California Safe and Supportive Schools

Youth Perspectives: The Importance of Caring Relationships at School

K-12 Staff

Youth Perspectives: The Importance of Caring Relationships at School

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Positive relationships are essential to building school climates that promote environments where students feel safe, supported, and engaged. When students feel connected at school, they are more likely to engage socially and academically. In this moderated Q&A session, the California Center for School Climate’s Youth Advisory Team will share their perspectives on how positive relationships at school have impacted them, how adults can support safe and supportive learning environments, and what adults should know about being a student today.

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript

View the panel slides and resources in this Linktree

Panelists

Aisha Bilgrammi, Sophomore, Orange County

Aisha Bilgrammi is a sophomore at Irvine High School. She wants to continue helping people and study business. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, going to the gym, and spending time with loved ones. 

Julian Berkowitz, Senior, Santa Clara County

Julian Berkowitz-Sklar is a senior at Saratoga High School. He enjoys reading fantasy/fiction, playing sports, spending time outdoors, and hanging out with friends and family. He hopes to continue meeting amazing people while pursuing his passions and helping to better the world. 

Alexa Southall, Sophomore, San Diego County

Alexa Southall is a sophomore in San Diego County. She’s interested in mental health advocacy and would like to study public policy in college. In her spare time, Alexa likes to crochet, journal, watch TV, and play games with her family. 

Jubia Chavez, Senior, Fresno County

Jubia Chavez is a senior in Fresno County. She will be majoring in interior design and architecture once she graduates. Her passions include family, art, travel, music, and helping those around her. 

Moderator

Lan Nguyen, Program Associate, WestEd

Lan Nguyen (she/her) is a Program Associate in the Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities team at WestEd. As a technical assistance provider for the California Center for School Climate, she provides coaching support to educators and LEAs across the state on their school climate improvement efforts. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and being in nature.

 

Promoting Student Connectedness and Wellness Using Sandy Hook Promise “Know the Signs” Programs and SAVE Promise Clubs

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Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Turning their tragedy into a transformation, Sandy Hook Promise built innovative programs that have a proven track record preventing school violence and empowering youth to “know the signs” and build a more connected school community.

This session will showcase how schools and districts can use Sandy Hook Promise’s no-cost Say Something and Start with Hello programs to transform school climate, improve student connectedness and create lasting change through youth-led Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs. Sandy Hook Promise has been nationally recognized for the organization’s success in preventing multiple school shooting plots, teen suicides, and countless other acts of violence in schools across the country.

Watch the session recording: 

View the session transcript

View the session slides and resources in this Linktree

Presenters:
Abby Arisco, Manager, SAVE Promise Clubs

Abby Arisco (she/her) is the SAVE Promise Club Manager for the Pacific Region of the United States at Sandy Hook Promise. As a SAVE Promise Club Manager and her background in nonprofit management, she advocates for the importance of the Youth Voice and why it’s necessary for adults to listen to it. She is also an outdoor enthusiast and loves finding the next adventure.

Blair Freedman, Senior Director, West Region 

Blair Freedman is the West coast Senior Region Director for Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) where she manages state-wide and local partnerships and leads a team charged with the program delivery, sustainability, and expansion of the Know the Signs programs. Blair holds a master’s in social work and a minor in Business Administration from Columbia University. Blair’s career has been in the nonprofit sector, fulfilling a personal and professional passion for youth services and programming. Joining SHP early in its infancy in 2016, Blair has been able to witness and contribute to SHP’s rapid growth and impact across the country.

Kimberly (Kim) Cheng, Wellness Center Coordinator, San Gabriel Unified School District

Kim is the Wellness Center Coordinator at Jefferson Middle School, San Gabriel Unified School District. This is Kim’s seventh year as a counselor and she is working to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. They are coming up on their one-year anniversary of having their SAVE Promise Club!

Sheila Hatfield, Student Services Specialist and SAVE Promise Club Advisor, Poway Unified School District

With 22 years of experience, Sheila is currently the Student Services Specialist and SAVE Promise Club Advisor at Mt. Carmel High School in Poway Unified, San Diego, CA, and on campus to listen, encourage, and support all students. As the SAVE Promise Club Advisor, she guides students towards positively changing school culture to promote inclusion and connectedness for all. Young leaders need to know that their words and actions make an impact and could save lives. Sheila loves spending time with her family and taking walks on the beach with her dogs.

