In Session

As schools across the United States work to mitigate the impact of violence within their communities and establish school-based prevention programs, many seek assistance from federal grants. One such grant is the Department of Education’s Project Prevent grant, which awarded a third cohort in 2022 with funds to increase their capacity to identify, assess, and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, help to ensure that affected students are offered mental health services for trauma or anxiety; support conflict resolution programs; and implement other school–based violence prevention strategies in order to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts. One grantee from this cohort is NCSSLE’s Scotland County School System in North Carolina. 

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Dr. Patricia McLean, Project Director of Scotland County’s Project Prevent program, about her reflections on year one of the grant. Dr. McLean reflects on challenges she and her team overcame, her most proud accomplishment with the grant, and shares many words of wisdom collected along the way.

0:55 - Introduction & Background
4:00 - Why Scotland County Applied for the P2C3 Grant
6:00 - Challenges With Staffing
7:11  - Biggest Accomplishment
8:23 - Lessons Learned & Advice for New Project Directors 
16:26 - Plans for Next Year
18:30 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools have been actively working to hire, train and retain school mental health professionals. To support this process, one of NCSSLE’s School Based Mental Health Services grantees, funded in 2020, the Hawaii Department of Education, in collaboration with Chaminade University, created an Education Psychology doctoral program as well as the state’s first ever School Psychology program to start a pipeline of trained mental health professionals for their state’s schools. 

On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Ayada Bonilla from the Hawaii Department of Education about the state’s homegrown educational psychology doctoral and school psychology programs. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. To learn more about the programs, read Hawaii’s Grantee Highlight.

0:45 - About Ayada and Hawaii
3:55 - Creating the Doctoral Programs to Address Student Needs
7:37 - Impact of the Programs
8:40 - Recruitment & Retention
10:19 - Lessons Learned and Challenges
14:05 - Virtual Learning Opportunity
14:55 - Future Plans & Sustainability
17:28 - Using Data to Improve
20:30 - Dissertations as System Research
21:48 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As schools across the United States work to mitigate the impact of violence within their communities, restorative practices have become a popular strategy. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grantees, Dougherty County School System in Albany, Georgia, has shown great success in this effort by implementing restorative practices in their elementary schools.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with a team from Dougherty County School System, a Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grantee, about the district’s successful implementation of restorative practices using district-wide training and professional development. The team includes Kelly Hand, the director of the grant, along with Dr. Charles Flowers, the district’s trainer and facilitator of restorative practices; Dr. Narkisa Howard, Principal of West Town Elementary School; Tina Hood, School Counselor at Lake Park Elementary School; and Wendy Williams, fourth grade teacher at Sherwood Acres Elementary School. This conversation is guided by Annie Knowles. 

Learn more about Dougherty County School System by reading their Grantee Highlight.

1:21 - Introductions
2:56 - The Key Principles of Restorative Practices
5:11 - Common Challenges Schools Face When Implementing Restorative Practices
8:28 - Progress at West Town Elementary
9:49 - “The Five R’s”
10:51 - Why We Need Restorative Practices
12:13 - Impact of Restorative Circles at Sherwood Acres
16:30 - Examples of Strategies
18:12 - Practical Tips for Educators & School Communities
22:51 - Buy-In & Prioritization
25:15 - Measuring Success
28:58 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, this podcast does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools across the country are working to provide mental health supports and services to help students thrive in school. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grantees, El Rancho Unified School District in Southern California, has created a wellness center in the district’s high school for students to decompress and seek mental health supports and resources throughout the school day.    

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Jeff Middleton, a Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grant recipient from El Rancho Unified School District in California, about El Rancho High School’s Wellness Center. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE's Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. 

Learn more about El Rancho’s wellness center by reading their Grantee Highlight.

0:43 - Introductions
1:40 - Describing the Wellness Center
7:57 - Engaging Students in the Development of the Wellness Center 
9:36 - Impact of the Wellness Center
12:12 - Lessons Learned 
15:26 - What’s Next? 
17:10 - Engaging Students at Different Ages 
20:26 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening! 

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools are implementing universal mental health screenings to identify students needing support. These screenings are part of a systematic process to identify students’ strengths and needs to better inform school based mental health intervention efforts. One of NCSSLE’s Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP2019) grantees, Sodus Central School District in New York State, has successfully implemented a district-wide universal screening process that has helped improve their intervention efforts and better support students.

