2023 School Climate Workshops:

April 26 | WEDNESDAY | 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Room: Tule

Living Your Best Life: What is your Story? 

What is your story? This session will give you an opportunity to do some reflection on people, places and events in your life where you have met and overcome barriers. We will explore the concepts of resistance and avoidance in life choices and connect them to who you are at your core. We will also identify how resistance builds strength and the applicability of that awareness in moving forward with your life story. You will come away with how our core values have impacted your journey and a ready made lesson plan to use with staff or students.

A healthy climate and culture within an LEA or organization cannot be forced or contrived. A base understanding of self and what is important to the individual motivates and inspires those working within the organization. Teaching others to connect to their Core Values and use those to live their best life then generates an overall sense of wellbeing that supports the culture and climate efforts.

Presenters: Christine L. Sisco, Assistant Superintendent - Stanislaus County Office of Education Instructional Support Services, and Eric Ranes, Program Manager of Wellness - Stanislaus County Office of Education

 

Room: Sumac

MTSS in practice: How North High Implements a Whole Child Approach

MTSS is a framework we in education with which we are very familiar; however, concepts don't always translate well into practice, especially when you factor in various other individual, community, and familial barriers to education for our youth. The Kern High School District is the largest grades 9-12 school district in California, serving over 42,000 students. The county demographic is diverse and creates a challenging feat for our educators. North High School, one of Kern High's comprehensive high schools that serves the North Bakersfield/Oildale area, serves about 2,100 students from one of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Kern County. From intergenerational poverty and family dysfunction, abuse, and neglect to community violence, our students struggle with a host of risk factors that makes traditional academic instruction difficult. At North High, we have a network of support consisting of various supportive staff and systems that intertwine to create an environment that focuses on the whole child. We would like to dynamically share our integrated and unique approach under an MTSS framework to help other districts and/or schools with a similar demographic and struggle in hopes of inspiring them to create a system that best fits their needs.

Presenter: Kym Campbell, Dean of Student Behavior and Supports - North High School/Kern High School District

 

Room: Cottonwood

The Impact of Sex and Labor Trafficking and Social Media Exploitation on Students 

Many factors that impact crimes related to child exploitation have changed in the past few months. This presentation will address those issues and help educators to be able to identify when a student might be at risk of exploitation and what they can do about it.

The most concerning trend is related to online sexual exploitation of minors normally known as sextortion or blackmail with a photo, video or live streaming.  These students are mercilessly harassed that have resulted in a heartbreaking trend of very successful young men and women committing suicide.  This presentation will address all types of sextortion tactics and help identify behavioral indicators that a student may be a victim of online exploitation. This presentation will also address issues related to unaccompanied minors who may be victims of sex or labor trafficking.  We will also address the impact of California SB 357 that is challenging law enforcement to be able to identify a minor who is caught up in commercial sex. 

Presenter: Opal Singleton, President and CEO Million Kids, Training and Outreach Coordinator, Riverside County - Anti Human Trafficking Task Force/Riverside County Sheriff Department 

 

Room: Elderberry

Parents as Partners

For many parents, interacting with the school triggers negative behaviors. This can be because of their experience as a student or a current situation with their child. As school staff our reactions should minimizes, not escalate the situation. Learn how to de-escalate the situation. Parents are a big part of creating a positive school climate at a school. When a parent has positive feelings towards the school and teachers, the child will also have similar feelings, so the reverse serves as well. This presentation explores the effects of negative emotions on the brain and why both staff and parents when consumed by negative feelings are not able to problem solve and sometimes say things they wouldn’t under different circumstances. Once you understand what is happening in the brain when upset, it is easier not to react to others, as well as monitor your own feelings. Different techniques will be shared for preventing the escalation of situations, as well as de-escalation. There will be ideas for sharing information with a parent, to facilitating a larger group meeting, to talking with an upset parent. Learn how to work with and support parents for the best interest of the child.

Presenter: Gail Angus, Ed. D., Founder & CEO - NavigatED 

 

Room: White Sage

Creating Systematic Alignment to Drive Behavioral Change

In this session participants will learn how Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a K-12 charter school network composed of five school sites, addressed a need for systemic change in their approach toward equitable behavior management. From start to finish, participants will learn how Vaughn assessed and revamped their behavior incident reporting processes. From the adoption of a new behavior management system, to the creation of aligned processes, and the shifting of staff behavior towards the management, documentation, and reporting of behavioral incidents, participants will leave having gained a practical understanding of all the components of an effective, equitable behavior incident reporting process.

Presenters: Griselda Ortiz, School Climate Director, Alex Henriquez, School Climate Coordinator and Bri-Ann Sullivan-Enzo, School Climate Coordinator - Vaughn Next Century Learning Center

 

Room: Manzanita

The Power of Reassignment…When Done Right!

In a world where off-campus suspensions are a thing of the past, how can schools evoke the most drastic behavioral change through on-campus reassignments? Antelope Valley School District has implemented various forms of Student Support Centers across our 8 different high schools in attempts to focus on meeting our most at-risk students where they are at. With the right plan, personnel and passion, any school can change their behavioral climate one reassignment at a time.

Presenters: Jordan Jenison, PBIS Coordinator and Teacher, La Tanya Jones, Zach Mercier, and Jada Jackson - Quartz Hill High School

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

LGBTQIA+ 101

How to remove barriers and increase success and connectedness for k-12 students.

Tori St. Johns has been with Desert Sands Unified School District for 31 years.

Chairperson of the Riverside University Health System Behavioral Health Board and Children's Mental Health Committee

Presenter: Tory St. Johns, Student Assistance Program - Desert Sands Unified School District 

 

Room: Rabbit

Kern Alternative Education Trauma-Informed MTSS Journey: A Multi-Disciplinary & Multi-Tiered Approach

The prevalence and negative impacts of trauma on learning mandates the inclusion of trauma-informed lens in MTSS implementation. This presentation highlights Kern County’s vision for their trauma-informed transformation, identify the various training used to build strategies, and the efforts to embed trauma principles with current school framework (PBIS/MTSS).

