August 12, 2021 | Volume 2, Number 4

Back to School with Compassion: Welcoming Staff, Students, and Families

Featured Article Back to School After COVID-19 Part IV: Building a Resilient, Trauma-Skilled Community News You Can Use Back to School After COVID-19 Part V: Fostering an Equitable Community That Promotes Safety for All Collaborating Around Compassionate, Comprehensive School Mental Health Featured C-TLC Fellow: Siza Mtimbiri Learn more Events, Resources and Program Updates What's happening this month Access C-TLC Resources Healthcare workers & Educators Addressing and Reducing Trauma (HEART) Collective Learn more about the Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative Become a C-TLC Member Membership is open to individual educators, schools, agencies, and nonprofit educational institutions in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  Editor's Corner Martha Staeheli, PhD C-TLC Director Once again, we are preparing to return to school with an uncertain school year ahead. Last year, we had no idea what school would look like, how the COVID-19 pandemic would affect our students, or how we would manage the persistent and urgent demands on us as educators, mental health providers, parents, or community members. This year, some of the questions we had have been answered: Will we have a vaccine? Will we get through the year? Other questions have answers that are still evolving: What will school look like as new COVID variants spread? How will we help youth navigate their losses during this time? We may not have all the answers, but we have learned a tremendous amount about our ingenuity and resilience, and that of the youth with whom we work. In this issue, we offer strategies and tools to begin this year from a place of hope and compassion, from thinking about building collaborations and developing trauma-skilled and resilient communities, to considering how safety and equity are critical components in helping us all heal, grow, and recover.

Featured Article: Back to School After COVID-19 Part IV: Building a Resilient, Trauma-Skilled Community By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support At this time last year, we were all uncertain about where and how learning during the next school year would take place. One year later, we are hopeful that we will all once more be learning together in the same physical space this fall. As school administrators and educators take much needed rest and respite this summer, we hope that they have had space and time to reflect on their own needs as well as the needs of the students and families in their communities. We also hope you will consider how your school community can start the 2021-2022 school year off with practices that demonstrate resiliency and a commitment to becoming trauma-skilled. Read more

News You Can Use

Back to School After COVID-19 Part V: Fostering an Equitable Community that Promotes Safety for All By Dana Asby In addition to healing from public health and mental health crises brought on by COVID-19, America is also reckoning with an increased awareness and acknowledgement of the trauma that racial violence has caused and is causing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Schools can no longer ignore the impact this trauma has on the teachers, students, and families in their communities. Educators and administrators are becoming more cognizant of the fact that like all systems in our countries, the education system perpetuates racism, inequity, and trauma. While individual anti-racist teachers, principals, and superintendents have done incredible work to increase equity for their BIPOC students, there is a long road to travel to make our vision of a truly anti-racist education system a reality. When we intentionally create spaces that prioritize equity and safety, we come closer to realizing that vision.  Read more Collaborating Around Compassionate, Comprehensive School Mental Health By Dana Asby and Martha Staeheli Educators have been rightfully heralded as some of the heroes that helped get us through this pandemic. Teachers and administrators are accustomed to donning many caps and pivoting to deliver whatever their school communities need, often without optimal funding and training. We saw the effects of stress and trauma on our ability to effectively manage our emotions and retain new information in the past year and a half. Educators may not have had the words to describe this phenomenon before the COVID-19 pandemic, but many have always understood that kind words, care, and attention to the holistic needs of youth set the stage for learning. As mental health literacy increases in the education world—through free, virtual courses like the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center’s  Classroom WISE—schools are recognizing that supporting student mental health is a crucial component of holistic education.  Read more

Featured Fellow: Siza Mtimbiri, a New Hampshire Principal Creating Community for Staff, Students, and Families By Carmen Florentin, CEI Intern Educators all over the world are pioneering new ways of connecting to students in virtual or hybrid learning environments. As we approach a return to closer-to-normal life resembling the pre-pandemic world, schools everywhere still face the challenge of getting through to students simultaneously behind screens and in the classroom. The pandemic has influenced this generation of students, likely, for the rest of their lives—some have been traumatized. Now, we face the question of how to best to support and accommodate students. Dr. Siza Mtimbiri is a Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative Fellow and principal at Southwick School in Pittsfield, NH. He utilizes his knowledge of research-based methods and his sincere spirit to ensure his students feel seen and heard, while also prioritizing teachers’ needs.

