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

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

What does it mean to be a mental health informed educator? Attendees in this presentation will learn about and engage with a mental health informed educator tool. This tool provides staff the opportunity to dive deeper into their current practices and confidence levels with proficiencies related to Mental Health Informed Classrooms. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to utilize with individual staff members, groups, and/or for building professional learning to reflect, plan, and monitor progress on being a mental health informed educator.

Session Objectives:

• To discuss mental health informed proficiency indicators for educators. 
• To engage with a mental health informed educator action planning tool to assist staff in self-reflection on confidence levels, current practices, and goal setting
• To propose and adapt processes and progress monitoring related to mental health informed educator action planning and implementation

Youth are reporting elevated mental health concerns, drug and alcohol use, risky sexual behavior, and lack of connection to peers and adults. This is particularly true for youth who identify as LGBTQ+, minority, and/or from poverty. This session will present correlational research between these concepts through youth-reported data. We will discuss how positive youth development (PYD) and social connections can be mitigating factors that promote youth resilience. Youth from a rural, high-poverty, primarily Latinx community will present about their experiences through COVID-19 and how a wrap-around PYD approach has supported their ability to grow and learn through the challenges of the last few years. We will outline how we engaged youth and families to deliver programming that addressed physical, emotional/mental, social, cultural, and academic wellness. We will also present how experiential career learning has helped youth develop positive visions for the future.-

Session Objectives:

• After viewing this presentation, participants will be able to explain the relationship between risky youth behavior, mental health concerns, a sense of belonging, and youth resilience.
• After viewing this presentation, participants will be able to apply a socio-ecological approach to positive youth development.
• After viewing this presentation, participants will be able to identify wrap-around practices that support youth resilience.

Physically healthy and resilient students and staff function at their highest level. The American Heart Association helps you create a culture in which health and wellbeing are prioritized. Learn simple ways to support students, their families, and your employees so they can meet your vision for excellence. “We’re glad the AHA provides the body of work that allows us to address physical health and emotional well-being, community safety and preparedness, and provides a shared language that creates permission to take good care of one another while working towards important outcomes.” Kerry Gain, Deputy Executive Director, Academic Services, Austin.

Session Objectives:

• Prioritize your wellbeing and become a leader who inspires others to improve their physical, emotional health so your community can function at a higher level.
• Help students create wellness habits that build resilience.
• Recommendations enhancing preparedness through CPR skills and cardiac emergency response plan.

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.

This session delves into the essence of restorative practices applied to leadership, fostering a supportive and accountable school environment. We'll integrate other best practices for leadership to tailor your leadership approach to various scenarios. Join us to revolutionize your leadership style, promoting a culture of compassion, respect, and continuous improvement in educational settings.

Session Objectives:

• Understand Restorative Leadership Principles: Participants will learn the foundational principles of restorative leadership, including strategies to foster a culture of accountability, empathy, and respect within school environments.
• Develop Effective Leadership Skills: Gain practical skills to apply restorative leadership techniques in daily interactions and decision-making processes to effectively manage teams and resolve conflicts.
• Enhance School Culture and Climate: Explore methods to implement restorative practices that promote a positive school culture, improve student behavior, and increase educational outcomes through compassionate leadership.

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.

Educators are some of the most stressed professionals in the US. This is affecting budgets, retention, climate and culture, and student outcomes. We all want students that are mentally and physically well. It is very difficult to achieve that if we don’t prioritize adult wellbeing. This session will outline a research based approach to creating a strategic action plan for staff health and wellness.

Session Objectives:

• Participants will understand different ways partners can be leveraged to achieve their health and wellness goals.
• Understand how Implementation Science and a Multi-Tiered System of Supports play a critical role in developing a strategic plan for staff wellbeing.
• Be given the information necessary for designing a strategic plan that aligns with existing goals and their unique needs.
• See examples of two different implementation plans and how they aligned to each district’s goals.

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.

In this session, participants will explore the importance of wellbeing and belonging to promote student success in school and life. Additionally, participants will learn about the Landscape of Wellbeing and Belonging, a new virtual hub hosted by the Colorado Department of Education, that aims to blend guidance, resources, systems, and best practices to improve outcomes for students, staff, and families across all PK-12 schools in Colorado. We will explore the five features of wellbeing and belonging: safe and welcoming school environments; strong and trusting relationships; support for health and wellbeing; social, emotional, and behavioral competencies; and engaging learning practices.