Part I will focus on Kern’s context and vision for their trauma-informed transformation. It will showcase the multi-tiered approach training they are implementing to involve a multi-disciplinary team. Part II will identify the various training curriculum used (CBITS, BounceBack, TISE, Coaching, and more) and the timeline. Part III will address how the leadership is aligning trauma-informed principles and the transformation process with a current educational framework to create sustainability and organizational change. Kern Alternative Education is in the beginning phase of their MTSS implementation and they are endeavoring to embed a trauma-informed lens as they engage in the work. Experiences, challenges, and successes will be shared. The last part will involve participants in a discussion to explore ideas and encourage contextualization within their own schools or districts.

Presenters: Vivien Villaverde, Associate Professor Practicum Education - USC; Salvador Arias, MTSS Coordinator - Kern County Supt. of Schools Alternative Education Program; Marleen Wong, Ph.D., LCSW, Co-Founder and President - Center of Safe and Resilient Schools; and Pamela Vona, Co-Founder & CFO - Center of Safe and Resilient Schools 

 

Room: Fox

Trauma Informed Care: How to Approach Mental Health and Our Youths

Trauma impacts everyone, and can be especially detrimental during developmental years. So how can we help?!  Mental health awareness in schools is a crucial element in supporting our next generation toward success. This workshop will focus on approaching youths within a trauma informed lense, and provide information to aid in crisis de-escalation, identifying trauma-related behavior, and establishing internal motivation to succeed. Your role is crucial to our future generations and the support within education can truly make the difference. Collaboration with educators and mental health professionals provides supportive working relationships to our youths…it takes a village!

Presenter: Dr. Ashley Brown, Licensed Clinical Forensic Psychologist, Psy.D, M.A., M.S. – Orange County Juvenile Hall

 

Room: Bear

Utilizing Sports to tackle the oppositions to Mental Health and Wellness

This workshop will offer methods to utilize the sports platform and experience to empower teen student athletes with resources and tools to help cultivate mental health and wellness on and off the competition field.  Specific tactics will be offered to build self-confidence, create constructive parent engagement, increase social “team” bonding, stimulate self-awareness, and invest in student leadership development.  We will unlock the treasures in sports that offer the riches of holistic character and life skill development that are transferrable to the mental health of the teen under the jersey that walks the halls of campus, deals with teenage social pressures, effected by the trials of home life and daily scrolls through the pages of social media. 

Presenter: Javelin Guidry, founder WP3 Sports, Author Warrior Parent Playbook, Motivational Speaker, Varsity Football/Life Mentor Coach - Vista Murrieta HS

 

Room: Mountain Lion

Students are Finding their Voice with Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR)

Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) engages students as researchers to generate evidence to improve their school climate. Come learn how a UC-Berkeley research team led by Dr. Emily Ozer and funded by the Possibility Lab are partnering with student leadership classes and YPAR groups across California to amplify cross-learning, student voice, and impact on policies that are affecting students and their school climate. UC-Berkeley is developing an online YPAR data dashboard, including a project map with user-friendly findings for schools to utilize as part of their actions plans. Come learn about YPAR, provide feedback, and learn how you can get involved!

Presenters: Brian Villa, MPH, MSW and Dashia Wright, BA - UC Berkeley

 

APRIL 26 | WEDNESDAY | 2:30 pm – 3:45 pm 

 

Room: Tule

Directing the Narrative: CR PBIS/MTSS/Shifting School Culture

This session is designed for building leaders, teacher leaders, and central office supports. Connecting every aspect of your building with a red thread is critical for shifting the culture and climate of your building so ALL students can thrive. Directing the narrative is about being intentional with your language, processes, systems, and routines so no students slip through the cracks, and teachers have the support they need to succeed. By aligning your building goals, with your teacher goals, professional development plan, school wide culturally responsive systems and routines (PBIS), and ongoing/cyclical data dives (MTSS), all while honoring student voice, you will see outcomes for your building. We must have our foundational beliefs aligned and have systems in place to consistently, collaboratively work toward that north star (your school vision) and this is up to the leaders to direct that narrative. This is our work as leaders. No matter your school demographics, we all have these two things in common: all students have needs and all teachers need support. By having a clear, consistent vision that is supported year long, you can meet the needs of your building, but you MUST direct that narrative. If you don’t, others will.

Presenter: Zachary Stowell, Principal - Seattle Public Schools

 

Room: Sumac

Suicide Prevention Among Our Youth

Brief description: The purpose of this workshop is to provide professionals with an appreciation of the impact of depression and suicide on adolescent health as well as the skills necessary to identify and intervene for adolescents at risk for suicide while applying cultural competency. General goals are to offer professional growth, broaden knowledge, and greater skills on suicide intervention and prevention among our youth.

Presenter: Dr. Kathleen Sarmiento, DSW, M.S., LMFT, CEO | Transformational Family Counseling, Founder/Principal | S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program™

 

Room: Cottonwood

Circles for Problem Solving and Communication

In this wonderful workshop, we will address philosophies surrounding restorative practices. Participants will then walk through challenges as well as easy to discuss topics in a step-by-step process while they learn to facilitate circle activities by doing them. By adopting kid-grit concepts for themselves, educators will be ultimately helping students to build positive shifts in:

• Attitudes toward academics and school culture.
• Improved class attendance.
• Handling of face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying.
• Creative solving of discipline problems.

Presenter: Julia Gabor, President/CEO - kid-grit 

 

Room: Elderberry

Second Responder Model – The Journey from Trauma to Wellness

 

According to ACES, 60% of youth who need mental health support don’t receive the care they need. Schools are overwhelmed with the increased demand to provide mental health services. The Second Responder Model expands on existing school support structures. Our “concierge” approach bridges the gap to community-based services that exceed the scope of school-based resources. These services create the journey for students to move from trauma and crisis to wellness and well-being.

