2024 CDE Fall Conference: Creating a Landscape of Wellbeing and Belonging

This session will delve into collaborative strategies and tools to create and enhance comprehensive health and sex education programs that are sustainable and prioritize youth voice. Administrators and educators will identify best practices and innovative approaches to work together, addressing the needs of their youth and community. The session will support both districts and schools with established comprehensive health and sex education programs and those new to these initiatives. This session will be highly interactive and engage various learning styles through activities, case studies, resources, reflection, and dialogue.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants will examine their personal values and beliefs to understand their perspectives and lead their collaboration with teammates, students, and the community through an intersectional and values-aware lens.
2. Participants will develop strategies and skills to support the creation and innovation of comprehensive health education and sex education programs that center youth voice.
3. Participants will gain tools and guidance through case studies from across the state to tailor their programs to their specific students and community, with a particular focus on students who have historically been excluded or negatively impacted by health and sex education programming.

This presentation will inform coaching and program development efforts in PreK–12 education as it pertains to effective and equity-focused trauma-informed practice implementation.

Presenters will share lessons from a trauma-informed implementation model (tested over time; pre-COVID-19) and align it to the current state of mental health crisis in PreK–12 education. Additionally, current considerations for trauma-informed implementation and coaching in PreK–12 education will also be addressed through best practice protocols, evidence-based models, and relevant coaching tools.

Session Objectives:

• Explore educators' personal perceptions of trauma-informed practices
• Explore professional and organizational barriers that impact educators’ implementation of trauma-informed practices
• Engage with practical tools for coaching and centering educators in trauma-informed implementation

States are taking a variety of approaches to address the complex issues facing students experiencing homelessness. This presentation will highlight policy reform strategies aimed at removing barriers to the resources and services that many youth encounter so that they can focus on succeeding in school. These reforms include recognizing the role McKinney-Vento homeless liaisons, school counselors, social workers and district staff play in academic achievement of students experiencing homelessness and helping them navigate systems of support.

Session Objectives:

• Participants will learn about state policy reforms to address student homelessness and the advocacy necessary to drive that change.

Executive functioning skills are necessary for success in life and academics. This workshop will demonstrate how executive functioning impacts academics, social and emotional wellbeing, and mental health. Participants will simulate the hardships and frustrations of having an executive functioning deficit and leave with strategies to increase confidence, independence, and the mental health of their students. Investing in students' executive functioning skills can benefit school professionals by reducing stress, improving wellbeing, and fostering a more successful learning experience for all. We invite you to our interactive workshop to problem solve, collaborate and find solutions to the everyday challenges executive functioning deficits bring.

Session Objectives:
1) Discover research-based brain development milestones and best practices for supporting executive functioning skills for neurotypical and neurodivergent thinkers.
2) Experience firsthand why students with executive dysfunction can struggle obtaining academic and emotional expectations.
3) Walk away with three easy-to-use strategies that can be implemented right away.

Even though there are best practice guides for well-being and mental health, the gap between best practice and implementation is wide. Join us for a panel of real-life school leaders and mental health professionals from across the state that have successfully implemented best practices for social-emotional well-being. Participants will hear school leaders share their experiences of implementing and sustaining novel interventions such as: ensuring students are not disciplined for mental health experiences, using quarterly data analysis for effective PBIS delivery, supporting special populations, truly welcoming all students and reviewing school-wide individual SEL goals.


Session Objectives:

• Participants will learn how school leaders have implemented real-life best practices.
• Participants will learn how school leaders have navigated barriers to implement best practices for wellbeing.

When Summit County, Colorado was facing a community crisis that was driving its workforce away, Theatre SilCo launched the Vivo program in order to support local families. This is a unique, no cost program that currently supports over 100 families through dual language theater education. The answer to getting it off the ground? A stellar collaborative team and forming viable and sustainable partnerships. During this session, Chris and Sara will walk you through how this initiative came about, how the team found the necessary funding to start and sustain it, and the significant impact on its community.

Session Objectives:

We hope our peers will gain some tools to make a community impact through what we know how to do: theatre!Theatre SilCo would like to serve as a resource to other non-profits who are struggling to or wondering how to want to make a local impact and serve a community through their art form.

