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Roughly half of American school children have experienced at least some form of trauma — from neglect, to abuse, to violence. In response, educators often find themselves having to take on the role of counselors, supporting the emotional healing of their students, not just their academic growth. In a growing number of professions, including firefighters, law enforcement, trauma doctors and nurses, child welfare workers, and therapists and case managers, it is now understood that working with...

Educators in rural communities face unique challenges, but they also have special strengths that aren’t always found in urban and suburban schools. In California,where 60 percent of districts are in towns or rural areas, a new project is leveraging those strengths to help educators connect with one another and get the support they need. The California Rural Ed Network started in 2017 but recently launched an online resource bank that offers free informational and professional development...

Try these quick and easy ways to build resilience and relieve stress. STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING DAILY STRESS Sing a song. Perhaps during your morning shower or while you’re driving to school, belt out a high-energy song that you find empowering. My latest favorite is Pink’s “ I Am Here .” This tactic works because it makes you use your full lung capacity, and breathing deep is energizing—and there’s research on the positive impact of listening to music. Time needed: four minutes. Eat a handful...

Keeping homeless youth in school is especially challenging, as these students tend to move frequently and continually change schools. They are absent more and are at a much higher risk of falling behind and quitting high school. Learn4Life , a dropout recovery program that offers a free high school diploma and job training, is uniquely structured to meet the special needs of homeless students and those with housing insecurity. "Alo ng with losing their home, these youth have lost stability...

One of the first sessions of the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access discussed the barriers and opportunities for increasing access in the field of education. The main question was: "How can one achieve systematic changes within the field of education?" The session was moderated by Michelle Flowers, a passionate advocate, and the principal of Kinney High in Rancho Cordova, CA, which is part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. It included a dynamic and diverse panel of education...

Sometimes Armando Ortiz looks back at his life and can hardly believe where he is today. He grew up in White Center, just south of Seattle, and at a pretty early age got involved in gang life and hanging out with people who were getting into trouble. He says much of his early educational life felt like he was being passed along from one grade to the next, no one paying much attention to whether he was learning or not. He decided to attend Highline Big Picture High School in Seattle to get...

Learn4Life , a network of nonprofit high school dropout recovery programs, believes job skills training needs to start in high school. "We work with students who have fallen so far behind in school that they're unlikely to graduate. We help them get a diploma for free and work with community partners to provide job skills," explained Miguel-Angel Soria , director of career technical education (CTE). "We have teens who a couple years ago wouldn't have thought they could ever graduate, much...

At the recent “Get Lit – Words Ignite” Classic Slam poetry competition, Learn4Life (L4L) students throughout California demonstrated that they have the knowledge and eloquence to Shed Light and Motivate (SLAM) their communities to take action. Hailed as the world’s largest youth poetry slam, the event took place April 26-28 th in downtown Los Angeles and included seven L4L squads and 36 total teams. Get Lit – Words Ignite is an organization that uses poetry to “increase literary, empower...

Learn4Life is taking an organization-wide approach to educational service delivery grounded in understanding trauma, its consequences and promoting healing and resilience. To help staff better understand the approach, training was recently conducted for Learn4Life leaders including teachers, counselors, and administrative staff. The training is designed to increase understanding of proactive, practical, trauma-informed approaches to create cultures of inclusivity. The goal is the have all...

Imagine the power of putting a handful of kids together in a class to tell their stories in their own words—and earn credits in the process. This school year, Learn4Life’s Innovation High School (IHS) San Diego – Lakeside is offering a spoken word poetry course titled “Dramatic Literature”. The course engages youth in classic works of literature and empowers teens to take charge of their own futures and unearth their potential. Annabelle Reyes, a Drama Lit student, told how beneficial the...

Teachers and staff at several northern Los Angeles County Learn4Life Resource Centers recently completed a Professional Development (PD) titled “Privileged Thinking in Education”. At this PD, staff learned that privileged thinking is defined as an imbalance of power, experience, and access to resources that influence our opinions on the actions of others. They also watched an eye-opening video , which showed how much privilege some have, without even realizing it. The staff also analyzed how...

At a recent Professional Development (PD), staff and teachers at Learn4Life resource centers throughout the San Fernando Valley and Northern Los Angeles County, learned about de-escalation techniques. The PD provided the staff with resources designed to equip them to organize their thinking and calmly respond to and effectively de-escalate situations to avoid a potential crisis. The techniques they learned included: Defining the behavior and how to approach a situation QTIP! (Quit Taking It...