Presenters: Phillip Falcetti, MPH, Alexandra Paulsen, and Dr. Mohammed Forouzesh - Partners4Wellness

 

Room: White Sage

How to Help Students Win the Digital World 

Students of today are dealing with a very different world from students of 5, 10, and 20 years ago. The pressure to put their best foot forward at school AND on social media is a heavy responsibility. Learn the trends and how to educate and empower your students to embrace social media and become digital role models.

Presenter: Kim Karr, Co-Founder - #ICANHELP

 

Room: Manzanita

Three Perspectives of Grief: Students, Parents, and You

Dealing with loss affects every aspect of a child’s life. Often, families do not talk to each other about death thus making it difficult for children to process the death. Participating in groups designed to address death provides a platform for children to express their thoughts and beliefs regarding death. It is necessary to address key components of grief in an age appropriate manner in an effort to facilitate the development of healthy coping skills. The facilitation of a grief group provides a safe environment for children to come together and gain the necessary tools to progress through the grieving process.

Presenter: Regina Siez, LCSW,PPS - Temecula Valley Unified School District

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

Restorative Practices; Building Positive Relationships

The workshop on Restorative Practices; Building Positive Relationships will provide participants with a clearer understanding of restorative practices, and how these practices can be used in schools to develop more positive relationships between school staff, students and parents, as well as between students with each other. Participants will learn how restorative practices can be used to decrease stereotypes, and to promote the social emotional well-being and equity in the school community. Participants will increase skills and strategies they can use to strengthen positive relationships in the classroom and in the school.

Presenter: Anthony Ceja, Senior Manager, Whole Child Community Design Dept. - San Diego County Office of Education

 

Room: Rabbit

Campus Threat Assessment: Creating an Effective District Wide Threat Team

This presentation will provide an overview of campus threat assessment and management programs.  Using research supported findings, the presenter will articulate how to set up a team, who to have on the team and how the team will work with both internal and external resources to identify and manage potential sources of targeted campus violence.  The presentation will integrate case studies into the discussion to illustrate the effectiveness of the threat assessment process.  An emphasis will be made  on key elements that every district can immediately integrate into their violence prevention programs.

Presenter: Patrick Prince, Chief Threat Assessment Officer, Associate Vice Provost, Threat Assessment & Management - University of Southern California

 

Room: Fox

Creativity, Collaboration, and Compassion: Student-Led School Climate Change

This workshop will center on the importance of empowering young people to be active change agents in improving their own school experience and that of their peers. 

First, we will review the research on student-led social emotional initiatives and school climate and provide an overview of one such approach: inspirED (inspiredstudents.org). InspirED is a set of free online resources that guide students through a four-step creative problem-solving process for enhancing their school’s climate, infused with opportunities to build social and emotional skills. 

The second portion of the workshop will provide demonstrations of two tools: (1) the School Climate Walkthrough, a web-based application that surveys students’ experiences along nine domains of school climate. The application provides instant score reports and analyzes demographic data to uncover disparities in school experience by gender, grade, or racial identity. Participants will have a chance to try out the tool and discuss a mock report. (2) The inspirED training, an online learning platform that walks student teams and their educator advocates through the inspirED process, providing creative thinking, emotional intelligence, and teamwork skills along the way. We will showcase the benefits of a digital platform for increasing equitable access, the digital tools used for gathering data, and techniques for creating engaging learning experiences. 

We will conclude with actionable steps that educators and school leaders can take to bring similar programming to the students in the schools they serve.

Presenters: Jennifer Seibyl, MEd - Acting Program Manager of inspirED, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Erin Brough, PMP, MBA - Associate Director of Communications, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence 

 

Room: Bear

Popular Culture and the Noise it Creates 

The course will examine today’s popular culture and the internal noise it creates in the lives of today’s youth. Characteristics of the new generations will be presented, including the unique communication styles and language used by today’s youth. Participants will be encouraged to expand their knowledge of today’s popular culture to better communicate with the youth they work with. The presentation will offer examples from music, television, movies, the Internet and video games that impede communication between youth and adults. A communication model will be used to demonstrate how popular culture competes for the loyalty and attention of young people. This presentation contains ADULT THEMES and is not suitable for young people.

Presenter: Paul LeBaron, Chief of Police - Hermosa Beach Police Department

 

Room: Mountain Lion

Implementing Culturally Responsive Systems and Practices

To be effective in multicultural classrooms, educators must have the ability to relate respectively with people of their own culture as well as those from other cultures. This session is designed to guide educators through activities that distinguish the differences between culture and climate on their campuses, and strategies for implementing culturally responsive practices. Participants will learn the core components of cultural responsiveness and how to use Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) principles to change school cultures and systems to enhance educational equity. Intentional use of these strategies will support districts/LEA's in reducing disproportionate practices.

Presenter: Angela Mgbeke, Prevention and Intervention Specialist - Desert Mountain SELPA

 

APRIL 27 | THURSDAY | 8:00 am – 9:15 am 

 

Room: Tule

Beyond Red Ribbon Week: Engaging with Youth to Promote Health Advocacy

The “Beyond Red Ribbon” presentation first walks participants through a quick history of the Red Ribbon campaign and why schools across the nation celebrate this event. 

Then the presentation guides participants through the importance of engaging students in health promotion advocacy, where to find student participants on your campus to build a culture of youth advocacy, explore various kinds of events and activities to engage students and staff in, and finally how to continue these practices, events, and health advocacy throughout the entire school year, beyond Red Ribbon Week.

Finally, participants are left with resources to help them get started with student advocacy groups on their campus along with information of organizations currently working in youth development and the resources they offer. 

