Making Connections and Making an Impact

 Making Connections and Making an Impact

I love what I do. I’m grateful every day to have meaningful work that I know benefits young

people, even when it’s hard. Sometimes it can be challenging to have such a short amount of

time with a class; relationship building is immeasurably valuable to education, and we often

don’t get to know the students the same way their regular teachers do. But it’s beautiful to see

the impact we can have, even with just a few sessions, and to know that those messages will

last for years—even decades—after we’ve left their campus. Here’s a short list of some recent

highlights from the classroom:

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Supporting Students. No. Matter. What.

Supporting Students. No. Matter. What.

Being a human is hard; the world is a difficult place; you cannot fix or heal everyone. Supporting children with empathy, patience, stability, predictability, and agency will give their brains the tools to start healing on their own, and so will normalizing the idea of trauma as something that happens to many people. When all of the adults who care for children recognize that intense reactions, unpredictable emotions, defensive behaviors, and shutting down are potential trauma responses, and respond accordingly, naming and normalizing the need to feel safe, children can see and empathize with it in themselves and each other.


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