Session Objectives:

1. Understand how the promotion of wellbeing and belonging helps to ensure that all students achieve high academic standards and gain skills needed to thrive in school and life.
2. Describe the five features of wellbeing and belonging and their alignment with COMTSS, the Colorado Professional Standards, and other frameworks used in school systems throughout Colorado.
3. Identify ways to integrate the five features of wellbeing and belonging into your work so that all students may thrive in school and life.

How do you want your life to look? Manifestation is not about just attracting “things” into your life but rather empowering yourself to live your best life. A vision board can illustrate the person you truly want to become. In this session, we will discuss how vision boarding can support student and employee wellness and then provide time for you to start creating your own individual or team vision board that represents what you hope to achieve this school year. Supplies will be provided. If you have your own supplies or magazines, please bring those, too.

Session Objectives:

(1) Explain what manifesting a vision is and the basic neuroscience behind the effectiveness of vision boards.
(2) Identify types of vision boards and when vision boarding may be a useful intervention for student and employee wellbeing.
(3) Create a situational vision board that displays your goals for the new school year.

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).

At Playworks we believe that play benefits us through our entire lives and is a language that everyone understands. It provides unique skill building opportunities when seen as an intentional time of every day. Our presentation dives into the benefits, barriers, and best practices for incorporating play to support the whole child, highlighting the physical, social, emotional, and academic benefits play provides both students and adults. We address common barriers with practical takeaways on how to combat them in schools and play based programs.

Session Objectives:

• Re-inspire a love and interest in play and its value
• Verbalize how play contributes to healthy youth development
• Apply best practices for facilitating healthy play within their circle of influence

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.

Dive into the statewide Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado survey data and spend time collaborating on next steps for your work. Learn about statewide trends, ways to approach survey usage, and how to move from results into action. The survey includes a number of questions on student and staff wellbeing, so there are many opportunities to connect to state, district, and local results.

Session Objectives:

• How to use perception data in continuous improvement. 
• How to use data to drive decisions.
• How to compare and leverage state, district, and local results.

Highlights on WSCC in action within Minnesota will be shared at both the state level as well as a case study example from Faribault Public Schools. This session will explore building capacity of supporting the Whole Child with the use of data, aligning with strategic momentum, and engaging wellness committees in ensuring young people are Healthy, Safe, Supported, Engaged, and Challenged.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants will be advance the utilization of the Whole Child framework within their system.
2. Participants will be able to identify and address systemic inequities to enable all students to learn and achieve at high levels.

This session lays a foundation for educators on why we need to shift our practice to meet the needs of today's students. Using science, participants will understand why this shift needs to happen to regulate and re engage our students. Participants will be armed with research to shift your most vocal staff that are resistent to change by clearly showing why we need to shift our beliefs about how kids learn and behave. You will walk away with ready to implement evidence based universal structures and supports to build agency in our students and staff, resulting in increased job satisfaction and increased learning and growth in our students.

Session Objectives:

• Understand, learn and apply supportive environments in your school or classroom to re-engage and regulate students
• Learn what positive developmental relationships are and why they are an essential foundation to regulate, engage and build agency in students
• Understand how students developmentally learn mindsets, behaviors and skills and what you can do universally to identify lagging skills and implemented universal and targeted interventions so students are able to learn at high levels.

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 presentation will include an Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response Training which includes understanding the opioid crisis; youth impact; what are opioids; harm reduction; and reversing an opioid overdose with Naloxone.

Participants will be provided with training slides and facilitator guide, along with other resources, to conduct a training at their school.

1. An understanding of the opioid public health crisis/youth impact
2. Trained in Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response, including Naloxone administration
3. Equipped with resources to help implement an opioid overdose prevention and response training at their school

This engaging session will help participants unlock the potential of school-based out-of-school time (OST) programming to boost wellness and belonging among students and staff, enhancing the culture and connectedness of the school community. We will delve into how OST programs support each of the 5 features of the Landscape of Wellbeing and demonstrate how a focus on quality OST programming can positively impact students, families and staff within a school.

Session Objectives:

• Demonstrate the benefits of out of school time programming related to wellbeing and belonging for students, families and school staff
• Identify how OST programs can be leveraged to enhance each of the 5 features of the Landscape of Wellbeing and Belonging
• Give participants tangible next steps to building a culture of OST programming designed to enhance wellness at their school