The intended audience or recommended attendees for this session are: school administrators, school resource officers, public safety officers, school/campus safety, counselors, community liaisons, TOSA, PBIS coaches, and any other roles overseeing campus culture and campus safety.

Presenter: Lynelle Lujan, Senior Program Specialist - Los Angeles County Office of Education

 

Room: Cottonwood

Using Core Values to Promote Equity in Education 

Self-affirmation through individual core value reflection is one of the best researched concepts to promote equity for students and staff in education. This process improves achievement by identifying what's right with each student at the level of their core values while simultaneously reducing student focus on surface level demographic that may be driving poor-self-esteem and performance. The downstream effects of social and classroom inequity include poor self-image, mental health, and stunted academic achievement. This session gets to the heart (and science) of improving self-image of each individual student by mapping what is "right" with them on the inside even when everything is "not right" in their environment. Individual Core Value discovery and reflection is well-known to increase achievements and reduce stress for underrepresented populations in a classroom setting. This presentation addresses the challenge of finding practical, engaging and evidence-based ways to bring this to a diverse classroom setting. This proven intervention improves wellbeing, stress, and achievement in school, workplaces, and sports.

Presenters: Christine L. Sisco, Assistant Superintendent - Stanislaus County Office of Education Instructional Support Services, and Eric Ranes, Program Manager of Wellness - Stanislaus County Office of Education

 

Room: Elderberry

What Do Acorns Have To Do With MTSS?

This presentation will highlight the work being done in a remote Indigenous community in Northern California regarding the importance of ensuring school-wide expectations are culturally relevant and appropriate to the students and community being served. What does it look like? How can you bring cultural relevance to the MTSS Model?

Presenter: Alma Bickford, Mental Health and Wellness Counselor - Siskiyou County Office of Education

 

Room: White Sage

Drag ‘em In & Dust ‘em Off

Restorative Practices are no longer simple buzz words that we can afford to disregard in today’s school environments. Our students are faced with trauma, as the result of Adverse Childhood Experiences and because of this, they often exhibit behaviors that indicate a need for both “reasoned discipline” and “restorative practices.” The school has been and continues to remain the one reliable constant for many of our communities. Dr. JB Blocker and Mr. Hart, veteran educational leaders with more than 20 years of experience, truly believe that there are massive differences between “responses” and “supports”. All too often, punitive actions that lead to exclusionary consequences become the routine method of responding to student misbehaviors...Yet, despite numerous dissertations and studies, educational leaders, continue to wonder why chronic absenteeism rates continue to rise?! This presentation will help participants bridge the gap from simply being aware to being efficient practitioners.

Presenter: Dr. JB Blocker, District Manager of Equity & Discipline - Memphis Shelby County School

 

Room: Manzanita

Building Culture and Student Engagement

Dive into the importance of Student Engagement as it relates to School Culture. Discover methods to justify your program and budget by gaining insights into student involvement data. Learn how to collect and understand data from school activities, events, interventions and PBIS. Lastly, find out how to incentivize and reward students for their participation.

Presenter: Greg Hroach - Five Star Students

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

Mental Health: Preventing Targeted School Violence Part 1 & 2

This session is designed to be presented for counselors, school administrators and mental health professionals seeking an in-depth understanding of targeted school violence in schools. This workshop is not intended for non-professionals and will include graphic imagery to illustrate key concepts.  Although the workshop sessions are broken are designed to build on one another, they do not exclude participants from just attending one of them.

*Please no recording or photos allowed, presenters will share a redacted version of each presentation of the material that is safe to distribute. 

Part 1 – Includes: 1. Overview and Evolution 2. Case Examples & 3. Pre-Incident Indicators

Part 2 - Includes: 1. The Pathway to Violence 2. Trends & Warning Signs and Red Flags

Presenters: Tony Beliz, PhD, University Southern California Safe Communities Institute and Nicolas Beliz, Psy.D, School Threat Assessment Response Team (START), Los Angeles County Dept. of Mental Health

 

Room: Rabbit

The Impact of Sex and Labor Trafficking and Social Media Exploitation on Students 

Many factors that impact crimes related to child exploitation have changed in the past few months. This presentation will address those issues and help educators to be able to identify when a student might be at risk of exploitation and what they can do about it.

The most concerning trend is related to online sexual exploitation of minors normally known as sextortion or blackmail with a photo, video or live streaming.  These students are mercilessly harassed that have resulted in a heartbreaking trend of very successful young men and women committing suicide.  This presentation will address all types of sextortion tactics and help identify behavioral indicators that a student may be a victim of online exploitation. This presentation will also address issues related to unaccompanied minors who may be victims of sex or labor trafficking.  We will also address the impact of California SB 357 that is challenging law enforcement to be able to identify a minor who is caught up in commercial sex. 

Presenter: Opal Singleton, President and CEO Million Kids, Training and Outreach Coordinator, Riverside County - Anti Human Trafficking Task Force/Riverside County Sheriff Department

 

Room: Fox

Addressing Escalating Behavior in Schools 

This session discusses how to identify and intervene in escalating behaviors in schools. As behaviors are changing in our schools, it is important for teachers to be equipped with the necessary skills to identify when a behavior is reaching a critical stage and how to prevent it. Participants will learn the different stages for escalating behaviors and what interventions are appropriate for each stage. 

Presenter: Eric Landers, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Special Education Co-Director, Special Education MAT - Georgia Southern University

 

Room: Bear

Empowering Students To Collaboratively Identify & Address School Conflicts - SPIRIT

The United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service (CRS) helps students to address school conflicts through its Student Problem Identification & Resolution of Issues Together (School-SPIRIT) program. The program helps schools address tension and conflict related to issues of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability.
CRS, along with trained volunteer facilitators, delivers the School-SPIRIT program, which brings together diverse groups of students to identify and address issues over a full day or two half-days. The program is student-driven and helps students develop problem solving skills, including issue identification and prioritization, decision-making, and solution development. As a result, students take a leadership role in addressing conflicts in their schools and build the skills and capacity to dissuade future conflicts.

