imagine just imagine what could be
achieved in our schools our communities
our country if all students felt safe
respected and cared for in school what
would our world be like if every student
learned how to manage their emotions and
how to cope with the impact of traumatic
events which for many of us are part of
the human experience today’s students
become tomorrow’s parents employees and
community members that’s why we believe
trauma-informed in caring dispositions
matter in the workplace and in our
schools everyone can learn how to use a
trauma-informed approach to help
students develop into healthy productive
adults this is a picture of my sixth
grade class I’m the one in the front row
in the fashionable plaid jumpsuit back
then classroom management focused on gum
chewing and passing love notes
the 1970s version of texting paddling a
student for misbehaving was acceptable
back then this was years before
educators had the opportunity to
interpret neurobiological research to
transform how schools provide supports
for students who have experienced
childhood trauma think about your school
experiences what were your relationships
like with your teachers the bus driver
secretary coach or principal did you
feel cared for valued safe raise your
hands if you ever felt disrespected
alone or scared in school based on the
number of hands it appears most of you
have experienced these feelings
fast-forward a few decades
this is Donnell middle school where
Darlene and I work and co-lead the
trauma-informed care initiative for
Finley City Schools in 2015
approximately 800 dedicated and
compassionate classified and certified
employees participated in professional
development as this first step in a
journey to become a trauma
forms school district we believe that
all school employees are educators every
employee has the opportunity to support
a student in need think of
trauma-informed care as a universal
approach that focuses on physical and
emotional safety caring relationships
and empowering students to build
resiliency this approach can be used
with people of any age you never know
who may experience trauma a
trauma-informed educator understands the
pervasive impact of childhood trauma on
the developing brain body stress
response system the social emotional
well-being of students their behaviors
and learning a trauma-informed educator
is also aware of the prevalence of
childhood trauma according to the
adverse childhood experience study
conducted in the mid-1990s two-thirds of
approximately 17,000 adults reported
that they experienced at least one form
of childhood trauma 12.5% experienced
four or more forms of childhood trauma
picture a typical high school classroom
of 30 students according to the
Washington State Family Policy Council
13 of those students almost half will
have toxic stress from three or more
forms of trauma increasing the
likelihood that they will lack
motivation and exhibit behaviors that
interfere with learning people who
experience four or more forms of
childhood trauma are more likely to have
long-term health problems such as heart
disease respiratory disease cancer a
poor immune system or depression there
are many forms of trauma that students
may experience in their homes community
and at times their school did you have
an experience as a child that was
traumatic a highly stressful event that
caused extreme fear and feelings of
helplessness that overwhelmed your
capacity to cope physical sexual
emotional abuse
neglect a natural disaster a serious
accident divorce the death or
imprisonment of a family member
drug abuse in the home or witnessing
domestic violence if you experience
childhood trauma did the adults in your
school no how did those experiences
impact your behaviors did you act out
shut down skip school get into fights
we’re pretend as if nothing happened on
top of daily life stressors 21st century
students also have to cope of the fear
of a potential school shooting or
classmates making threats on social
media with this knowledge educators use
a trauma-informed lens to examine their
beliefs about students and to change the
way they interpret behaviors the
questions they ask change from what’s
wrong with you to what has happened to
you and how can I help
they reflect on whether their tone of
voice their body language or their
mannerisms sound and feel caring the
educator may feel that they’re caring
but what really matters is whether
students believe the educator is caring
a trauma-informed lens is used to
transform traditional school
perspectives into trauma-informed
perspectives for example a traditional
perspective sticks and stones may break
my bones
finish it with me if you know it but
words will never hurt me a
trauma-informed perspective would be
words can hurt people who are
trauma-informed understand how to
appropriately use humor to build
relationships and avoid using sarcasm
that can hurt or embarrass a student
misbehaving is a choice well kids can be
kids however we need to figure out
what’s going on with the behavior
behavior communicates something
punishing students by suspending them
out of school for misbehaving is an
acceptable approach and actually helps
change behavior
discipline if necessary must be
instructional and issued with care we
must avoid practices like putting a
student who’s experienced neglect and
seclusion this may be perceived as
rejection and mabry traumatize the
student due to the prevalence and
