Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention News & Updates

September 2023 | Volume 12: Issue 3

Upcoming Events

Check out all upcoming events hosted by both the UB Alberti Center and Graduate School of Education!

Out and About in the Community & Beyond

The Alberti Center team offers in-person, virtual, and hybrid events upon request. These are just some of the events we have participated in or provided over the past few months:

June

Preventing bullying and cultivating a positive school climate presentation at New York State Education Department School Safety Summit - Albany, NY

July

Bullying prevention and intervention keynote presentation at the Ohio School Safety Summit - Columbus, OH

August

Cybervictimization: Associations with peer discrimination, bystander behavior, & media use symposium on feature stage at 2023 American Psychological Association Convention - Washington, DC

PREPaRE Workshop 2: Mental Health Crisis Interventions: Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools virtual workshop for the National Association of School Psychologists - online

PREPaRE Workshop 1: Comprehensive school safety planning: Prevention through recovery - Ken-Ton School District - Kenmore, NY

NYSED Dignity for All Students Act Training

Registration dates are now available through December, 2023. The course is offered fully online in two parts. Part One is asynchronous, while Part Two is synchronous with "live" interactive instruction. Feedback from recent participants:

Toni was great! The expertise she has shined and her experiences were super engaging and relevant.

This was enjoyable and informative, it went by really fast and it was definitely interesting!

Instructor was amazing, enjoyed the prompts and slides, super informative.

Link to DASA Training registration information.

Descriptive flyer image of conference title, presenters, date, time, location, and CEs offered

2023 Alberti Center Conference - October 5!

We are less than one month away from the 12th Annual Alberti Center Conference, Strengthening Support for the Whole School Community, which will take place on Thursday, October 5, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Classics V Banquet Center in Amherst, NY. The conference will be offered in a hybrid format again this year with a virtual option via Zoom. For in-person attendees, a continental breakfast and lunch buffet are included. Our Presenting Sponsor this year is Spectrum Health and Human Services!

Three keynote speakers will include Drs. Byron McClure, presenting on using strength-based practices to promote positive school climate and culture, Stacy Williams presenting on advocacy and self-care for practitioners to address toxic stress and racial trauma, and Rebecca Vujnovic presenting on promoting the social emotional development and mental health of students and how to implement Social Emotional Learning (SEL) practices in school settings. Dr. Vujnovic will also lead in-person attendees in a mindfulness exercise following her presentation. Please share with your friends and colleagues and register before the end of September on our conference website!

Awards & Recognitions

Congratulations are in order for our director, Dr. Amanda Nickerson, and associate director, Dr. Stephanie Fredrick!

At the American Psychological Association Convention in Washington, DC, last month, Amanda was awarded membership to The Society for the Study of School Psychology, a well-deserved recognition of her outstanding work and leadership.

Stephanie, who is completing her fourth year at the University at Buffalo, received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

Congratulations, Dr. Nickerson and Dr. Fredrick!

Image of diverse group of six teens standing side by side

Video Resource Spotlight

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. The Alberti Center is a member organization of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Erie County and we provide mental health resources for students on our website.

In this video created by Mayo Clinic, teens describe common signs that a teen is considering suicide and provide encouragement for communicating directly and immediately for support and safety. It also includes suggestions for what to say to a teen who may be at risk for suicide and ways to keep them safe. Things can get better. For more information- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Call 988

You can find this, and other resources on our YouTube channel.

Photo of Rachel Garthe, PhD and Ana Bravo Castillo

2023-2024 Colloquium Series

Our 23-24 Series kicked off on Thursday, September 14, with Rachel Garthe, PhD, recipient of the 2022 Alberti Center Early Career Award. Dr. Garthe presented on Victimization Experiences among Transgender and Gender Expansive Adolescents: An Examination of Prevalence, Impact, and Protective Factors. Slides and a recording of the presentation are available on our website. The next presentation in our series will take place on Wednesday, November 8. Ana Bravo Castillo, PhD student and Fulbright Scholar from Cordoba, Spain, will present on The Moral Dimension as a Key to Understanding and Preventing School Bullying and Cyberbullying. Registration information for this event will be sent out next week!

2023 Early Career Award Recipient

Congratulations to Hannah Schacter, PhD, on being selected as our 2023 Early Career Award recipient! The Alberti Center Distinguished Scholarly Contributions to Bullying Abuse Prevention Award, presented annually, recognizes an individual who has made exemplary scholarly contributions to the field of bullying abuse prevention and conducted research that has the potential to influence practice and policy.

Dr. Schacter received a plaque and $1,000.00 in recognition of her achievements. Learn more about her research on our award page.

Grant Awarded from

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

We are excited to share that the Alberti Center was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3)! The University at Buffalo, Alberti Center of Bullying Abuse Prevention will build youth resiliency by implementing NAB IT! (Norms and Bystander Intervention Training) with 200 youth. NAB IT! will help youth identify and respond to bullying, cyberbullying, and sexual harassment. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Bystander Intervention Training, CARE (Communities Acting to Refer and Engage), will be provided to students and school staff to enhance their ability to recognize behaviors that might indicate an individual is escalating to violence and identify appropriate steps to get help. A training component will be included for trainers so NAB IT! can be further shared with small- to mid-sized communities and underserved populations.

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