Presenter:  James Williams III, United States Department of Justice - Community Relations

 

Room: Mountain Lion

Introduction to Restorative Practices: Affective Statements, and Creating Circles

This section creates the foundational philosophy for Restorative Justice. We focus on understanding the principles of RJ and applying the principles of RJ to the classroom, home, and community. Beginning with the classroom/community building Circles this simple practice is essential to building a strong and inclusive community. We will continue to develop skills and strategies to address harm and conflict. We will show examples of restorative practices through Wellness Center and Kindergarten Intervention & Discipline Team programs in Memphis Shelby County Schools district (The twenty-third largest school district in the United States). These strategies include affective statements, small impromptu conversations, and restorative conferences. We will explore the role of circle keeper, victims, support persons, community members, and facilitators. All the while thinking about how to continue to build relationships with all stakeholders.

Presenter: Kelvin B. Hart, Ed. S, Senior Advisor, Office of Student Equity, Enrollment and Discipline - Memphis Shelby County Schools

 

APRIL 27 | THURSDAY | 9:30 am – 10:45 am

 

Room: Tule

Stop Doing the Research on the Students and Let the Students do the Research on Themselves!

In this session, participants will learn how Stockton Unified School District, one of the largest school districts in the State of California, uses student voice to assess, measure and address the critical issues impacting school climate, and to inform their LCAP. Come learn about the steps that Stockton USD has taken to empower their students as restorative advocates with an active responsibility to build a safe and supportive school climate.  SUSD utilizes a district-wide youth development approach to empower students to gather quantitative and qualitative data that serves as a source of information to address the critical issues impacting their school climate, including bullying, violence, attendance, and tobacco use (among many others). In addition, this data is also shared with PBIS/MTSS Teams, School Safety Teams and School Climate Committees to take systemic approaches to improve school climate. In 2013 Stockton USD implemented the Peer Leaders Uniting Students Program (PLUS), an evidence-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) model as a tool for schools to utilize in their action plans. After 10 years, a full-time coordinator, two A-G classes, 4 full-time teachers, 100 advisors, and 1250 student leaders, this Student Voice model is stronger than ever. The data speaks for itself, when we stop doing the research on the students, and let the students do the research on themselves, we find effective Solutions!

Presenter: Jillian Glende, PLUS/TUPE Coordinator - Stockton Unified School District

 

Room: Sumac

The Zen Classroom: Creating a Calm Space for Learning

The ZEN Classroom: How to Create a Calming Space for You and Your Students: 

This session walks you through a step by plan to change your classroom from an institutionalized space to a space of welcomed learning. By the end of the session attendees will have the tools and springboard ideas and frameworks to transform the learning space into a place of calm. Concepts and strategies include addressing all senses in the classroom and include the influence of color, the addition of music, the creation of safe spaces, aroma therapy, lighting design, living oxygen and plants and more. In addition, the participants will have time to reenergize themselves with the creation of their own mandalas as a strategy for creating a Zen Wall for Students to stimulate wellbeing and a positive school climate. This session is taught by a Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Instructor with over 37 years experience in the education field. This session provides you with immediate strategies to begin using right away in your own practice and classroom, office or workplace. During this session you will get some time to learn and grow and get some time to decompress and relax for yourself….you deserve it!

Presenter: Dr. Whitney D’Amico - Lake Elsinore Unified

 

Room: Cottonwood

From the Boardroom to the Classroom

In Simi Valley Schools, our mission is to empower ALL students to become the best potential version of themselves. Through functioning as a healthy and effective professional learning community, we embrace ALL students as our students. Improving the professional practices of every adult in our organization is key to supporting student learning and growth in and out of the classroom. From elected school board members to our school and classroom staff, educating and supporting students is a collective effort.

Attend this session to learn more about our promise, our collective commitments, and our core values. We look forward to exploring ways to provide safe, welcoming, engaging, and comprehensive environments for ALL students. Remember, when one student succeeds, we all succeed. Together, we can go far!

Presenter: Dr. Hani Youssef, Superintendent - Simi Valley Schools 

 

Room: Elderberry

Vaping In Our Schools 101

Attendee's will learn about the current issues that our youth are facing with vaping and vaping addiction. Attendee's will gather new and old knowledge on prevention and intervention.

Please join me in discussing the impact that vaping(nicotine/THC) is having on our youth and families. We have youth who are becoming addicts before they turn 14 years of age. Lets discuss the true background behind vaping and ways to prevent it from happening in our school as well as in the household.

Presenter: Hector Molina, Vice Principal - Lee Middle School

 

Room: White Sage

Managing High Risk Behaviors: Navigating Mental Health Crises

Are you prepared for the conversation with a student when you notice they’ve started cutting themselves?  Or when they admit they’ve been considering suicide?  The school environment is often one of the first places crisis issues begin to manifest.  This seminar provides practical advice about addressing mental health crises, including suicide, self-harm, violence, substance abuse, and psychosis in the school setting.  Learn how to identify warning signs, be supportive through hard conversations, and seek appropriate resources when necessary.

Presenter: Emily Aihara, LMFT Behavioral Health Clinician 2 – CEGU Probation Mental Health and Recovery Services

 

Room: Manzanita

How to Help Students Win the Digital World 

Students of today are dealing with a very different world from students of 5, 10, and 20 years ago. The pressure to put their best foot forward at school AND on social media is a heavy responsibility. Learn the trends and how to educate and empower your students to embrace social media and become digital role models.

Presenter: Kim Karr, Co-Founder - #ICANHELP

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

Mental Health: Preventing Targeted School Violence Part 1 & 2

This session is designed to be presented for counselors, school administrators and mental health professionals seeking an in-depth understanding of targeted school violence in schools. This workshop is not intended for non-professionals and will include graphic imagery to illustrate key concepts.  Although the workshop sessions are broken are designed to build on one another, they do not exclude participants from just attending one of them.