On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Hennessey Lustica and Rob Lillis from Sodus Central School District about the district’s universal mental health screening efforts. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. To learn more, read Sodus’ Grantee Highlight.

1:10 - Introductions

4:30 - Defining Universal Screening

8:30 - Survey Questions

10:23 - Successful Implementation

22:15 - Lessons learned and challenges

26:36 - Impacts

31:49 - Future Plans

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As districts and states across the country grapple with the effects of trauma exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health crisis, and more, many have shifted to a trauma-informed care approach to promote healing environments for students and staff. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent Cohort 3 (P2C3) grantees, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), has made particularly noteworthy progress in implementing this approach district-wide.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Naomi Handley, Rachel Hamm, and Leandra Torra, P2C3 grant recipients from Jefferson County, KY, about the district’s extensive trauma-informed care training approach. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about JCPS at their website, and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about their trauma-informed plans.

0:45 - Welcome & Introductions

1:28 - Why JCPS puts emphasis on Trauma-Informed Care

7:24 - The process for districts to create a system and provide Trauma-Informed Care to schools

10:41 - How this work connects to their Project Prevent Grant

12:25 - School Specific Plans

16:14 - Challenges they have encountered

23:30 - Successes and impacts they have seen on the school community

28:52 - What comes next for this Trauma-Informed Care work

35:18 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

To maintain a strong school-based mental health workforce that meets the growing needs of students, districts across the country are partnering with local universities to place interns in schools, thereby creating a pipeline of school-based mental health staff. Thoroughly supporting and effectively engaging with these interns is essential to prepare and, ultimately, sustain the workforce.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Dr. Rosie Rincon Hernandez & Gianna Merriam, Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP2019) grant recipients from Tulare County, CA about their effort to build the capacity of and effectively engage school based mental health interns. This conversation is guided by Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Visit Tulare County’s website and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about supporting school-based mental health interns. You can also view their helpful diagram of the Overlapping Roles of Support Staff that use that is discussed in the episode.

0:47 - Introductions and their “Why” for doing this work

2:35 - How Tulare County has created a robust internship experience

7:21 - Practices they have implemented to ensure the internship program is quality and sustainable

14:15 - Sustainability for interns

15:27 - Impacts they have seen with the internship program

20:31 - How they have clarified roles and responsibilities

26:11 - Greatest success and lessons learned

32:43 - Closing & takeaways

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools have been actively working to hire, train and retain school mental health professionals. When interviewing potential professionals for the job, schools look for candidates that connect well with students. One way to ensure this connection is to engage students in the hiring process. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent grantees, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) in Hartford, CT has done this by implementing student-led interview panels as part of their clinician hiring process.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Sixmaritt Pagán Peña, a Project Prevent (Cohort 2 and Cohort 3) grant recipient from the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) and Rashelly, a 10th grader at the Academy of Computer Science and Engineering, about the district’s student-led clinician interview panels. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about CREC at their website, and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about the student-led interview panels.

1:00 - Introductions

1:56 - Background Information

2:59 - Student Experience and Feedback

4:44 - Formulating Questions for the Interviews

6:13 - Prioritizing Student Voice

9:19 - Impact on Students and the Hiring Process

11:31 - Next Steps

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Sharon Fishel, Project Director for the Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant program at the Alaska Department of Education, about their Trauma Engaged Framework. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s Trauma Engaged Framework at education.alaska.gov.

0:54 - Introductions

1:30 - About the Alaska Rise Project

2:51 - Creation of Alaska’s Trauma Engaged Framework

6:52 - Partnerships

9:38 - Advice for the Field

11:16 - Tracking Impact with Data

15:30 - Sustainability Plan

17:38 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with NCSSLE partners Ruth Cross and Andrew Tucker from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) about supporting youth by combining workforce skills and Social Emotional Learning (SEL), an area of interest among the grantees we serve. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

0:46- Introductions

2:29- What CASEL is and its relationship with NCSSLE

4:48- CASEL's initiative on supporting youth with workforce skills and SEL

7:42- Examples of a skill taught in SEL and career readiness

10:46- Who they are trying to reach with this initiative/ needs being met

14:43- Advice to share with others looking to utilize this approach

21:08- The importance of career awareness among youth

24:20- What's next

25:26- Final takeaways and closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.