From Education Week: A profile of an Oregon town that used the community school model to co-locate services that meet the needs of whole families. "The centers seem to have been a catalyst for community enthusiasm, growing well beyond their original vision in ways both big and small".
Echo’s conference this year is jam packed with exciting workshops for teachers, parents and anyone who works with children and their families. In addition featuring to the landmark work of Ron Hertel and Mona Johnson in Washington State, we are proud to present: Attachment Trauma & Network Panel Workshop Spotlight: What Parents Wish Schools Knew About Our Traumatized Kids Are you struggling with a challenging child? Hearing the parents from Attachment Trauma Network ( ATN ) gives you a...
Michael Lamb, Executive Director, Washington D.C., Turnaround for Children sent the following message about a new paper, Building Blocks for Learning, just released by Turnaround and three new positions it is seeking to fill. Take a look: "Hi friends and colleagues, it’s an exciting time for Turnaround in Washington, D.C. as we work towards our vision that one day all children in the US attend schools that prepare them for the lives they choose. In addition to our exciting work in schools,...
Did an adult in your house often push, grab, slap or throw something at you? Did you often feel that you had no one to protect you? Did you often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were special? Answering yes to any of those questions adds a point to the Adverse Childhood Experience — ACE — score, and making sure children can overcome those experiences to become healthy adults is the backbone of a new initiative for the Umatilla School District. The Umatilla School...
Did a parent often push, grab, slap or throw something at you? Did a person five years older than you touch you in a sexual way? Those are just two questions from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) quiz given to students at Seattle's alternative high school, the Interagency Academy. Students at "Last-Chance High" are traumatized, reporting an average of 7 adverse experiences in their background. Principal Kaaren Andrews says early childhood trauma is a public health crisis leading to...
This commentary is by Alyssa Chen, a career educator who recently made the transition to education advocate and community organizer. Over the past two years, Vermont Legal Aid has brought much-needed attention to the issue of disproportionate suspension, the practice by which certain students get suspended at rates exceeding those of others. Legal Aid formed the Dignity in Schools Coalition to fight for statewide policy change. Bolstered by the findings of the Kicked Out Report (January...
Watching the video Gail just posted, I was inspired to look for further resources as to how this could work. Here's a link to what I believe are helpful in implementing such a program and The Smiling Mind can be downloaded for older students to use on their phone, etc. And it's free. https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/mental-health-matters/mindfulness-and-children/further-resources
Wisconsin elementary-school teachers are incorporating simple mental exercises in the classroom to promote well-being, thanks to a partnership between the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Center for Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzd444JvjCs
A group of middle and high school students in Compton have filed a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit saying violence at home and in their neighborhoods has impaired their ability to learn at school. The students, along with three teachers who are also plaintiffs, allege the Compton Unified School District has failed to recognize and address their trauma-induced disabilities, and therefore has denied their legal right to an equal education. ....You have to address trauma in order to do...
Echo's conference this year is bursting at the seams with great workshops for teachers, parents and anyone who works with children and their families. In addition to the not-to-be-missed keynotes such as Dr. Ross Greene, we are proud to present: Robbyn Peter Bennett Workshop Spotlight: Self-Regulation, Dysregulation & Co-Regulation - Neurologically Informed Teaching & Parenting You may have seen Robbyn Peters Bennett in her TEDx talk . In our conference workshop, Robbyn will discuss...
On Feb. 15 the school board was asked to reflect on future needs. One includes adding a social worker next year whose pay would be split three ways -- $25,000 each -- between the school district, Pierce County and St. Croix County. Superintendent Jamie Benson referred to a couple of research studies that show how a trauma-filled childhood affects brain development and often leads to risk factors of alcoholism, suicidal tendencies, criminal behavior, anxiety, depression, diseases,...
Social workers, educators and community leaders from around Clark County gathered in Battle Ground last week to hear a talk on building resiliency in children and mitigating the effects of adverse childhood experiences in local youth. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a psychological term that describes a traumatic event or stressor which affects the growth and development and often the behavioral trajectory of a child. ACEs refer to some of the most tragic events in society, from...
As districts in certain parts of the country battle staffing shortages and schools nationwide seek to overcome a general sense of dissatisfaction among faculty , several states are considering proposals to pay their public-school teachers more money. The average public-school teacher salary in the United States in the 2012-13 academic year was $56,000 , versus roughly $69,000 for nurses and $83,000 for programmers . Experts say raising that threshold could help improve the professions...
A growing body of evidence highlights the connection between adverse childhood experiences and academic problems . The effects of trauma can impair a childs cognitive ability, while the stress of a dysfunctional or unstable home life can make children act out or shut down in the classroom, according to recent child-development research. While such findings are increasingly acknowledged, however, they have yet to broadly inform classroom practices or school-improvement initiatives, says Susan...
If you've seen the documentary Paper Tigers , you may remember the stress target -- or color wheel -- in Lincoln High School Principal Jim Sporleder's office. Now you can have one, too! The steering group members of the Yolo Resilience Network in Yolo County, CA, (you can find them on the Yolo County ACEs Connection group) realized the needed to have some tools that they could give to local educators for whom they did presentations about ACEs and trauma-informed practices. "We'd see people...