*Please no recording or photos allowed, presenters will share a redacted version of each presentation of the material that is safe to distribute. 

Part 1 – Includes: 1. Overview and Evolution 2. Case Examples & 3. Pre-Incident Indicators

Part 2 - Includes: 1. The Pathway to Violence 2. Trends & Warning Signs and Red Flags

Presenters: Tony Beliz, PhD, University Southern California Safe Communities Institute and Nicolas Beliz, Psy.D, School Threat Assessment Response Team (START), Los Angeles County Dept. of Mental Health

 

Room: Rabbit

In Response to a Community Crisis in Monterey Park: A Case Study from Alhambra Unified School District

Alhambra Unified School District staff will discuss the history and demographics of AUSD’s communities and how that cultural awareness helped develop the sensitivity needed to appropriately respond to the school’s needs after a local shooting during the Lunar New Year Celebrations.  The panel of educators will share their district’s safety protocols, response to the crisis and how ongoing support has looked like in assessing students’ overall sense of safety 30 days after the event.

Presenter: L. Wendy Molina-Solis, Ed.D., Director of Multi-Tiered System of Supports - Alhambra Unified School District

 

Room: Fox

Eliminating the Context For Bullying

This presentation discusses the Problem Analysis Triangle prevents bullying in schools. Bullying impacts school personnel in terms of time, effort, and even money. Participants will learn how the bully, the victim, and the opportunity work together to create the bullying situation. Participants will also learn how to strengthen different support already present in their schools to better predict bullying, protect the victims, and address the bully when the behavior has occurred.

Presenter: Eric Landers, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Special Education Co-Director, Special Education MAT - Georgia Southern University

 

Room: Bear

Recognition and Management of Campus Substance Abuse

Substance abuse has long been identified as an ongoing challenge to the safety and wellbeing of our educational communities.  The presenter, a 25 year Drug Recognition Expert Instructor with the LAPD, will articulate how districts can implement programs that allow early Identification of potential substance abuse and meaningfully apply “reasonable suspicion” across all employee levels.  While district transportation employees have long been subject to training and testing, this presentation will show how the principles are applicable across the district.  Drawing on decades of training and case consultation, this presentation will focus on actions that districts can appropriately apply to their settings right away.

Presenter: Patrick Prince, Chief Threat Assessment Officer, Associate Vice Provost, Threat Assessment & Management - University of Southern California

 

Room: Mountain Lion

Championing Social and Emotional Connections with Students

Develop a deeper understanding of leveraging school, district and national resources to better connect with students and improve your school’s climate after learning how to locate social emotional data, interpret this information, and champion effective targeted discussions with stakeholders about program implementations that show promise.

Across the country data shows an unsettling number of students who are disconnected from their schools, communities, and teachers. Multiple school districts are working with students who don’t feel they are a meaningful part of – or share any meaningful connections with – their school, and who feel that adults (teachers and staff) do not understand or care about them. Attendees should come away from this presentation with knowledge on where to locate social emotional learning data, how to interpret this data, and how to leverage this data to champion effective targeted discussions with stakeholders about program implementations that show promise to improve school climate. We will analyze examples from my school's district – the fifth largest in the nation – showcasing how these programs are operated, cover additional creative solutions, and discuss how my school is differentiating survey data to better address our students’ needs.

Presenter: Brent Florence, National Board Certified School Counselor, NCC, NCSC, NBCT -  Sunrise Mountain High School, NV

 

APRIL 27 | THURSDAY | 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Room: Tule

Poetry Translated is Social Emotional Learning 

Poetry is the translated language of our students' emotions. Assistant Principal, author, and poet, John Broussard, shares how the benefits of poetry extend further than just ELA benchmarks. With his Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, John dissects SEL principles and describes how poetry allowed him to remain resilient through foster care, loss of loved ones, and other childhood traumas. Writing allows our students an opportunity to explore their emotions in a safe way and strengthens their self-awareness skills. For both students and educators poetry fosters the ability to become socially and relationally aware of the emotional needs of those around them. With that level of awareness, research suggests decision making and healthy problem solving skills increase, which creates a more positive and safer school climate. If you are an educator who desires to see the whole child, using poetry as the vehicle to drive SEL is the fastest way to get there.

Presenter: John Broussard 

 

Room: Sumac

Structuring Student Wellness Across Initiatives

Exhausted from chasing down too many initiatives? Challenged by figuring out how to integrate multiple student support efforts? This presentation addresses the essential elements for structuring your student wellness initiatives to yield greater effectiveness and efficiency. The session includes both a framework and specific strategies for braiding student support efforts. The strategies are then paired with concrete examples of how schools and districts across the nation have operationalized these concepts and put them into practice.

Presenter: Dr. Jon Eyler, CEO - Collaborative Learning Solutions

 

Room: Cottonwood

Restorative Practices; Building Positive Relationships

The workshop on Restorative Practices; Building Positive Relationships will provide participants with a clearer understanding of restorative practices, and how these practices can be used in schools to develop more positive relationships between school staff, students and parents, as well as between students with each other. Participants will learn how restorative practices can be used to decrease stereotypes, and to promote the social emotional well-being and equity in the school community. Participants will increase skills and strategies they can use to strengthen positive relationships in the classroom and in the school.

 Presenter: Anthony Ceja, Senior Manager, Whole Child Community Design Dept. - San Diego County Office of Education

 

Room: Elderberry

Holistic Wellness Wheel Exploration

In this powerful and interactive SEL session learn how to use the kid-grit Holistic Wellness Wheel (HWW) as a tool to support students in self-awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, digital and social media consciousness, social and cultural awareness, and other specific topics. We will explore over 5 different iterations of the kid-grit Holistic Wellness Wheel, how to use it for different age levels and for staff, and how you can create your very own version(s). You will experience firsthand how the HWW builds community, how it can be used as a tool for goal setting, and deep reflection. Join us and take a deep dive into the kid-grit unique approach to human development.

