Blog

Rudy’s early childhood was ordinary and happy; he enjoyed school, played sports, and had lots of friends. He always had a huge appetite for learning and was nicknamed “Speedy” by his fourth-grade teacher for his desire to finish his schoolwork before his classmates. Early on, Rudy’s home environment was solid and enjoyable. He was raised by two working class parents who taught him the importance of discipline, education, and respect. However, his father was an alcoholic and a drug addict who...

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are known for helping students of color and opportunity youth access an affordable and quality higher education. Realizing that high SAT scores and GPAs aren’t necessarily indicators of student success in college, HBCUs instead focus on developing learners through personalized learning and support. Learn4Life and FLEX High serve at-risk students and share this approach to recover dropouts, and promote college access, readiness and...

From Education Week, September 14, 2020 The education field has been criticized for focusing too narrowly on a set of academic skills and disciplines, reinforced through standardized assessments, accountability measures, and other policy levers, but with the rise of the pandemic this spring and the national fight for racial justice, schools were forced to evolve quickly. At the same time, young people have been encountering death, food insecurity, trauma, and unemployment in their own homes...

CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY (CAA) , funded by ACEs Aware, is providing free online training to Medi-Cal providers and others featuring: Practical strategies for integrating trauma-informed health care into your team’s practice that improves patients’ well being and the productivity of your practice. Meet colleagues with experience and success providing trauma-informed health care in their practices. Learn from national and local experts. Talk to other professionals from your region in small...

By Kalyn Belsha, Michael Rubinkam, Gabrielle LaMarr, and Larry Fenn, Chalkbeat, September 11, 2020 Missi Magness wanted her children back in school. The parent of a first-grader and a sixth-grader who attend schools on Indianapolis’ southeast side struggled trying to oversee her children’s schooling while working from home this spring. “They need the structure, they need the socialization, they just need to go,” said Magness. “‘I love you, but here’s your backpack, here’s your lunch ... have...

By Emily Berger , Monash University , Karen Martin , University of Western Australia, September 11, 2020. Mental health issues among children are on the rise due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, including lockdowns. Recent reports show there has been a 28% spike in calls to the phone counselling service Kids Helpline between March and July 2020 compared with the same period last year in Victoria, which is under stage 3 and 4 restrictions. This prompted the state government to fast-track...

By Stephen Merrill, Edutopia, September 11, 2020 Some of the first adorable patients to trickle into Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’s pediatric clinic when it opened in 2007—long before she was named the first surgeon general of California—were referred by teachers and principals. Sitting in her examination rooms back then, in one of San Francisco’s poorest neighborhoods, Burke Harris knew almost immediately that something was amiss. Her young patients arrived with tentative diagnoses of...

It's the CA Community College Assoc for Occupation Education conference! Keynote Speaker, Susan Jones of Creative Behavior Systems The impact of ACEs on children can manifest in difficulties focusing, self-regulating, trusting others, and can lead to negative cognitive effects. One study found that a child with 4 or more ACEs was 32 times more likely to be labeled with a behavioral or cognitive problem than a child with no ACEs. CCCAOE is looking for ways to educate participants about ACEs...

We are living in complicated and stressful times. What needs to be healed seems more palpable than ever. It feels like the call to release what no longer serves has never been louder and we are feeling that tug at our core. While the founder of The League of Extraordinary People, Alfred White, has been gaining more clarity everyday on this, he was invited to be part of an event, more like a movement, to help others find freedom from what has been holding them back. It is a free, online...

As the COVID-19 pandemic blurred from days into months, the leadership team of LAUNCH Together Southwest Denver began hearing about the sense of anguish and confusion felt by directors of early-childhood learning centers: Should I re-open? Is that financially feasible? Is it ethical? And how do I decide, in a sea of fast-changing information about a virus scientists are still struggling to understand? LAUNCH Together SW Denver, a collaborative formed in 2016 to boost community capacity to...

A CDC study examined mental health symptoms in four different U.S. school districts during 2014–2018. Based on teacher and parent reports, about 1 in 6 students had enough behavioral or emotional symptoms and impairment to be diagnosed with a childhood mental disorder ; rates varied among the different sites. Schools, communities, and healthcare providers can use this information to plan for the healthcare and school service needs of children and adolescents with mental disorders. Screening,...

We Are Resilient is a resilience approach for educator wellness that helps teachers take care of themselves and mitigate the negative impacts of secondary trauma and/or compassion fatigue . I am honored to provide a no cost support opportunity for educators during this unique time. Join our Resilience Circle for Educators (video of what a circle is) and learn about our approach, We Are Resilient (link to website resources) . As an educator, you are negotiating many feelings, both in your...