harmful impact of childhood trauma on
students educators must have a
trauma-informed disposition in my
dissertation on the outcomes of a
trauma-informed care training I defined
a trauma-informed dispositions as
attitudes and beliefs that are
empathetic and student-centered
an educator with a trauma-informed
disposition meets the needs of all
students actively listens to understand
student perspectives and believes that
all students can learn and heal the
educator is patient approachable and
predictable an educator with a
trauma-informed disposition understands
that students who have experienced
childhood trauma may have a brain based
stress response to a trigger such as a
person’s voice or mannerisms in innocent
touch or getting in the student space
the limbic system the emotional center
of the brain may trigger a fight flight
or freeze response which may look like a
misbehavior but in reality that response
is meant to help the student survive the
perceived or real threat an educator
with a trauma-informed disposition
calmly models the behaviors they want
their students to exhibit and they
remain calm in really challenging
situations they do not get offended by
behaviors that could be interpreted as
disrespectful or insubordinate and they
give students time and a safe place to
calm down before addressing behaviors
with care when we interact with students
we intentionally develop positive
relationships the number one strategy to
helping students heal from trauma is a
relationship with at least one caring
person relationships create feelings of
connection and belonging
our brains develop through interactions
with others we need connections for our
survival
traumatized students need connections
and relationship for learning and to
heal their brain building positive
relationships help students feel secure
important and respected the intersection
of understanding the impact of childhood
trauma poverty and multiculturalism on
building restorative relationships with
students as an approach Kelly and I call
care matters it matters that all people
embrace diversity and believe there’s
good in all students it matters that we
give all students unconditional positive
regard it matters that we give students
choices so that they can feel in control
while the rest of their world may feel
uncontrollable positive relationships
are rooted in care respect and Trust in
a trauma sensitive school Trust takes
years to build seconds to break and
forever to repair as the result we enter
into trusting relationships with
students where we see life through their
perspective trauma-informed educators
understand the students perceptive
perception of care may be different from
their own
so they demonstrate compassion and
empathy and a manner that is meaningful
to the student when an educator uses a
care matters approach building positive
relationships with students becomes
their why when it ater knows their why
their purpose what they do has more
meaning we as humans are wired for
survival
however we thrive within caring
relationships history is full of stories
of people who have overcome hard hard
life situations adverse childhood
experiences are not a prescription for
failure through building relationships
we as adults can help students heal and
become resilient by teaching them skills
such as how their brains work how to
identify and communicate their emotions
how to build on their strengths use
their resources and how to calm
themselves down with the use of
– techniques with repeated positive
interactions with healthy adults in
practicing social-emotional skills
students are better equipped to stay
calm to manage their emotions so that
the cortex the thinking part of their
brain can be activated and they can
learn building relationships between the
person giving care and the person
receiving care is imperative for the
healthy development of children
resiliency Trump’s trauma this gives us
hope for the future in closing I would
like to share a story about my
hard-working 88 year old dad he and my
mom raised eight kids he was a farmer a
proud man I never heard him complain and
he was very kind as a boy my dad entered
the classroom because the teacher was
late my dad and a classmate played
tic-tac-toe on the chalkboard to pass
the time when the teacher arrived the
boys were punished with hard spankings
as my dad told this story his china blue
eyes welled up and tears ran down his
face I could tell he remembered how he
felt when he was punished he expressed
old feelings of anger injustice and
humiliation he said if he could go back
and do it again he would not let him hit
him this hard and it wasn’t right
because he didn’t do anything wrong in
reflection I find my dad’s story amazing
out of all the memories all the stories
he could tell in the final days of his
life he told this story his tears told
me this experience still caused him pain
this story is a gift from my humble dad
it is a reminder to all of us that
students remember their interactions
with educators even after seventy years
the story the darlings shared that
Darlene shared reminds me of a quote by
Maya Angelou I’ve learned that people
will forget what you said people will
forget what you did but people will
never forget how you made them feel
as you work and interact with others
whether an education or your chosen
field how do you want people to remember
you years from now thank you [Applause]
