News You Can Use: May 2020
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller.
We still continue to monitor resources and responses to COVID-19 and share information throughout the Network. Here are a few items that may be of interest:

Career Connected @ Home:
Everyday at 3:30pm learn about real jobs and careers from employers across Washington.

Join industry leaders for a series of online discussions with live Q & A.
Educating All Learners: To help teachers better serve special education students during the school closures, a coalition of more than 30 disability and education groups has created a digital one-stop shop of teaching resources.

The resource includes specific guidance on how teachers can deliver lessons online to students in special education. Special education students include those with physical disabilities, emotional challenges and dyslexia.

Science X Design:
The Harvard University Center on the Developing Child has identified three principles based in the science of early childhood development and adult capabilities that can be applied to program, policy, and service design:

  • Support responsive relationships for children and adults.
  • Strengthen core life skills.
  • Reduce sources of stress in the lives of children and families.

By using these design principles as a lens for envisioning new programs and policies—and for evaluating and improving existing ones—leaders, organizations, and service providers from a range of sectors can begin to drive real change for children and families.
The Long-term Impact on Children Who Do Not Heal:
"I hear from many clients, and honestly, I heard it myself as a child, of caregivers or closed ones who say “I too went through this and I turned out just fine”. Several things happen when we approach someone else’s trauma with this statement.

  • We give no validation to their pain and dismiss it
  • We establish the belief that going through that trauma is “normal” and “ok”
  • Teaching our child to suppress their pain
  • Giving them feelings of unworthy and not being good/important enough

It is true that the experiences we encounter make us stronger, wiser, and build resistance, but not because we ignore them, suppress them, or give them no validation. There is a process, the pain must be healed so we can understand the lesson, the feelings must be identified so we can give our experience meaning..."
Rethinking Family Engagement During School Closures:
Taking time to check assumptions about family engagement can make a huge difference in the lives of your students and their caregivers.

In the past month or so, have you made one of these common assumptions?

  • Assumption #1: Caregivers are home with their children and can help direct distance learning activities and available to answer questions, help with assignments and navigate technology issues.

  • Assumption #2: Caregivers understand your expectations and know how to motivate students to complete assignments. 

  • Assumption #3: Families expect teachers to assign a full day’s worth of work. 
Understanding Our 'Triune Brains":
"We all basically function out of three different areas of our brains- the survival brain, the emotional brain and the thinking brain. 

The survival brain is best known for the fight, flight, freeze physiological reaction we have whenever we sense real or perceived danger.

The emotional brain houses both positive and negative emotions, memories, and the watch tower (the amygdala) that is constantly on the look out for danger in our world and interactions. 

The thinking part of the brain is the part we use when we respond in a thoughtful way. This is where we can make decisions, inhibit behaviors, and plan our actions. 

The trick is this: the survival and emotional brain’s reactions trump the ability to respond from the thinking brain.
There’s an App for That—School Counseling and SEL Go Online:
From virtual counseling to wellness apps, school districts are increasingly turning to “telehealth” to meet students’ mental health needs during the pandemic.

Regulations around the privacy of minors—who had limited telehealth offerings in schools in the past—are being loosened during the pandemic, allowing districts to offer virtual counseling and therapy sessions for students who need it, according to Debbie Plotnick, a vice president at Mental Health America, who says it may set a new precedent for school-based health care.

Educators are also turning to a wide array of digital tools that provide everything from breathing exercises and journaling prompts to quick options to check on a students’ mental health.
Equity in Education Coalition:
The Coalition recently hosted a conversation with OSPI featuring State Superintendent Chris Reykdal.
The Equity in Education Coalition presents the Decolonizing Education Conference, a multi-day event to advance the education community’s understanding of and practices around anti-racism and equity. 

Bringing together educators, parents, students, school board members, legislators, education advocates, and community-based organizations, this conference will thoroughly examine the intersection of racism in education and intentionally center the voices, experiences, and expertise of people of color-Native/Indigenous, Black, and Immigrant/Refugee.
The Future Bound Workgroup of Graduate Strong and the Financial Aid Navigators continue to focus on supporting local youth with their plans after high school.

Virtual FAFSA/WASFA assistance is available by appointment as well as "drop in" most days of the week.

To schedule an appointment or "drop in" visit the online calendar and choose the date you'd like assistance. Click the link in the calendar details to schedule an appointment or to access the zoom link for "drop in" times.
Regulate, regulate, regulate. Fear and trauma interrupt our ability to access our frontal cortex. When we are in our survival brain, it is harder to think, problem solve, focus or productively manage conflict. We can stay in our thinking brain by practicing regulation strategies such as:

  • Focused breathing
  • Pausing between a stimulus and action
  • Mindfulness
  • Grounding techniques

Kitsap Strong is fundamentally focused on helping to make sure that the stress families are facing due to COVID-19 does not become "toxic stress", and we recognize that it absolutely has that potential. This is why we are excited to announce the launch of Kitsap Strong's Virtual Community Center. Our goal is to help our community find connection through “regulation” activities/practices (regulation refers to science-informed activities that help individuals manage stress; art, music, drumming, singing, movement, play, breathing, mindfulness, etc.) all while still practicing social distancing and gathering virtually.

Our Virtual Community Center will be launching tomorrow and will run for approximately two weeks. Information on all available content will be posted to the Kitsap Strong Facebook page via events. Each virtual session will be provided via zoom or previously recorded videos and is all free to our community. We are also exploring other accessible ways to share this content with community who aren’t currently online.

Please help us spread the word with all of the families in your life! We look forward to becoming part of their community! Thank you for helping make Kitsap strong!
www.graduatestrong.org