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I'm looking for activities and/or informational opportunities for high school students around ACEs/Resilience for a rural school district (K-12 population of 750). This district is just starting their journey towards becoming Trauma Informed and will be receiving their first district wide in-service next month. What have other done with this population that has been successful?

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I have used some activities as discussion starters in a resilience-based curriculum I am currently in the process of writing for a faith-based audience. The "faith" piece could easily be subbed out for a more general audience. If you don't get much response from others and would like me to share some of those activities and discussion starters with you, I'd be happy to share. Just let me know!

Chris

Hopeworks-n-Camden was last year's winner of the Scattergood Innovation Award for their program which has youth learning about ACEs, how to deal with them and then train others about ACEs.  It's the youth-led program that won the award.  I met Kate Daugherty the "Healing 10 Convener" for this program last December and was planning to reach out to her to learn more about what curriculum they are using.  I've been involved with a former "alternative high school" this year that has seen astounding results after we provided Trauma-Informed Care training for the principal and staff last summer.  In less than two semesters, they have removed the 8ft. metal detector, attendance rose from 52% to staying around 88% and typically students in the school recovered a total of 50-60 credits per semester and as of last week the group as a whole (100 students) have recovered over 600 credits!  Here is information about progress at Topper Academy that made headlines in our newspaper in October 2017:

http://www.johnsoncitypress.co...ent&lp=2&p=1

Currently we are doing a monthly book study with the faculty using "Fostering Resilient Learners - Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom" by Kristin Souers and Pete Hall.

Here's a link to Hopeworks: http://hopeworks.org/ as well as news of their award:https://innovationaward.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/1079/details/33275 

 

Best wishes as you go!

Last edited by Becky Haas

I think it is important to both introduce the brain science AND name specific things that students can do with each other. One of the things that Dr. Felitti talks about is resilience coming from the deep belief that you really matter to another human being. After talking about the brain science, there are a lot of places we can take that. HS students are hungry to make the world a better place.  

What can we do as staff to help people know they matter (while still maintaining academic rigor). What can  you do in your community. What could we as a group do to make our community more resilient?

Our culture is heavy into rewards and punishment which are not really trauma informed...so one of the important pieces is about relationship, not feel good short term goodies.  

Our experience is that learning how to make relationships takes practice... and it is messy...  My wonder is where the adults are in this. If the adults haven't already done some of their own trauma informed work, you might take a short step backward and start there.

Danielle Denis posted:

I'm looking for activities and/or informational opportunities for high school students around ACEs/Resilience for a rural school district (K-12 population of 750). This district is just starting their journey towards becoming Trauma Informed and will be receiving their first district wide in-service next month. What have other done with this population that has been successful?

www.resiliencetrumpsaces.org   They have some great videos featuring teens as well as a way to use card games to each resilience.  Hope this is helpful.

Chaplain Chris Haughee posted:

I have used some activities as discussion starters in a resilience-based curriculum I am currently in the process of writing for a faith-based audience. The "faith" piece could easily be subbed out for a more general audience. If you don't get much response from others and would like me to share some of those activities and discussion starters with you, I'd be happy to share. Just let me know!

Chris

Chris could you please send me a copy?  I am working on trying to get my church more trauma informed and ACES.  Thank you.  hughest@proactioninc.org  

Danielle:

This is also a great question for the ACEs in Education community as well since many in that community are working with schools and kids of all ages. Also, you might be interested in the Maine Building Resiliency Network which is doing amazing work across Maine. 

On a personal note, a friend and I did an interactive exhibit on ACEs and trauma as a way to make the material a bit more engaging as it's so often framed through a clinical lens. One exercise that we did that we got a lot of good feedback on from all ages was to bring in 10 hula hoops.

We asked people to take the ACE test as themselves or maybe guessing the scores a parent, student, lover or friend had (and never needing to tell us) and then to "wear" that number of hula hoops. We'd ask them to try to tie a sneaker or pull out their cell phone and text holding one or five or ten hula hoops. Then we said, now imagine holding one, or five or ten while showering or getting dressed or in a classroom or at a desk. We'd talk about the way people and our bodies get shaped around ACEs and carrying that toxic stress. It was actually more impactful for people with low ACE scores than high ACE scores. 

People with PTSD said their partners got it in a way that they never had. Teachers said it helped them understand and think more about kids, that their students are carrying these invisible hula hoops, and it's impacting social life, physical movement, and range of motion. Again, we aren't therapists, we were two people with a high and a low ACE score who didn't believe the ACE study at first and were trying to share and explain it in ways that people would interact with. 

Using 10 oranges does the same thing as well and are easier to carry around and now that I've learned more about the adverse community experiences and how structural racism impacts people, I'd show those in ways like how adverse community experiences are the weather. Like imagine carrying one, two or ten hoops and it's raining or snowing or one has no coat as a way to show buffering (or no buffering) and imagine carrying one, two or ten, while hungry or by adding more hula hoops for the other ACEs not in the original study. 

Finally, to show the hopeful part and how resilience is really the community we noted how, if one or two or three or more people are present and can help carry a hula hoop, help navigate while one has to wear the hula hoops, can come inside the hula hoop so it's not as much of a barrier, can help hold a hula hoop so one can have more range of motion for a while, etc. that can also show the buffering of bonding and attachment. 

Please write how the day goes and reach out if I can be of any support. I work at ACEs Connection and support ACEs initiatives in the Northeast. Cissy

Hi all,

I'm buried at work presently, but I'll work on separating out the activities and discussion questions for the resilience-based lessons I am doing. For those that asked about the other curriculum I wrote, I have emailed or messaged you, but just in case that gets lost in your inbox, here's a link to a write up that appeared on this site:

This post has the link to order, outline of lessons, and a sample lesson: https://www.pacesconnection.com/...riculum-for-churches

 

Chris

 

Becky Haas posted:

Hopeworks-n-Camden was last year's winner of the Scattergood Innovation Award for their program which has youth learning about ACEs, how to deal with them and then train others about ACEs.  It's the youth-led program that won the award.  I met Kate Daugherty the "Healing 10 Convener" for this program last December and was planning to reach out to her to learn more about what curriculum they are using.  I've been involved with a former "alternative high school" this year that has seen astounding results after we provided Trauma-Informed Care training for the principal and staff last summer.  In less than two semesters, they have removed the 8ft. metal detector, attendance rose from 52% to staying around 88% and typically students in the school recovered a total of 50-60 credits per semester and as of last week the group as a whole (100 students) have recovered over 600 credits!  Here is information about progress at Topper Academy that made headlines in our newspaper in October 2017:

http://www.johnsoncitypress.co...ent&lp=2&p=1

Currently we are doing a monthly book study with the faculty using "Fostering Resilient Learners - Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom" by Kristin Souers and Pete Hall.

Here's a link to Hopeworks: http://hopeworks.org/ as well as news of their award:https://innovationaward.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/1079/details/33275 

 

Best wishes as you go!

Becky, Hopeworks-n-Camden sounds like a model  that could inspire other schools and communities.  Would you consider sharing some of your ah ha moments, experiences and reactions that surprised you?  So many individuals and organizations are seeking ways to accomplish what Hopeworks-n-Camden is doing!  Please consider posting a short or long(!) story - sharing the learnings!!

Just a reminder - members of ACEs Connection are encouraged to post / blog!!!  I’m sure there are many of us who would love to know more about the process and evolution of this work!! 

With much gratitude- Karen 

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