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Gazing from one size of the room to the next, one could see educators, parents, social workers, and other individuals of all sectors. There was a certain tangible livelihood, an excitement, a hunger for information. Individuals were approaching one another with wide eyes, eager to connect. After speaking with Teri Barila of CRI and Rick Griffin of Jubilee Leadership Academy, organizers of this past 2018 Beyond Paper Tigers Conference, I hear how amazed they were at the vibrancy of the...

“Trauma is becoming an everyday word. People are hearing it on the news. They’re reading about it in newspapers as well as magazines,” Lynn Waymer notes. Lynn- the Vice President of Communications and Community Engagement at KPJR Films- was a speaker for CRI's 2018 Beyond Paper Tigers (BPT) conference. In reflecting on the conference, Lynn discussed her perspective of community, the shifts she has witnessed in KPJR Films’ audience, and the power of broad media campaigns. “What we’re seeing...

“I get the most emotional about the courage the people have, when people step into a void and try something new,” Laura Porter responds to a question about what lights her fire, what keeps her going during the difficult chapters. Laura will be giving the closing plenary lecture at the 2018 Beyond Paper Tigers conference, and her knowledge of ACEs science, community resilience, and social change is extensive. For many years, Laura has worked with Rob Anda, a principal investigator of the...

“With Trauma-informed yoga therapy, we can tap into how our stresses are stored in the body, and find healing and relaxation,” Kelly Kreutz asserts. Kelly, a yoga instructor and an LICSW, will be teaching morning yoga and mindfulness classes at CRI’s Beyond Paper Tigers (BPT) conference later this month. Her interest in yoga developed alongside her work as a counselor specializing in trauma, grief, and anxiety. As she witnessed the benefits of yoga in her own life, she felt inspired to blend...

How do we choose which strategy we are using to build resilience? As Oprah’s segment on 60 Minutes plunged much of the world into recognition of Trauma-Informed Care, practitioners have been tempted to move beyond the science of trauma and develop strategies to address it. Yet as we learn about the neuroscience behind ACEs and resilience, Rick Griffin- Executive Director of Jubilee Leadership Academy, CRI Master Trainer, and BPT Conference Facilitator- states it is crucial to stay within the...

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Twigy Tellez was among the crowd of the Paper Tigers Conference in 2017. She had been invited by Rick Griffin and CRI to join the community for the conference, and to explore her potential offering for the next conference. “I would love for all the Spanish speakers to get to do this, ” Twigy said about trauma-informed care training. Indeed, this year, she will be translating the Level 1 Trauma-Informed Certification of the Beyond Paper Tigers conference into Spanish. It is the same...

Authors note: This piece is co-authored by @Lara Kain and @Christine Cissy White. Though we had never worked together or met, we were asked to co-present on creating t rauma-informed changes in communities by the Attachment Trauma Network for the first national (now annual) Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Summit in Washington, DC. This article is an expanded essay version of that presentation). Be the Spark Oprah Winfrey helped mainstream discussion about...

What can organizations do to be successful in growing their ACEs initiatives and trauma-informed communities? This is the question that Jane Stevens, founder of the social network ACEsConnection.com and news site ACEsTooHigh.com , helps to answer. For the last several years, Jane and her team at ACEs Connection have been collecting information from communities as they start and grow their ACEs initiatives. ACEs Connection staff watched and reported on communities like Walla Walla as they lay...

“We had no clue whatsoever what it would turn out to be” Jim Sporleder, former Principal, remarks as he looks back on Lincoln Alternative High School, the growing movement of CRI’s trauma-informed community initiative, and the production of the documentary Paper Tigers. Jim’s story is an iconic one. In fact, many have inevitably heard of Jim’s work if they have seen the documentary Paper Tigers; it chronicles the profound impact on Lincoln Alternative High School as Jim, the staff, and the...

In Japan, there is a form of art called Kintsugi, the process of repairing a broken piece of ceramic with gold, filling in its cracks. Such a technique renders the piece more beautiful in the eyes of the artist; it celebrates the object’s history, its unique story, and emphasizes the beauty of damage instead of disguising it. To feel this truth about ourselves, however, requires an accepting space and practice. When upcoming Beyond Paper Tigers conference presenter, Brigette Phillips, began...

I n January 2018, Whitman sophomore Sophia Webb spearheaded a mentorship program between Whitman students and seniors at Lincoln High School–Walla Walla’s only alternative high school–to build relationships between the two groups in context of preparing Lincoln seniors for post-grad life. Rewind back a few years. In 2006, only four people graduated from Lincoln High School. The school was plagued by drugs, violence, suspensions and drop-outs. “It was a disaster, basically,” Webb said. The...