California Center for School Climate (CCSC)

The California Department of Education and the California Center for School Climate welcome attendees to the conference, followed by the Keynote.

Keynote: A Climate of Healing

In a changing educational landscape, how do we adapt to the times?

The need for fostering a cultural climate of healing within K-12 school environments has never been more crucial. The students and adults in our education systems are struggling, and we can’t ignore that these systems reside within a larger reality of politicized disagreement situated in a historical context of inequality. If we are in survival mode, we can’t connect in community, grow together, and learn. In order for us to pivot toward healing school climates to create sustainable safe and supportive schools, it starts with us as individuals then as a collective to foster the magic at an institutional level that allows us to co-create and reimagine our ecosystems for learning. Together we will accept the invitation to pivot from the problems in school climate to the possibilities rooted in action toward tangible change. If our students, our young people, our communities are to thrive, then we must heal the roots and culture of our educational ecosystems by starting with us. Let’s talk about creating conditions for change, define healing for ourselves, and remind ourselves that together we flourish.

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript

Session resources

• Welcome Slides
• Keynote Slides
• Native Land Digital
• Three I’s & Possibilities Questions
• Healing Centered Engagement Toolkit (Flourish Agenda)

Welcome: Tom Herman, Administrator, School Health and Safety Office, California Department of Education

Keynote: Lee Porscha Moore, EdD, LCSW, Senior Trainer, Flourish Agenda 

Dr. Lee Porscha Moore (pronouns: she/her/ella) is a senior trainer at Flourish Agenda, where she supports youth development and other organizations to enact a healing-centered engagement approach. She is a fun-loving lifelong learner committed to walking with children, youth, and families as they reconnect with their inner superhero. Porscha lives in her intersectionality and navigates this world as a Black cisgender woman. Outside of facilitating and guiding trainings, Porscha juggles many hats, which include her role as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing individual and group therapy, and as an instructor at various universities and colleges throughout the Bay Area. Porscha is a proud first-generation college graduate who has earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University San Bernardino, a master’s degree in both social work with an emphasis in community mental health and in communications from Cal State East Bay, and a doctorate in education from San Francisco State University.  

Session Moderator:

Rebeca Cerna (she/her/ella) serves as the Director for the California Center for School Climate.

As an Area Director at WestEd, Rebeca supports districts, schools, and community partners in centering equity and improving educational, prevention, and health outcomes. Rebeca’s areas of expertise include health and wellness, school culture/climate, partner voice, data use, and cross-sector collaboration. She has extensive experience in working with communities that have been challenged by infrastructure deficiencies and in lifting the voices of all community members. Rebeca has also worked with diverse settings, including rural and urban communities, recent and mixed-status immigrant communities, and alternative education.