achieved in our schools our communities
our country if all students felt safe
respected and cared for in school what
would our world be like if every student
learned how to manage their emotions and
how to cope with the impact of traumatic
events which for many of us are part of
the human experience today’s students
become tomorrow’s parents employees and
community members that’s why we believe
trauma-informed in caring dispositions
matter in the workplace and in our
schools everyone can learn how to use a
trauma-informed approach to help
students develop into healthy productive
adults this is a picture of my sixth
grade class I’m the one in the front row
in the fashionable plaid jumpsuit back
then classroom management focused on gum
chewing and passing love notes
the 1970s version of texting paddling a
student for misbehaving was acceptable
back then this was years before
educators had the opportunity to
interpret neurobiological research to
transform how schools provide supports
for students who have experienced
childhood trauma think about your school
experiences what were your relationships
like with your teachers the bus driver
secretary coach or principal did you
feel cared for valued safe raise your
hands if you ever felt disrespected
alone or scared in school based on the
number of hands it appears most of you
have experienced these feelings
fast-forward a few decades
this is Donnell middle school where
Darlene and I work and co-lead the
trauma-informed care initiative for
Finley City Schools in 2015
approximately 800 dedicated and
compassionate classified and certified
employees participated in professional
development as this first step in a
journey to become a trauma
forms school district we believe that
all school employees are educators every
employee has the opportunity to support
a student in need think of
trauma-informed care as a universal
approach that focuses on physical and
emotional safety caring relationships
and empowering students to build
resiliency this approach can be used
with people of any age you never know
who may experience trauma a
trauma-informed educator understands the
pervasive impact of childhood trauma on
the developing brain body stress
response system the social emotional
well-being of students their behaviors
and learning a trauma-informed educator
is also aware of the prevalence of
childhood trauma according to the
adverse childhood experience study
conducted in the mid-1990s two-thirds of
approximately 17,000 adults reported
that they experienced at least one form
of childhood trauma 12.5% experienced
four or more forms of childhood trauma
picture a typical high school classroom
of 30 students according to the
Washington State Family Policy Council
13 of those students almost half will
have toxic stress from three or more
forms of trauma increasing the
likelihood that they will lack
motivation and exhibit behaviors that
interfere with learning people who
experience four or more forms of
childhood trauma are more likely to have
long-term health problems such as heart
disease respiratory disease cancer a
poor immune system or depression there
are many forms of trauma that students
may experience in their homes community
and at times their school did you have
an experience as a child that was
traumatic a highly stressful event that
caused extreme fear and feelings of
helplessness that overwhelmed your
capacity to cope physical sexual
emotional abuse
neglect a natural disaster a serious
accident divorce the death or
imprisonment of a family member
drug abuse in the home or witnessing
domestic violence if you experience
childhood trauma did the adults in your
school no how did those experiences
impact your behaviors did you act out
shut down skip school get into fights
we’re pretend as if nothing happened on
top of daily life stressors 21st century
students also have to cope of the fear
of a potential school shooting or
classmates making threats on social
media with this knowledge educators use
a trauma-informed lens to examine their
beliefs about students and to change the
way they interpret behaviors the
questions they ask change from what’s
wrong with you to what has happened to
you and how can I help
they reflect on whether their tone of
voice their body language or their
mannerisms sound and feel caring the
educator may feel that they’re caring
but what really matters is whether
students believe the educator is caring
a trauma-informed lens is used to
transform traditional school
perspectives into trauma-informed
perspectives for example a traditional
perspective sticks and stones may break
my bones
finish it with me if you know it but
words will never hurt me a
trauma-informed perspective would be
words can hurt people who are
trauma-informed understand how to
appropriately use humor to build
relationships and avoid using sarcasm
that can hurt or embarrass a student
misbehaving is a choice well kids can be
kids however we need to figure out
what’s going on with the behavior
behavior communicates something
punishing students by suspending them
out of school for misbehaving is an
acceptable approach and actually helps
change behavior
discipline if necessary must be
instructional and issued with care we
must avoid practices like putting a
student who’s experienced neglect and
seclusion this may be perceived as
rejection and mabry traumatize the
student due to the prevalence and
harmful impact of childhood trauma on
