It's hard to believe but the holiday season is upon us. If you are like me, the stress of thinking about the task of finding meaningful gifts for the people in my life has already begun. And don't even get me started on the trying to please two teenage boys without breaking the bank! But with all of the stress in the world right now, particularly in the field of education, I am starting to think about this time a little differently. Perhaps we need a new perspective on the gifts that we can...

Students, teachers and other caregivers can all benefit from Regulation , a trauma-informed intervention that helps manage behavior and emotions. When we prioritize emotional and behavioral regulation through sensory, mental and physical strategies, we set children up to be successful — inside the classroom and beyond. One the easiest ways to self-regulate is Breathing . If you’re ever feeling panicked, anxious or out of control, remember that the one thing you can always control is your...

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...

Compassionate Schools Newsletter | Issue 4, December 2020 Coping with the Loss of School Traditions By Carey Jacobsen, Director of Clinical Services As we enter Holiday Season, we are reminded again that this school year is so very different than any we have ever experienced. There will be no Snowball Dance, no Thanksgiving lunch with grandparents, no year-end Holiday Party with snacks and parent volunteers milling about. Semester exams look different, and every week there are adjustments to...

Many of us are well into week eight of virtual learning. Others are sustaining a fully-in-person model with social distancing, or a hybrid somewhere in-between. Still others have begun the semester one way, only to abruptly have to change course. Sure, we’ve had victories along the way. We’ve faced challenges and have learned valuable lessons. But the thing I hear most often from educators are concerns regarding student engagement–especially in virtual learning. Educators lament that...

Trauma Sensitive School practice has gained momentum in the last several years, inspiring changes in educator perspective, administrative policy, and classroom practice. I am often inspired by efforts to understand student challenges in new ways and use innovative strategies. What can give me pause is when this work is applied to institutions or systems where structural bias and inequity are not acknowledged or confronted. In this case, sometimes labels like “trauma kids” or “high-trauma...