Schools across Colorado are implementing Restorative Practices to foster a sense of belonging by building relationships and addressing harm caused using a relational approach to behavior. RP implementation should include developing a system of accountability and support for both educators and learners, creating processes for continuous learning/feedback/self-reflection, and understanding both the proactive and responsive practices. During this session we will discuss the importance of whole school implementation of restorative practices in three areas including RP Infrastructure, RP Capacity-building & RP Tiers of Support.

Session Objectives:

1. Learn about the purpose and essential elements of whole school RP implementation
2. Identify indicators of the RP implementation that are already in place in your school/district and opportunities for growth.
3. Access information and resources to support whole school RP implementation

In the face of the ongoing youth mental health crisis, TSD implemented district-run school-based mental health treatment directly in all of our middle and K-8 schools. Follow our journey to develop individual and small group mental health intervention, beginning with data-driven decisions and resulting in seamless programming. Hear how we blend School Health Professional grant funds and district funds to provide sustainable and effective mental health treatment directly to our most at-risk youth at no cost to their families. We will share student stories of how these wrap-around services have increased school connectedness and reduced risk factors for suicidality.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants will walk away with the nuts and bolts of an effective district-run school-based mental health program, including reducing liability, managing referrals and caseloads, and partnering with school counselors and families.
2. Participants will learn strategies to design effective data-driven school-based mental health programming as part of a layered system of supports.
3. Participants will hear how to maximize grant and school district funding to implement sustainable district-run school-based mental health programming.

ADHD kids and adults usually have a deep sense of self hatred. Everyone around them from teachers to parents to friends seem to point out their weaknesses in frustration, anger, and sometimes while making fun of them. There are so many ADHD kids that don't feel they belong. This extends to ADHD Teachers and other staff. Being able to see ADHD kids and adults for who they are and what they can add to the school can increase school belongingness in immeasurable ways. We will be talking about ways to support these wonderful people.

Session Objectives:

1) Understanding what happens inside the mind of ADHDers
2) Understanding ways to support them and help them feel included
3) Understanding ways to help staff support these kids and work with these adults

This presentation takes participants though steps to re-engage high school students that are not engaged in their educational experience and don't have a vision for their future. Participants will wear their student hat and their educator hat to understand the process Silverton School uses to reconnect students to school and their future. Presenters will take participants on the journey our students experienced including, neurosequential model for students, targeted tutoring and coaching, the Enneagram, college and career visits, and concurrent enrollment. We'll bring these 5 programming components to life and give educators the tools they need to make it happen in their own settings!-Participants will understand the 5 programming components from the student and educator perspective.

Session Objectives:

-Participants will consider how these 5 programming components could be adapted and used in their own settings.

In a post-Covid setting and a new normal for education, there is a need for training and capacity building that is responsive to staff and provides whole-child support. A critical aspect of this work is to equip staff with an understanding of how the brain and body respond to stress and change, and to create systems that support staff, reduce punitive practices and promote student learning, healing and skill development. In this session, the presenters will share their expertise in training and implementation of The Neurosequential Model in Education© (NME) which provides foundational content and a lens that positively impacts school culture, improves access to education and better prepares educators to meet students with developmentally and biologically appropriate tools and practices.

Participants will:

- leave with an awareness of how stress impacts the health, function, memory, performance and perspective of staff and students - and how we can create and foster environments in which stress is negated and buffered through practices and systems that are biologically and developmentally matched to promote regulation and skill building.

- be exposed to systems and strategies that have been used by educators across the world in implementing the Neurosequential Model in Education© (NME) at the school and classroom level.

- understand outcomes and challenges associated with implementation of the NME© and how the NME© is foundational to uptake of the majority of school initiatives (e.g., SEL, restorative justice, curricula, MTSS, PBIS, lesson planning and coaching).

Participants will be introduced to the concept of Educational Journey Mapping as a student and family driven assessment protocol that can build relationships and identify critical barriers to educational success that can be addressed directly at school or through wrap-around services. Having been piloted through a CO Attorney General Office Education and Innovation Grant with justice-engaged students, educational journey mapping is being expanded to additional school settings to identify and address root causes of chronic absenteeism. Join the workshop to test out the methodology yourself and consider how to develop a tool and a process that speaks to attendance barriers in your school or district.

Session Objectives:

Participants will:
1) Leave with an understanding of educational journey mapping as an evidence-based practice to address chronic absenteeism,
2) Possess a greater understanding of student and family perspectives related to common elements and barriers in the educational trajectory of their children,
3) Be prepared to apply your learning to increase student and family belonging.