Committing to Fostering Transformative Relationships

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Relationships are at the core of any educational environment and can make all the difference in how we create positive school climates. Join us to ground in transformative relationship practice to engage in throughout the school year. During the session, you can expect to reflect on relationships, identify your needs, and make a plan to create more transformative relationships with people in your educational community.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

  • Describe what transformative relationships mean for them individually
  • Identify and have a list of transformative relationships in their lives
  • Identify what they give to and receive from transformative relationships
  • Make a plan to communicate their needs around transformative relationships
  • Engage in mindfulness activities
  • Identify their preferred way of receiving and giving gratitude
  • Make a plan to incorporate gratitude into their day
  • Identify how to use gratitude individually, peer to peer, and as administrators

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript 

View the session slides and resources in this Linktree

Presenter:

Yasemin Rodriguez Corzo, Associate Director, Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Bio: Yasemin Rodriguez Corzo, MA is the Associate Director on the Whole Child Health National Advisor team at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. With a background in education in emergencies, Yasemin has 10+ years in curriculum and content design, educational and workforce programming implementation, and research. In her current role, she oversees and collaborates with a team of National Advisors to create and curate resources, design and deliver high quality professional learnings, and cultivate and maintain national and regional partnerships to bolster practices and policies in whole child health. Yasemin holds a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in International Educational Development with a focus on Peace and Human Rights Education. In addition to improving practices and systems to ensure equitable education for children across the globe, Yasemin is also passionate about travel, going for long walks, and fish tacos.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: A Case Study in Successful Educational Systems

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Culturally Responsive Pedagogy allows for learning to go beyond the surface level and create significant and meaningful learning experiences for all students. It moves past the “what” and into the “why” of education and allows students to have their daily experiences validated through learning. In this session, two practitioners with experience addressing the challenges of centering race and culture alongside their partners at the district and school levels will illuminate ways to overcome what can feel like overwhelming odds in this work. Through the case stories, work will be highlighted where advocacy and activism are taking place, as well as lessons learned around crowdsourcing and developing equity-centered solutions that promote culturally responsive and sustaining systems.

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript

View the session slides and resources in this Linktree

Presenters:

Rawlin J. Rosario, Senior Program Associate, WestEd

Rawlin J. Rosario is a Senior Program Associate for the Talent Development and Diversity team at WestEd. He delivers technical assistance; develops research and evidence-based tools and resources; and provides research and policy support with state, regional, and local education agencies to help build more equitable and culturally responsive systems.

Before joining WestEd, Rawlin was a middle school ELA teacher, instructional coach/leader, and administrator in Gaston, North Carolina; New Haven, Connecticut; and The Bronx, New York. In those roles, Rawlin was able to model outstanding culturally responsive instruction and deliver professional development to teachers and staff on instruction, systems change, classroom management, and culturally responsive practices. In addition to his experiences in K–12 spaces, Rawlin also contributed to the development and implementation of the New York State Education Department statewide framework for Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education—the first of its kind in the nation.

In 2018, Rawlin earned his master’s degree in educational leadership, policy & advocacy from New York University Steinhardt’s School of Culture, Education and Human Development. As a first-generation college student born in the Dominican Republic and an English Language learner, Rawlin is motivated to do racial equity work because he believes in the power of creating educational systems that reflect and honor the diversity of the communities they serve. He is dedicated to dismantling racist systems of oppression to ensure our Black and Brown students can discover their best selves and contribute to their communities in the ways they see fit.

Timothy Ojetunde, School Climate Program Associate, WestEd

Timothy Ojetunde is a Program Associate at WestEd on the Resilient Healthy Schools and Communities team, focusing on school climate and data use. He supports districts and schools in centering equity and improving educational outcomes for all. Timothy’s expertise is grounded in school culture and climate, restorative practices, SEL, and trauma-informed practices, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Timothy comes to WestEd with over a decade of knowledge and experience across multiple spaces and communities having been a teacher, advisory and school culture specialist, school administrator, and DEI consultant. In his work, he has coached school administrators, presented to leaders, and facilitated sessions for hundreds of educators and learners across multiple conferences. He is extremely passionate about creating equitable outcomes and is dedicated to supporting students and adults as they grow, develop, and find success.