Presenter: Julia Gabor, President/CEO - kid-grit 

 

Room: White Sage

Family Engagement Makes the Difference! 

What if you had a new way to engage with families that created space to actually listen to their unique strengths and concerns? In this session you will learn about a family intervention called “Breakthrough”. The Breakthrough program features a structured family interview in which a trained mental health professional (school counselor, school social worker, MFT, etc.) screens for strengths and concerns for the student and family, then collaborates with them in the development of a plan to help the student be safe and successful in school. This program has been used effectively as a post-suspension intervention and as a preventative strategy. It can be utilized to engage families in a deep and meaningful way that brings about transformative change in people and systems. Learn about this innovative program that can transform your school district one student, one family at a time. The workshop will also include testimonials from practitioners who are currently using this process to engage students and families.

Presenters: Teresse Lewis, LCSW and Frank Fravel - Collaborative Learning Solutions 

 

Room: Manzanita

Well-Supported People, Support People Well

Through our "Well-supported People, Support People Well", participants will walk away with relevant and practical tools ready to be used and implemented at their schools. Wellness, self-care, addressing secondary trauma have become important and crucial areas as we operate our schools, yet time-wise and budget-wise they are rarely prioritized and often treated as peripheral and compliance check-the-box areas. Over the last decade and certainly over the last 3 years our organization has put wellness, self-care, and secondary trauma support front and center. We have developed an organization-wide system and best practices of collective care that we have found to be effective and have helped tremendously with employee retention, wellness, and continuity of service within our school communities. Adult wellness and self-care within our schools does not happen by chance or by compliance, but by an intentional and consistent collective care continuum.

Presenter: Cesar Lopez, Executive Director - Matrix for Success Academy

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

Addiction - Through the Eyes of Our Youth

Engage with a panel of youth who will share their journey through addiction.  A Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor II and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who have personally worked with these youth, will facilitate a discussion resulting in a better understanding of this issue facing many of our youths. 

Presenters: Ozzie Lizarraga, CADC II Hill Recovery - Temecula, Regina Siez, LCSW,PPS - Temecula Valley Unified School District, & Panel 

 

Room: Rabbit

Popular Culture and the Noise it Creates 

The course will examine today’s popular culture and the internal noise it creates in the lives of today’s youth. Characteristics of the new generations will be presented, including the unique communication styles and language used by today’s youth. Participants will be encouraged to expand their knowledge of today’s popular culture to better communicate with the youth they work with. The presentation will offer examples from music, television, movies, the Internet and video games that impede communication between youth and adults. A communication model will be used to demonstrate how popular culture competes for the loyalty and attention of young people. This presentation contains ADULT THEMES and is not suitable for young people.

Presenter: Paul LeBaron, Chief of Police - Hermosa Beach Police Department

 

Room: Fox

Caring for our Community: Creating Connections Between Young Adults and Local Mental Wellness Services

Partners4Wellness will present on unique strategies to network and educate the high school and college age population about the importance of mental wellness and how to access local services. The presentation will highlight Connect-OC, a county-based project that provides mental health community networking services throughout Orange County. Topics include development of a county wide coalition, developing and hosting engaging events, effective social media campaigns, supporting student-led groups, implementing a "Second Responder Concierge" approach, and more!

Presenters: Sarah Challis, Alexandra Paulsen, Vivi Vu, & Phillip Falcetti, MPH - Partners4Wellness

 

Room: Bear

The Online Enticement of Children

Online Enticement involves an individual communicating with someone believed to be a child via the internet with the intent to commit a sexual offense or abduction. This is a broad category of online exploitation and includes sextortion, in which a child is being groomed to take sexually explicit images and/or ultimately meet face-to-face with someone for sexual purposes, or to engage in a sexual conversation online or, in some instances, to sell/trade the child’s sexual images. This type of victimization takes place across every platform, social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc.

Objectives:

• To bring awareness to school administrators and staff the different perils of online predators.
• Factors that impact the grooming of our students
• Solutions to protect our children by giving them information to recognize red flags during online communication.

Presenters: Jaiquin (Jay) Moore, Investigative Technician II – Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and Joel Pabelico Sr. DA Inv. II/K-9 Unit Electronic Scent Detection (ESD) (Chewie K9)

 

Room: Mountain Lion

RESPECT Project: A Holistic Approach to Gangs on Campus

In 2014, San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies founded RESPECT Project, a grassroots mentoring program offering wraparound services to teens.  In this session, Sheriff's personnel will discuss RESPECT Project methods and offer unique perspectives regarding street gangs on school campuses.  Throughout the presentation, attendees will also learn about graffiti, current trends, and useful indicators of a student's potential gang involvement.

Presenters: Deputy Todd Baker, Deputy Dustin Nelson, and Detective Anthony Mireles - San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

 

APRIL 27 | THURSDAY | 2:15 pm – 3:30 pm

 

Room: Sumac

Motivating Students Through Building Self-Efficacy

Do you have students who lack confidence and/or motivation? Are they having trouble managing how they think, feel and behave? This presentation focuses on building self-efficacy in all students as well as motivating the unmotivated. You will walk away with practical strategies that can be used to promote positive emotional health and academic results.

Objectives: 

• Understand the difference between self esteem and self efficacy.
• Explore ways to build self efficacy in students so that you can see positive emotional health and academic results.
• Walk away with practical strategies that can be used to help motivate unmotivated students.

Walk away with practical strategies that can be used to help motivate unmotivated students.

