To make informed decisions that are reflective of your school community and all educational partners, robust relationships are core to have powerful data conversations. Relationships allow educational partners to feel comfortable sharing varying options with their peers and school staff. Additionally, showing care in how data are collected, shared, and used to make improvements further strengthens trusting relationships among staff, students, families—the entire school community. In this session, you’ll hear two district examples of how engaging a range of role groups in transparent processes were key for implementing decisions to improve school climate that were reflective of the school community.

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Panelists:

Dr. Jennifer Edic Bryant, Ed.D., Education Consultant, Azusa Unified School District

Dr. Jennifer Edic Bryant has worked in California public education for over 31 years. She began her career as a classroom teacher in a Title I school in Los Angeles County, serving historically underserved students and families. From the beginning of her education career, Dr. Bryant has focused on ensuring equitable, comprehensive education for all students in partnership with families and communities. Today, as a full-time consultant, her mission is to use her extensive K–12 public education experience and capacity to provide opportunities for students and families to access the best education outcomes possible, resulting in empowerment, a sense of fulfillment, and lives that reach their full potential. She is part of the State of California’s Community Engagement Initiative, which builds district and community capacities to collaborate, with a focus on improving student outcomes through effective engagement and partnerships.

Mayra Rico, Family Member, Azusa Unified School District

Mayra Rico is a proud parent of three daughters who attend Azusa Unified School District schools. As she became a parent volunteer, she noticed the need for parent involvement and became a big advocate for it. She understands that many parents want to be involved, but can’t because they are working hard to put food on the table; therefore, she needed to also be their voice and advocate for their children.

Rico currently serves on various committees in the Azusa school district. She is President of the School Site Council at Azusa High, parent representative for the Student Attendance Review Board, parent representative for the Superintendent’s Round Table, parent representative for the Parent Advisory Council, and a member of the Executive PTA Board. She works closely with the community liaisons at Azusa school sites to help facilitate the Families in Schools program. She also supports the Azusa School District orchestra and Mariachi by volunteering her time to help beginner string players. ” Because of the experience Mayra gained while being an active parent, she now works for the Community Resources Department with the City of Azusa, is the President of the Rotary Club of Azusa, and is a board member of Azusa Beautiful and Azusa Leaders for Learning Education Foundation.

Dr. Jennifer Martin, Assistant Superintendent, Improvement and Analytics, Hemet Unified School District

Dr. Jennifer Martin has served Hemet Unified School District as an educational administrator since 2012. Most recently, she was
Assistant Superintendent of Student Services and has held various administrative positions within Hemet Unified, including serving as Director of Special Education and Principal at Valle Vista Elementary and Dartmouth Middle Schools. Dr. Martin, under her new title of Assistant Superintendent of Improvement and Analytics, plays a key role in supporting the work the district is engaged in to improve student learning outcomes from a systems perspective and applying a scientific approach to continuous improvement. Personally, Dr. Martin is a mother of two sons and wife to a fellow educator. Dr. Martin is positioned and actively working to further Hemet Unified’s vision: To design a system that leads to equitable educational outcomes for all students, including and especially those who have been kept furthest from opportunity, we EMBRACE and EDUCATE students in deeper learning competencies that EMPOWERS each student for college, career, and life.

Kimberly Romeril, Principal, Hemet High School, Hemet Unified School District 

Kimberly Romeril is the Principal at Hemet High School. Prior to this position, she served as an administrator at Cawston Elementary, Acacia Middle School, and Hamilton High School in Hemet Unified. Kim is committed to collaborative relationships with students, families, staff, and other community members on the path to equity and excellence for all students. She has been an integral part of the Hemet Unified School District’s journey of improvement and learning. Her three children are all proud graduates of Hemet High.

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.

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

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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.

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.