Huntington Faculty Earn Trauma Informed Educator Certification

Eight members of Huntington UFSD’s faculty corps have earned certificates as Trauma Responsive Educators. Beginning in February, the group engaged in a 10 hour series of professional development sessions to learn about and respond to students who may have adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Over the course of five sessions, teachers learned about trauma and the brain, ACEs and healthy outcomes from positive experiences, resiliency building skills, managing stress and challenges, secrets of the adolescent brain and supporting elementary students.

“We had over 20 staff members attend the training series,” said Diana Rich, district director of special education and student support services.

Eight teachers, including Suzette Biagi, Caroline Coffey, Bryan Outsen, Jacqueline Thomann, Katherine Canales, Sarah Mannino, Sarah Hall, and Rosemarie Rivera chose to go the next step by completing demonstration of competency exercises leading towards a certificate as a trauma informed educator.

Participants were required to demonstrate their learning through application of case studies and other activities. “They were engaged and interactive during the sessions and, as always, represented the district with the highest level of professionalism,” Mrs. Rich said. “We are fortunate to have such a skilled and dedicated team of professionals who seek to understand the whole child and do all that they can to address social/emotional/behavioral needs. This professional development series was offered in our continued efforts to address and meet the varying needs of our students, aligning with district wide goals.”

The professional development series was provided by Frank Kros of Kros Learning Group and funded through the Stronger Connections Grant.