The project began with an awareness of her limitations as a single provider at the school.  Using our Social Emotional Screener tool,  Marianne gathered emotional and behavioral data on every student at Achieve and was able to see trends and needs across grades, classrooms, and individual students.  But how could Marianne find the time in her week to provide the myriad of group services the students there would most benefit from? Her answer: she couldn’t do it on her own.  Marianne realized she needed more adults to provide groups and that she could share her expertise with them as a coach and mentor.  She put together a presentation on the basics of running a group, and solicited interest from her school administration and staff community.
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She then met with a group of interested EFC staff which included PE teachers, assistant principals, and other staff on site to provide them with a training on the basics of running a social skills group.  Sitting down with each adult individually, Marianne was able to learn more about what types of issues, students and age groups they were most excited to work with. She was intentional around supporting them to feel more connected to the work by getting to know what their values were and what they were most interested in.

Next, Marianne revisited the data from her Social Emotional Screeners.  She made sure to assign facilitators to grade levels and group topics that would resonate for them.  Tailoring activities to the topics of the groups was another way that Marianne supported the adults with their new initiative. And they were off!!  

Midway through the first group cycle, Marianne brought her team of adults together to provide problem-solving, consultation and connection.  She also started getting input from the team on what they’d like to do for their next cycle in order to keep the momentum going on their new tier 2 initiative.

Although there is no evidence to indicate that discriminatory practices (including school mission, vision, culture, school-family-community relationships, policies and procedures, resource allocation, and collaborations)  in the school setting are the cause of dis-proportionality, research does show a correlation between the two, suggesting that systemic change is a practice that would benefit already marginalized students. Sullivan, Artiles, & Hernandez-Saca provide a general address to dis-proportionality in school settings, recommending how to best benefit from a consultant when looking at a long term (5 year) restructure targeting systemic change in the special education process. In addition, they identify efforts to support the reduction of dis-proportionality, resolutions schools can apply systematically to combat dis-proportionality, and they also make suggestions around reshaping school systems which shape disparities put into place by the school itself.
 
Systemic change is a HUGE task and calls for comprehensive vertical reform of perspectives, policies, and practices, which could prompt a shift towards reflecting, rethinking, and restructuring oppressive systems. Equity, vision and philosophy of education, stakeholder involvement, professional collaboration, resource allocation, and curriculum, instruction and assessment which support diverse learning are noted as imperative components of systemic change. It is not an easy solution and it most definitely requires dedication and openness at every level over an extended period of time. However, there is belief that it is possible and necessary to eradicate the intersectionality and disparities for ethnic minority students who have also been identified as having a learning disability.
 
Take a look at this article to read about it in more depth!

I wanted to share this article "Why Mindfulness and Trauma Informed Teaching don't Always Go Together". I think it is a great article but if you have no time here are the "take aways" - ​

• Sometimes being asked to sit quietly with your eyes closed can be triggering. 
• When teaching mindfulness, use the Lion/Dog metaphor to explain what mindfulness does and why it is an important practice: 

                          Lion/Dog metaphor - If you hold up a bone in front of a dog and move it side to side you will have that      dog's full attention - they see nothing past the bone. If you hold up a bone in front of a lion the lion will see  the bone but they will also see the human behind it meaning that they have a bigger picture and options of  what to eat/how to react. Mindfulness allows you to step back and see more than the bone (problem/emotion/situation). When students are able to see a bigger picture beyond just the frustration or target at hand they are able to have more agency and move in a more informed way. We all want to be lion-minded or "kings of our inner-jungle". 

• Teachers practicing mindfulness and self care is the MOST IMPORTANT piece of being able to teach it to students - and there are some recs in there to support over worked staff - we have to practice what we preach
• Practicing active listening and being a "predictable adult" are two of the hardest and most important ways to build relationships and safe/trusting environments with students which will allow them to trust in mindfulness or other personal growth activities.

Name: Laryonda Ward 
Your Position?  Clinical Intern at Lazear Charter Academy
 
What led you to your current position? 
Back in 2010, at the age of 17, I witnessed a close family member be murder and that lit a light up inside of me. This prompted my mother to take me to therapy, where the therapist wasn't helpful, so I took a vow that I would give back into the therapy world in order to ensure that I would provide my clients with everything that the therapist lacked while working with me. After I graduated from college in 2014 I got a position in Seneca as a Mental Health Counselor which I loved. As the years progressed clients would continuously make statements like "I wish you were my therapist". After hearing that so many times I decided it was time to elevate myself and obtain my MFT. 
 
Fun Fact/Quote? I come from a huge family I have 56 (and counting) first cousins on my mothers side alone.
 
What does your average day look like? An average day for me consist of therapy with clients, group work with clients, notes and documentation, and of course spending free time to connect with the other members school community. 
 
Why do you do this work?
As stated earlier I do this work because I want to provide clients with support to better navigate through life. Also due to my background growing up this work means a lot me. Growing up in Oakland I learned that often times the youth aren't receiving the proper care they need and we were over looked a lot. Being constantly overlooked made many of the people that I grew up with start to feel like there was no point in trying. After witnessing multiple people be murdered constantly this became a norm in our community, but because it was so normalized often times people were't even given the space to mourn. There are a handful of problems that people in the Lower Class face so my goal is to simply provide them the help that I can provide and connect them with their community resources.