Timothy was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a graduate of UCLA with master’s degrees from Arizona State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills. He also enjoys music, sports, film, and television. 

The Power of Authentic Collaborative Leadership: The Transformation of Bassett Community School 

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This session takes you through a journey of understanding how trust and relationships through authentic collaborative leadership transforms schools into a place where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. Through a unique model of community schools led by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), Bassett High School shares how they have taken elements of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) framework to create an environment where educational partners are empowered and given a voice. Come learn about how one community school has moved to authentically engage their school community to improve student outcomes.

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript

View the session slides and resources in this Linktree

Presenters:

Hector Vasquez, Principal, Bassett High School, Bassett Unified School District

Hector Vasquez is an experienced, highly dedicated, bilingual (English-Spanish) administrator with a proven track record in effectively leading organizations through continuous improvement, professional training and development programs, and an unwavering focus on the achievement of excellence. He has demonstrated leadership success with diverse, multicultural environments and employs finely developed communication and listening skills to facilitate strong, collaborative relationships with colleagues, internal teams, district office staff, and community partners.

Estela Peregrina-Schubert, LACOE Community Schools Specialist, Bassett High School, Bassett Unified School District

Estela Peregrina-Schubert’s 29 years of experience in education is diverse, with specialization in alternative education and coordinating resources to support students and their families. She spent a decade serving at-promise youth as a counselor and administrator and, in this capacity, supported and inspired young people to overcome daily challenges within the juvenile justice system, with substance abuse, mental health, and staying on track for graduation. As a Community Schools Specialist for the Los Angeles County Office of Education at Bassett High School, her first year in this capacity has taught her that there is so much more impactful work to be done in education.

Estela holds advanced degrees in educational leadership and educational counseling from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Azusa Pacific University. In addition to her passion for education, Estela is a mother to two amazing daughters.

Dr. Michelle Castelo Alferes, Director, Los Angeles County Office of Education, Community Schools Initiative

Dr. Michelle Castelo Alferes serves as the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Community Schools Initiative (CSI) Director III. Dr. Castelo Alferes has over 20 years of experience in public education focused on student support services, dropout prevention, child welfare and attendance, and mental health. She has dedicated her career to empowering school communities, leveraging their strengths, and promoting social justice. Dr. Castelo Alferes is a three-time graduate of UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, master’s in Social Work, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership.

Previously, Dr. Castelo Alferes came from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she served at-promise and historically underserved student populations and school communities as a Pupil Services and Attendance (PSA) Counselor, lead PSA Counselor, Program Coordinator, and Director of Pupil Services. Most recently, Dr. Castelo Alferes served as director with LAUSD’s Student Health and Human Services division, leading the work of Human Relations, Diversity and Equity, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports/Restorative Practices (PBIS/RP), and data/program evaluation. She is also a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Social Work program for Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Peer Learning Exchange: Restorative Beliefs in Action

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This Peer Learning Exchange will provide a space to learn about and consider how to employ restorative practices to center trusting relationships and improve school climate. What are some examples of restorative beliefs? Which do you—or might you want to—prioritize in your community? Hear how our presenter has brought some of these restorative principles to life with specific practice examples, such as using micro-affirmations to lift up students.

Presenting Partner: Timothy Ojetunde

Timothy Ojetunde is a Program Associate at WestEd on the Resilient Healthy Schools and Communities team, focusing on school climate and data use. He supports districts and schools in centering equity and improving educational outcomes for all. Timothy’s expertise is grounded in school culture and climate, restorative practices, SEL, and trauma-informed practices, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Timothy comes to WestEd with over a decade of knowledge and experience across multiple spaces and communities, having been a teacher, advisory and school culture specialist, school administrator, and DEI consultant. In his work, he has coached school administrators, presented to leaders, and facilitated sessions for hundreds of educators and learners. He is extremely passionate about creating equitable outcomes and is dedicated to supporting students and adults as they grow, develop, and find success.

Timothy was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a graduate of UCLA with master’s degrees from Arizona State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills.

 

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