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Resources & Upcoming Events Access and share C-TLC resources: The C-TLC develops training materials to enhance school culture and prepare professionals in education and mental health to improve and support the mental health and resiliency of school-aged youth. Choose a learning track in the C-TLC's Training Library and begin your journey toward compassionate school mental health practices. Click here to view a topical directory of all our learning resources. Schools This Year: Supporting Student and Staff Mental Health Whether you are returning to school in-person, virtually, or in a hybrid format, apply a trauma-informed, equitable, and compassionate lens to providing mental health supports to every member of the school community. Because we will all return to school as different people than when we left, our suite of resources is designed to help school staff understand the need for and nature of becoming more trauma-sensitive and considerations for working with trauma-impacted communities. Classroom WISE: Well-Being Information and Strategies for Educators Classroom WISE is a FREE three-part training package that assists K-12 educators in supporting the mental health of students in the classroom. This package offers evidence-based strategies and skills to engage and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom. In addition to a free online course on mental health literacy for educators and school personnel, a video library and resource collection are also available! Learn more. C-TLC HealtheKnowledge Course Now Available: Access our new online training course, Cultivating Compassionate School Communities that Respond to Trauma Effectively to learn how to: cultivate a compassionate school community that will buffer against the negative effects of trauma, build resilience for all students, and provide stress-relief and enhanced well-being for teachers and other school personnel as well as students. Gain understanding of how a compassionate school mental health support system can help schools create systems, policies, and protocols to prevent, address, and recover from tragedies and crises including staff or student suicide, school violence, natural disasters, and global pandemics.

Register now for our virtual events!

Family Compassionate Conversation: Community Wellness Date/Time: Wed., 8/18 @ 3:00 p.m. EDT Learn tips and strategies to improve wellness for you, your family, and members of your community. You can also join in conversation with other families. Register now

Welcoming Staff, Students, and Families Back to School with Compassion Date/Time: Fri., 9/3 @ 12:00 p.m. EDT Start the school year off right by focusing on ways to welcome everyone back to school with compassion. Register now

Classroom WISE Information Session Date/Time: Thurs., 9/16 @ 10:00 a.m. EDT Learn more about the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center’s six-hour mental health literacy course for educators—a free, self-guided course designed to help adults who work in schools create trauma-informed environments and use nurturing practices to support positive mental health. Register now

Stay posted to our Events page for updates and announcements. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Healthcare workers & Educators Addressing and Reducing Trauma (HEART) Learning Collaborative Now accepting applications! We invite schools working with healthcare or behavioral healthcare centers on school-based mental health to learn more about the HEART Learning Collaborative. View and complete our online application for this opportunity to enhance skills around effective collaboration, mental health systems building, funding, and delivering culturally responsive care. This regional effort is an initiative with: SAMHSA Region 1 Office Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Regional Operations (Region 1) New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center

Join an information session to learn more about our HEART Learning Collaborative. Two Sessions: Mon., 8/16 @ 12:00 p.m. EDT Wed., 9/1 @ 4:00 p.m. EDT Register now

Note: Our HEART Learning Collaborative will convene from October 2021 - May 2022. For more information or for a fillable, Adobe-based application, contact us.

“There is always a light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” ~ Amanda Gorman Hopefully, you have had a chance for some rest and recovery and opportunities to care for yourselves and your loved ones. While the new school year is on the horizon, we still have time in the summer to care for ourselves and take the time we need to rest and recharge. If you haven’t yet, please check out our resources and newsletter archive for information about how (and why!) you should prioritize your well-being. It will take time and continued dedication to support the mental health of students and staff this year. This time of rest, whatever it looks like for you, is the necessary fortification we need to greet the new school year with optimism, strength, and courage. Best wishes for rest, joy, and peace.

The C-TLC is funded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is part of the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (New England MHTTC) Network.

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