Educators & Advocates
Educators, counselors, and school staff have unique insight into the day-to-day lives of youth in Steuben County. Your work calls you not only to teach, but to listen to students, often in ways that other adults do not. Here you will find events, tools, and information related to trauma and its effects on student achievement, as well as techniques you can use to maintain a trauma-informed classroom environment.
Resources
Indiana Department of Educational Neuroscience Toolkit
This DoE toolkit provides multiple lesson plans for teachers in the state of Indiana to begin learning about the human brain with students. Lessons are mapped out in a manner that builds off previous knowledge and understanding and can be adapted by grade level.
Agency Self-Assessment
This tool is intended to help you measure your organization’s readiness to implement a trauma-informed approach with customers and clients. Honest and candid staff responses can benefit your organization by helping to identify opportunities for program and environmental change, assist in professional development planning, and informing policy changes within your organization.
Building Trauma Responsive Healing Communities
This slideshow outlines specific strategies for building a trauma responsive community based on the research of Robin E. Donaldson, founder and CEO of Collective Impact Training and Consulting. Community members are encouraged to share this with anyone interested in learning more about building a trauma-responsive community in Steuben County.
How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime
Nadine Burke Harris
Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.
How teachers can help students navigate trauma
Lisa Godwin
"To make a difference in the life of a child ... I made the commitment to tell my personal story," says educator Lisa Godwin. In this moving talk, she shares her experience of overcoming childhood trauma with the quiet, unwavering support of a teacher and school counselor -- and shows how educators can help students and families navigate hardships by sharing their own stories.
Documentary films that explore trauma & make space for healing
Almudena Toral
Through documentary films following survivors of trauma, TED Fellow Almudena Toral makes invisible psychological scars seen. She shares the heartbreaking story of Adayanci Pérez, a six-year-old girl from Guatemala suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to her encounter with US immigration enforcement. A powerful call to give voice to those who are silenced -- and pressure governments to change their course of action.
How are the Children
Narrated by Wesley Williams, II - Westat Senior Project Director
The traditional greeting of the Maasai people in Africa asks after the well-being of the children. Our narrator was introduced to this custom many years ago and often uses it to set the context for educator quality meetings, forums, conferences, and sessions. The meaning behind the response, “All the children are well,” highlights the importance of efforts that improve children’s well-being. Westat has now partnered this important message to a vibrant and dynamic video.
ACES Primer
ACEs = Adverse Childhood Experiences
Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships. They may also have unstable work histories as adults and struggle with finances, jobs, and depression throughout life. These effects can also be passed on to their own children. Some children may face further exposure to toxic stress from historical and ongoing traumas due to systemic racism or the impacts of poverty resulting from limited educational and economic opportunities.
Want to learn more?
Learn about the 988 help line, find Local Health Providers, and view important Community Resources available in Steuben County at our Community Directory.