conversation. Suggested donation of $3 (going to Nu Zeta Chapter) requested. Date is March 20 at noon. Join us. Join in. Important topic in today's trauma filled world.

Receiving appropriate mental health care is crucial to healing. However, an enormous number of American citizens cannot and do not receive the care they need because there simply are no providers in their region to turn to in times of crisis. In this piece, we shall examine the statistics and costs both monetary and personal of the lack of mental health professionals in rural America as compared to living in or near a major city. The Essence of the Disparity Problem More mental health...

By Bekah McNeel, The 74, March 3, 2021 Middle school teacher Brandee Brandt pounded on the door of a ground level apartment in San Antonio, Texas for the third time one January afternoon in search of one of her students. “It’s Ms. Brandt! Davey, are you there?” she called, her face close to the apartment door. She could hear voices inside, and finally Davey’s older brother cracked open the door. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Jocelyn Guyer, Alice Lam, and Madeleine Toups, JD Supra, March 1, 2021 California’s long-standing efforts to promote child development and kindergarten readiness have brought greater focus to the vital role of child health in realizing the full strength of these critical state investments. As a large and diverse state, with 5 million children enrolled in Medi Cal – including 64 percent of all children under the age of 5 - policy and practice innovations originating in California that...

By Eric Ferreri, Duke Today, March 3, 2021 The mental health challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have overwhelmed many Americans. The stress and anxiety from sickness, lost employment and a pivot for children and parents to isolated, virtual schooling has had a devastating cumulative effect. As the first anniversary of the pandemic approaches, three Duke experts reflected Wednesday on the impact it has had on various aspects of mental health during University Communications’...

By Will Stone, National Public Radio, Febaruay 26, 2021 With coronavirus infections on a steady, six weeks long descent in the U.S., it's clear the worst days of the brutal winter surge have waned. Yet researchers are still not sure how sustainable the decline is. And a small but concerning uptick in cases in the last three days has health officials on edge. So what caused the massive decline since January, and what can the U.S. do to ensure that it lasts? New infections have fallen close to...