TREND Spring 2017 | Page 30

ACEs: Cultivating Roses in a Garden of Adversity ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, are front and center now for many educators throughout our nation. With the focus on the whole-child and addressing toxic stress that students undergo, focusing on what ACEs are, what causes them, and how to confront them has never been more important. Furthermore, with the rise in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Awareness, the topic of ACEs in schools has never been more relevant for educators everywhere. Attending Leader U will provide a proven glimpse on just how to address students with ACEs in a clear, concise, and cogent manner. Students with ACEs, Adverse Childhood Experiences, are inherently going to display their thorns throughout their school day. Their behavior many times is an outward expression of internal turmoil. This session is designed to help stakeholders identify and eliminate what we view as thorns and instiead focus on the rose possessed by students of adverse experiences. We must cultivate our strategies as administrators, teachers, and counselors to minimize the impact of behaviors while supporting students. We MUST enrich the environment and understand the important role we can play to assist students of ACEs. You will learn to prune away reactive responses and replace them with proactive strategies. An “ACE” behavior can appear at any time, but it does not have to ruin a garden or cause us to dig up the flowers along with the weeds. Timothy Drinkwine 7 1 0 2 U R E D A E #L Detailed class descriptions & spe