Presenter: La'Kesha Pryce, General Education Teacher - Challenger School of Sports and Fitness Victor Elementary School District

 

Room: Cottonwood

Building Culture Through Student Voice

Participants will hear the story of Greenfield Middle School in El Cajon, Ca. The school is comprised of 86% free and reduced lunch, 36% English Learners, and 26% Special Education students. The school has changed its culture through the power of relationship building. Participants will learn about the strategies utilized by the school to drive relationship-building. The strategies include a morning advisory model that utilizes morning meetings daily, strategies for allowing teachers to be vulnerable and allow students to get to know the adults on campus, built-in time for one-on-one conversations between staff and students, the power of positive phone calls home, providing students a voice through monthly surveys, and utilizing PLUS forums to allow students to strategize how to help solve problems. 

Presenter: Jacob Launder, Principal - Greenfield Middle School

 

Room: Elderberry

Locating your School on the School Climate Effectiveness Roadmap

This presentation features the Alliance for the Study of School Climate (ASSC) School Effectiveness and Improvement “Roadmap.” This roadmap is grounded in data from over 700 schools and has shown to be effective in predicting and explaining the level of any schools’ effectiveness. Participants will be able to examine their schools using the ASSC roadmap, and the SCAI survey, and therefore, gain a clear sense of where their school is on the roadmap currently, and why. The emphasis of the presentation will be to have participants evaluate the guiding vision and values that exist at their schools and reflect on the efficacy of current practices and programs.

The roadmap provides an almost perfect indicator the current level of climate and offers a clear system to understand the relationships among school climate ratings, classroom practices used, social and emotional conditions, and the student achievement outcomes at each school. The roadmap is based in the 4-domain school orientation matrix. Results from school assessments demonstrate that those schools whose vision and practice are defined by empowerment and belonging (vs. control and fear) and exhibit an intentional approach to building capacity, coherence and effectiveness do better in moving up the roadmap.

Presenter: Dr. John Shindler, Alliance for the Study of School Climate - California State University, Los Angeles

 

Room: White Sage

Integrating Indigenous Knowledge For Your Teaching Practices

Participants will gain an understanding of Indigenous Knowledge. With this understanding, participants will take a look at how Indigenous People have always been practitioners of what is now considered modern academic subjects. Applying the Indigenous Transformational Praxis Model to the classroom can revive teaching and learning. Dr. Jackie Cope has reworked the California Teaching Professional Standards with an American Indian perspective which can shift school culture, teaching, learning, and the entire profession. Applying the Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model can be the shift that is needed to alleviate teacher burnout, address education inequity, and create an education climate we can all thrive in.

The current climate of education has proven that solutions are needed to address the many issues educators face on a daily basis in a colonial settler education system. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge For Your Teaching Practices is just the beginning of addressing the colonial settler education system and the negative effects it has had on our BIPOC students (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). This introductory workshop can help participants view the current education system in a new light, helping them question why education is set up the way it is and how it is possible to imagine a post-colonial settler education system. Dr. Cope has re-engineered the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTPs) through the lens of the Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model to help activate a post-colonial settler education system. The re-engineering of the CSTPs will give teachers a refreshed look on professionalism.

Presenter: Jackie Cope Ed.D., Lead TK-2 Public Teacher, Hamilton Elementary - Hemet Unified School District

 

Room: Manzanita

Climate Change is Not Always Bad

This workshop will address the school climate from a multifaceted approach. First, all staff must feel like they belong to the school community. Attention paid to certificated staff is essential, but unfortunately, classified staff and volunteers tend to get overlooked. To build a positive school climate, all staff need to feel they’re valued and are contributing members of the school culture. Next, participants will gain insight into how to engage the immediate and extended community to build a positive school climate. Through constant communication, ideas, and strategies of how to brand your school and how branding impacts school culture and defines your mission. Lastly, participants will be equipped with strategies to build trust and authentic relationships with kids. This workshop will address classroom-level relationship building while leaning into school-wide endeavors that include all community partners. As the adage says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” If kids feel they are cared for, safe, and loved, they will meet and exceed our expectations.

Presenter: Robert Clobes, Principal - Ruth Musser Middle School

 

Room: Red Tailed Hawk

From Surviving to Thriving: Positive Psychology Practices for Educators

Educators are natural givers to society, and sometimes they do not give enough to themselves first. The fact is that the better they take care of themselves, the more that they can do for others, because they will be in a healthier and happier place to do so.

In this workshop participants will learn theory and practices, supported by rigorous research, for how to thinking about things and do things differently.  In doing so we can move from surviving to thriving through adversity.  For instance, optimism, which is essential for success, is not an inherent trait—it is actually proven to be something that can be practiced and learned with tremendous benefit!  With these practices we can increase efficacy, job satisfaction, and resilience, while also decreasing burnout.

Presenter: Jonathan Erickson, PhD, Principal, Parras Middle School - Redondo Beach Unified School District

 

Room: Rabbit

Climate and Culture: There is a Difference 

We often say School Climate and Culture and do not consider if there is a difference between the two. If we are truly moving toward building positive school environments we need to understand the similarities and differences between school climate and school culture.

School Climate deals with thoughts and feelings, perception and mood. Whereas, School culture deals with human behavior, values , beliefs and expectations. One could summarize this as the difference between how we feel in the school environment versus what we do in the school environment. The reason this is important is so that we can make the correct diagnose of need to move schools in a positive direction.

Presenter: Jamie Allen, Administrative Hearing Panel Member - San Bernardino City Unified School District

 

Room: Fox

Teaching Students A Restorative Mindset Through Social–Emotional Life Skills

Schools are incorporating restorative practices to support disciplinary reform and student well-being. To achieve success, educating students in the reflective processes of this methodology is essential. The session presents an educational model that instructs students in restorative strategies that support social-emotional develop- ment and conflict management. TKF’s lessons teach students deeper lessons on accountability, compassion, collaboration, resiliency, forgiveness, and peace.

Presenter: Tasreen Khamisa and Benita Page - Tariq Khamisa Foundation