students educators must have a
trauma-informed disposition in my
dissertation on the outcomes of a
trauma-informed care training I defined
a trauma-informed dispositions as
attitudes and beliefs that are
empathetic and student-centered
an educator with a trauma-informed
disposition meets the needs of all
students actively listens to understand
student perspectives and believes that
all students can learn and heal the
educator is patient approachable and
predictable an educator with a
trauma-informed disposition understands
that students who have experienced
childhood trauma may have a brain based
stress response to a trigger such as a
person’s voice or mannerisms in innocent
touch or getting in the student space
the limbic system the emotional center
of the brain may trigger a fight flight
or freeze response which may look like a
misbehavior but in reality that response
is meant to help the student survive the
perceived or real threat an educator
with a trauma-informed disposition
calmly models the behaviors they want
their students to exhibit and they
remain calm in really challenging
situations they do not get offended by
behaviors that could be interpreted as
disrespectful or insubordinate and they
give students time and a safe place to
calm down before addressing behaviors
with care when we interact with students
we intentionally develop positive
relationships the number one strategy to
helping students heal from trauma is a
relationship with at least one caring
person relationships create feelings of
connection and belonging
our brains develop through interactions
with others we need connections for our
survival
traumatized students need connections
and relationship for learning and to
heal their brain building positive
relationships help students feel secure
important and respected the intersection
of understanding the impact of childhood
trauma poverty and multiculturalism on
building restorative relationships with
students as an approach Kelly and I call
care matters it matters that all people
embrace diversity and believe there’s
good in all students it matters that we
give all students unconditional positive
regard it matters that we give students
choices so that they can feel in control
while the rest of their world may feel
uncontrollable positive relationships
are rooted in care respect and Trust in
a trauma sensitive school Trust takes
years to build seconds to break and
forever to repair as the result we enter
into trusting relationships with
students where we see life through their
perspective trauma-informed educators
understand the students perceptive
perception of care may be different from
their own
so they demonstrate compassion and
empathy and a manner that is meaningful
to the student when an educator uses a
care matters approach building positive
relationships with students becomes
their why when it ater knows their why
their purpose what they do has more
meaning we as humans are wired for
survival
however we thrive within caring
relationships history is full of stories
of people who have overcome hard hard
life situations adverse childhood
experiences are not a prescription for
failure through building relationships
we as adults can help students heal and
become resilient by teaching them skills
such as how their brains work how to
identify and communicate their emotions
how to build on their strengths use
their resources and how to calm
themselves down with the use of
– techniques with repeated positive
interactions with healthy adults in
practicing social-emotional skills
students are better equipped to stay
calm to manage their emotions so that
the cortex the thinking part of their
brain can be activated and they can
learn building relationships between the
person giving care and the person
receiving care is imperative for the
healthy development of children
resiliency Trump’s trauma this gives us
hope for the future in closing I would
like to share a story about my
hard-working 88 year old dad he and my
mom raised eight kids he was a farmer a
proud man I never heard him complain and
he was very kind as a boy my dad entered
the classroom because the teacher was
late my dad and a classmate played
tic-tac-toe on the chalkboard to pass
the time when the teacher arrived the
boys were punished with hard spankings
as my dad told this story his china blue
eyes welled up and tears ran down his
face I could tell he remembered how he
felt when he was punished he expressed
old feelings of anger injustice and
humiliation he said if he could go back
and do it again he would not let him hit
him this hard and it wasn’t right
because he didn’t do anything wrong in
reflection I find my dad’s story amazing
out of all the memories all the stories
he could tell in the final days of his
life he told this story his tears told
me this experience still caused him pain
this story is a gift from my humble dad
it is a reminder to all of us that
students remember their interactions
with educators even after seventy years
the story the darlings shared that
Darlene shared reminds me of a quote by
Maya Angelou I’ve learned that people
will forget what you said people will
forget what you did but people will
never forget how you made them feel
as you work and interact with others
whether an education or your chosen
field how do you want people to remember
you years from now thank you [Applause]
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