As LEAs welcome newly arriving immigrant children and youth into schools, many of these students are facing high mobility and homelessness. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, newly arriving children and youth experiencing homelessness have access to services and supports within the school community. However, school-community partnerships are essential to meet the needs of students and their families outside of school. This session will focus on the intersections of high mobility, homelessness, and immigration, as well as best practices to leverage school-community partnerships to meet student needs.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants will gain a basic understanding of immigration and its intersection with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

2. Participants will learn how school-community partnerships are critical to meeting the needs of immigrant children, youth, and families who are highly mobile or experiencing homelessness.

3. Participants will enhance their knowledge of best practices for supporting immigration students.

We’ll share highlights from the 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) statewide results: How did adolescent health and wellness change in Colorado between 2021 and 2023? What are key strengths and needs among Colorado youth? The second part of the session will be guided workshop time: use your community-specific lens to explore local, regional, or statewide HKCS data. How can this data be used for needs assessment, grant applications, or progress monitoring? Bring a laptop for the optimal experience. Staff from the Colorado School of Public Health will be on hand to answer questions and provide tips.

Session Objectives:

1. Examine highlights from 2023 HKCS statewide data

2. Use a community-specific lens to explore local, regional, or statewide HKCS data

3. Develop a plan to use HKCS data to support your community

It’s estimated that 40% of school-aged children and adolescents in the U.S. have at least one chronic health condition, and research shows that children with chronic health conditions are more likely to be absent from school, putting them at risk for poor academic achievement. With adequate support, students with chronic conditions can thrive!

This session will compare the purpose, regulation, and eligibility for IEPs, 504s, and health plans, using chronic condition examples. Participants will also explore new resources from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on students with disabilities and related inequities.

Participants will be able to:
• Explain the purpose of an IEP, 504, and Individual Health Plan
• Discuss three differences between these three plans
• Describe how each plan can support student success

Finding ways to engage placed-at-risk youth takes creativity and positive interventions. In this session, we will explore one PBIS landscape that is showing promising results in engaging these students. Creating an oasis to connect with their school, and a safe adult, while building social emotional skills, and increasing executive functioning skills.

Session Objectives:

1. Learn how this PBIS intervention improves educational outcomes for historically underserved and placed-at-risk youth.
2. Overview of the goals of the PBIS class and how to implement the intervention.

Poetry is more than the literary design to comply to a set of rules or poetic styles. It is undeniably the outpouring of the individual. When participants of poetry have the opportunity to elevate their voice, inevitably there is a stronger sense of self. In addition, communication skills increase allowing the participant of poetry to experience higher levels of positive social interactions. There is a significant amount of data/research that highlights the benefits/positive impact of SEL within poetry. If this is the case, we should see evidence of intentional poetry throughout schools. This presentation combines various poetic styles and music activities to promote cultivate equity, SEL, culturally responsive practices and leadership skills.

Session Objectives:

• The participant will learn poetry strategies to promote SEL. 
• The participant will write a poem implementing poetic techniques. 
• The participant will review research on SEL within poetry and develop an action plan to best support students' interests/areas of support.

This session caters to administrators, educators, mental health providers, and community-based organizations eager to cultivate collaboration across rural regions. Embracing a regional approach significantly enhances collective impact, fosters responsive systems, and ensures sustained implementation of initiatives like Colorado Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports. Amid ongoing uncertainties and educator turnover, continuous capacity building is pivotal for effective implementation. The panel will spotlight the formation of a Regional Implementation Team, comprising diverse voices from CDE offices, educators, community-based organizations, and Adams State University. Its goal: fortify equity for vulnerable youth, offer high-quality professional development, and enhance staff well-being. Gain firsthand insights from small rural districts on implementing COMTSS alongside community members, fostering impactful outcomes, and boosting equity for historically marginalized communities in rural areas.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants will grasp the importance of collaboration among administrators, educators, mental health providers, and community-based organizations across the region to improve educational outcomes.

2. Participants will learn how to enhance equity for vulnerable youth by establishing a Regional Implementation Team comprising diverse voices from CDE offices, educators, community-based organizations, and Adams State University.

3. Participants will comprehend how a regional implementation team offers professional development opportunities to enhance staff skills and well-being, ensuring the effective implementation of initiatives like COMTSS.