In light of all the challenges currently facing students, educators, and families, how can educators create healing, restorative ecosystems? In this two-part panel recording, learn about the approaches that system leaders can take to create healing environments for teachers. Panelists will also share instructional practices they draw upon to cultivate healing learning spaces for their students. Topics and questions for this panel were informed by CCSC Youth Advisory Team members.

Watch the session recording:

View the session transcript

Session resources:

• Panel Slides
• Youth Voice Videos: Video One and Video Two
• Audiocast: Prioritizing Schoolwide Social-Emotional Learning for Staff and Student Well-being
• Audiocast: The Power of Culturally Responsive, Student- Centered Learning Environments
• The Power Of Storytelling: Harnessing the CCSC Audio Gallery for Professional Learning

Panelists:

Dr. Martin Canizales Cobos is a Spanish teacher for Mount Eden High School in Hayward, California. Canizales is from Monterrey, Mexico, where he graduated from the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. He has three specialties and more than 10 years of experience in critical care and pulmonology. He is now a licensed teacher with four years of teaching experience, contributing to his community to promote changes that can provide opportunities for young people while they are learning in a safe and healthy environment. Dr. Canizales is also a writer, and likes running and traveling.

Kyley Hironaka is a sixth-year public school educator who currently works and lives in San Francisco. She has experience working in various communities with diverse racial, ethnic, ability, and socioeconomic needs. She spent four years in the classroom teaching kindergarten and 4th grade and has recently transitioned to teaching elementary physical education. Kyley has always been passionate about education and sociology and believes in lifelong learning. In her spare time, she enjoys good food with good company and traveling to new places.

Lavita Jones is a 4th grade teacher at Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF) View Park. She has been with ICEF for over eight years and has had many roles including instructional aide, math coach, intervention specialist, behavior interventionist, and now teacher. She has her BA in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento and an MA in education from Alder Graduate School of Education. Lavita feels blessed to say that teaching is her passion and she loves what she does. Her goal is to give back to her community by serving as a loving and caring teacher who only wants the best for all students and their families. She is from Los Angeles herself and comes from a large family with seven siblings.

Bobby Pelz is an ethnic studies teacher at Watsonville High School. He earned a BA in English from the University of Washington, an MA in Education from the University of San Francisco, and an MA in Education Leadership from San Jose State University. He began his career teaching at Cupertino High School before taking a break from teaching to focus on investing and philanthropy. During this time, Bobby founded 25Books, a program that provides free books to kids. He has since returned to teaching and now enjoys both gifting books to kids in his district through the program and educating them when they get to Watsonville High.

Panel Moderators:

Shazia Hashmi (she/her) serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate. As a Program Associate at WestEd, Shazia translates and applies research on equitable, developmentally appropriate strategies to support state education agencies, district leaders, and educators in serving communities. She supports research and technical assistance projects that focus on improving practices in social–emotional learning, school climate, and community engagement. She currently develops professional learning to build statewide capacity for authentic, meaningful community partnerships as a part of CCEE’s Community Engagement Initiative.

The pressure to raise student achievement has contributed to a dysfunctional system based on assessment scores and attendance rates, losing sight that behind those numbers is a child with challenges who may be losing hope, vision, and self-worth. Transformation means change, and change can be uncomfortable, but it is necessary because our children’s lives are at risk. It must be our responsibility to collaborate and build an education community that understands our students’ and families’ needs; supports and advocates for them; and promotes equity so that our students feel connected to adults that care for, love, and believe in them, giving them hope to succeed. Transformative school cultures empower our students to become confident, responsible, and caring citizens. Students will then take ownership to attain academic achievement and social and emotional success.  

In this recording, the presenter will share the importance of creating student portraits as a way to utilize different data to learn how to support the whole child. She will also highlight the value of networking to build supports for students and to connect them with resources. 

Watch the session recording:

View the session transcript

Session resources:

• Session Slides
• Safe Spaces: Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice for Educational and Care Settings from the Office of the California Surgeon General (OSG)
• Video: The Impact of Student–Staff Relationships on School Climate
• Cultivating Caring Relationships at School: 15 Activities That Promote Staff and Student Connection

Session Speaker: 

Judith Sanchez is a principal at Leavenworth Elementary School in Fresno Unified School District, the third-largest district in California. With 22 years as an educator in both elementary and secondary levels, Judith has a wide range of experience both inside and outside the classroom, in areas such as leading curriculum development, heading WASC accreditation, supervising and evaluating teachers, and organizing student activities. Her professional experience adds value in supporting teachers, staff, and community in achieving and maintaining a safe school culture and a commitment to student success. She believes that, as educators, it is our responsibility to provide the tools necessary to ensure our students are successful citizens, and to instill in them the desire to grow and be better people for themselves, their families, and their communities. Ms. Sanchez holds a master’s degree in administration leadership preparation from CSU Fresno and has been part of a Latino Leadership Cohort through Central Valley Latino Leadership Academy (CVLLA).

Session Moderator: 

Timothy Ojetunde (he/him) serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate.

Timothy is also a Program Associate at WestEd with Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities (RHSC) who 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.

Education systems change efforts are more likely to be equitable and sustainable when they are designed, implemented, and continuously improved in partnership with the communities they serve. In this recording explore leadership competencies that are necessary for system leaders to facilitate change efforts that work towards eliminating inequity and generating opportunity and well-being. 

Watch the session recording:

View the recording transcript

Session resources:

• Session Slides
• Webinar: Participatory Systems Change for Equity: Centering Community Wisdom and Collective Action to Transform Child-, Youth-, and Family-Serving Systems
• Participatory Systems Change for Equity Guide

Session Speakers:

Amber Valdez, EdD (she/her) is a Senior Program Associate II with WestEd’s Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities team where she supports local, regional, and state agencies and organizations to design and transform complex systems for equity. Her expertise includes complex systems change, transformational leadership, participatory change approaches, cross-sector collaboration, continuous improvement/improvement science, and human-centered/liberatory design. Valdez brings experience working with public and private sector systems, including education, health, and community development agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and foundations. Before coming to WestEd, Valdez led a consulting business supporting youth-, family-, and community-serving agencies and organizations with strategic planning, resource development, and community partnerships. She also served as a nonprofit leader supporting school and district administrators with resource development, community schools design, family engagement, and educational leadership. 

Lan Nguyen (she/her) serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate.

Lan is also a Program Associate at WestEd in the Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities content area and has experience in diverse roles within large K–12 school districts supporting and guiding the implementation of Restorative Practices programs. As a former high school science teacher and experienced Restorative practitioner, Lan is grounded in the daily realities of school and classroom life and has used that knowledge to guide her work with school and district leaders. She has seen firsthand the transformative potential of effectively implementing Restorative Practices programs on the culture and climate of schools. Lan also has years of experience providing professional development and technical assistance to schools and districts around LGBTQ+ issues in education.

Session Moderator: 

Laura Buckner (she/her) serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate.