Life, with all its beautiful and challenging high notes and low notes, is a journey and experience that is unique to each individual. It is filled with moments of joy, obstacles to overcome, love, sadness, and a myriad of emotions that serenade our daily lives. While we often embrace and melodically cruise through the calm, relaxing moments, it is the doubt-filled, sad, angry, and stress inducing moments we find most challenging and disruptive. It is in these times that we, as do kids and our students, need anchors to walk beside us, co-regulate with us, ground us, keep us safe, and move us continually towards resilience.

Many schools find themselves on a path leading toward restorative practices and approaches. Our team has been diligently working on a framework that specifically addresses the aforementioned challenges, empowering staff to act as change-makers and undertake the demanding task of serving our most challenging students. Given the prevalent challenging behaviors in our schools, a balance of strong relationships and high accountability becomes imperative.

As I kick off the sixth year of my annual tradition of choosing a word of focus, I have landed on "dream." This year is all about possibilities and opportunities that spark vitality and purpose. A pivotal moment occurred when I stumbled upon a 1998 radio interview (from the late 1900’s as the kids say these days), where the speaker shared four questions to test the authenticity of one's dreams. With these questions in hand, direction for the year becomes clearer.

It’s a universal “inside joke” that the kid we’d really like to have a break from is the one who is never absent. Like EVER. And while it’s kind of a joke, it’s also kind of true. Those kids can really wear us out. Did I just break some unwritten “teacher code” by saying this out loud? I hope not.

But what if we flipped the script for a moment?

What if we asked ourselves, “What is this kid really seeking?” And no, a hard spanking is not the answer we’ll support in the restorative practices.

The reality is that many times, this kid is often seeking connection. He comes to school every day in order to be seen, heard, and valued. And while he may get love at home, he is still seeking something from this teacher, this adult, in front of him.

For many adults, a high school diploma feels like a missed train – something left behind in the rush of life. But what if it didn't have to be that way? Imagine a path where earning your diploma wasn't just about completing credits, but about unlocking doors to better jobs, brighter futures, and a newfound sense of accomplishment. We work with S.T.A.R.s (Skilled Through Alternative Routes)

In a recent conversation, with a friend that embodies all these attributes, she asked me how I like work, what parts of my life I am loving, what aspects bring me joy, challenges I’m facing, and then they threw in one that I wasn’t expecting…..how do I build my own resilience?