Thanks to You! Building the Heart of Successful Schools Recap, The Resilience Game, Mindfulness, WISH Workshops
December 2015 Updates
This month's newsletter is also available: www.wishschools.org/resources/newsletters.cfm
Thanks to You!

With the holidays close at hand, we're thinking about all the people who stand with us and support our mission. Thank you for insisting on safe and healthy schools for every child.  So when we're counting our blessings, we want you to know-you're one of them.
Thank you again for caring about making a better school, community, and world. Have a warm and wonderful holiday!
All the best,
Tracy, Carol, Christine, Jackie, & Lynn
The Wisconsin Safe & Healthy Schools Center
Building the Heart of Successful Schools Conference Recap

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their schedules to attend the 2015 Building the Heart of Successful Schools Conference on December 3-4. 
A Summary of a few session that I attended:
  • Keynote Joyce James asked us to view students through a racial equity lens and understand the relationship students have with helping systems.  We could remove all racism and the systems would still not change, therefore we need to change the systems.  We need to do this until race is no longer a predictor of success in Wisconsin schools.
  • From Creating Trauma-Informed Classrooms, a toolkit for " I thought about quitting today..." This toolkit aids educators in the exploration of the fatigue, burnout and even the trauma they may experience when helping students who are suffering.
  • Keynote Dr. Adolph Brown- I should have known when I read, "Doc brings content & crazy!" on his website.  A positive way to end the conference with "Real Talk" and research and the will to never leave a child behind.  I have a few photos and video that does not do the energy in the room justice.
  • A sincere thank you to all 40 presenters who shared their hard work and passion for reducing barriers to learning.
Handout that were shared by presenters are available:  http://www.wishschools.org/resources/BHSS.cfm

If you attended please take 2 minutes to provide feedback to the DPI and WISH Center using this link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHSS2015Evaluation
Tipping the Scales: 
The Resilience Game
We know that children who live in a caring community with increased protective factors are much more resilient than children who don't have the same social supports.  Yet, how do we increase positive outcomes for children?
The researchers at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University  have created an online game to help us answer this question. The game's purpose is to help us better understand that the choices we make can have a positive or negative effect on our community and on the eventual resiliency of children. Click on the picture above to try the game for yourself and see how many positive outcomes you can make.  Works best on a desktop or laptop computer.
Mindfulness and Children-Growing Evidence of Effectiveness
from Jackie Schoening, Regional Coordinator

The last decade has seen a huge spike in applications of mindfulness, the practice of focusing our attention on our thoughts, feelings, and environment in the present moment. While the first wave of mindfulness-based programs were for adults, more recent efforts have targeted the well-being of children and adolescents; as a result, mindfulness programs in schools are becoming more and more widespread. As a result, there have been more school-based mindfulness practices and researchers have been aggressively testing the effectiveness of school-based mindfulness programs, and they are starting to publish their results.
To read the article in full, visit the Greater Good Science Center website.
Other notable articles on cognitive benefits of mindfulness for kids:
Can Mindfulness Really Help You Focus, Time Magazine, March 2013
Forget Delayed Gratification: What Kids Really Need Is Cognitive Control, Time Magazine, October 2013
Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids, Greater Good Science Center, May 2010
The WISH Center is providing a series of Mindfulness courses for educators to implement in their classroom. Click here for more information.
WISH Center Workshops

PREPaRE Crisis Prevention and Preparedness: Comprehensive School Safety Planning (Open to all school and community partners)
 
Workshop 1: Focus on Crisis Planning
Workshop 2: Focus on Crisis Intervention/Recovery
Educating Mindfully: Practice for Educators and Learners
Second Step Middle School Implementation Training
Youth Mental Health First Aid-Reduced Fee in Partnership with DPI Project AWARE Grant
School-Based Suicide Prevention Training
Active Students are Better Learners: WI Active Schools Core 4+ Training (Half Day-9 AM-Noon)
Coming Soon:  AODA Basics Online Course Coming February 1-29, 2016*

*Graduate Credit Available for fee through Viterbo University
All events are contingent on a minimum of participants.
Wisconsin Safe & Healthy Schools Center | 608-786-4838 | www.wishschools.org
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