10 Tips for Building Resilience During COVID-19

1. Acknowledge feelings
Identify and recognize any feelings that are arising. This action does not mean that you are trying to change the feeling or wrestle with it; it simply means that you say to yourself, “I feel anxious” when you feel anxiety. When you name it, you can tame it by feeling it and encouraging movement through your awareness.

2. Ground yourself
Bring your awareness to your physical body, noticing where your entire body is in the space around you, and do a mental scan from your toes up to your head. Notice the quality of your breath and see if you can focus on taking three slow, gentle breaths. By getting out of the mind and back into the body, responses to ourselves and others have more awareness.

3. Normalize your feelings and reactions
You are having a normal reaction if the stress of this pandemic is aggravating or triggering past trauma. Everyone carries a “backpack” of trauma, whether it’s big or small; sudden, big changes and uncertainty can cause more awareness of the weight of old hurts more than before the world changed. Communal traumatic experiences affect strong, “normal,” healthy people, too. Be patient with yourself and others. Take breaks. Taking a moment for a deep breath is powerful. Unpack your stress backpack by talking about how you are reacting to the pandemic with someone supportive, who will keep your conversation confidential.

4. Acknowledge the losses
What we are experiencing globally is a radical change, and aspects of our lives have changed dramatically. Much of the adaptation involves some kind of loss - of graduations, of birthday and holiday parties, of even simple activities like going to the movies or hanging out with friends. Collectively, we are grieving for these losses and are also dealing with anticipatory grief because the future is uncertain. Our emotional brains are reacting to this uncertainty, feeling like we’re unsafe even if we are doing everything we can to be safe and our thinking brains are trying hard to stay in control. Thinking about letting go of what you can’t control can be helpful.

5. Break tasks into manageable pieces
One day at a time is more than just a saying, it’s a proven stress management tool. When handling ongoing change amidst a crisis, it’s natural to feel like you can’t keep up with it all. Taking things day by day, or even hour by hour, can make an uncertain time feel more manageable. Set small, attainable goals and celebrate those goals when you reach them.  Acknowledging that once-easy tasks can feel overwhelming in times of stress. Be realistic with your expectations of yourself, practice setting boundaries and saying “no” to other’s requests, and let yourself feel satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment for small victories like sending an email you’ve been avoiding or making yourself a healthy lunch.

6. Engage in regular gratitude and strengths-based reflection
A regular gratitude practice can soothe the nervous system by training our brain to “look for what’s strong instead of what’s wrong.” They are most effective when regularly cultivated. Take time at the end of each day to name three good things from your day. Intentionally check in with a friend or colleague and reflect together on what is going well, coping methods that are working for you, or how you can be proud of your response to current events.

7. Engage in regular creative expression
Any activities that involve the flow of your creative juices inspire innovation, reflection, inspiration, and creativity. A regular time to write, make art, dance, sing, brainstorm new projects, or pretend play with your kids. Engaging in the creative arts can be a way to communicate thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be difficult to articulate. Artistic practices can also cultivate mindful and meditative states, helping to move into flow and out of the emotional brain that could be stuck in anxiety.

8. Stay socially connected
Staying connected with people we love and care for is critical. “Social distancing” is the extremely important way to fight the spread of the coronavirus; however, it’s the “physical” distancing that we need to follow, not the “social.” Talking with others can make feelings less intense, give a sense of control, help reduce isolation, find meaning in what’s happening, and re-engage with life.

9. Be intentional with your media consumption
Take breaks from following the COVID-19 spread and statistics from its global impact, especially fearful images. Being on the receiving end of bad news on a consistent basis is unhealthy, and can impact our “thinking” brain response, too. Turn off the news (including social media news feeds) and seek other sources of inspiration and engage in sharing uplifting, solution-based news.

10. Increase compassion practices
Everyone has different levels of fear and grief, as well as different sizes of their trauma backpacks. Responses to the stress and anxiety are coming out in different ways that may not be what you would normally expect, and this includes you! Be patient. If you have an interaction with a family member, work colleague, or neighbor that is unpleasant or upsetting, think about who that person usually is and not who they seem to be in this moment.

Staying Resilient Together

To our Acknowledge Alliance Family,

We are thinking of you and wishing you and your family health and safety during this unprecedented health crisis. The health and safety of our community remains our top priority and are at the heart of every decision we make. I wanted to reach out to let you know some initial steps we are taking to respond to community and staff needs during this global pandemic.

The situation is changing daily and sometimes rapidly, but as of today:

• We will continue to support students and teachers in ways that we can.
  Our lines of communication remain open to provide support, and we are in constant contact with schools to monitor their policy decisions closely. Many of the schools we work in are closed for at least the next few weeks and as we write this, both San Mateo and Santa Clara County residents have just been ordered to shelter in place. We are following all health, hygiene and safety protocols to keep everyone safe while we serve the students and teachers in any way possible. We are also looking at telehealth options to counsel students and provide teacher support remotely.
   

• We are committed to taking care of our staff.
  We are temporarily closing our office and implementing a work-from-home policy to practice social distancing. While many staff are working remotely, we recognize that the ability to work from home is a privilege. We are incredibly grateful to everyone, including our own staff, who must continue to go to work to make sure the rest of us are taken care of.

We’d like to share this resource from The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention about mental health and coping with stress and anxiety during COVID-19.

While the environment around us is uncertain, we take comfort in the fact that we have a dedicated team and a compassionate community of caring individuals such as yourself. We stand ready to serve students and teachers today, tomorrow, and all the days after that. 

Thank you for supporting our mission to promote lifelong resilience in children and youth, and strengthen the caring capacity of the adults who influence their lives. Being resilient will help us all get through this, together, as a community.

Warm regards,
Sharon Navarro
Executive Director

A Poem to Show Our Appreciation

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Awards $200,000 Grant

We are honored to announce that Acknowledge Alliance has received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to support and build capacity for our comprehensive K-12 school-based mental health programs in San Mateo County. The $200,000, two-year grant is one of multiple grants made by CZI to local organizations as part of its programming to support children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness in San Mateo County.

Many of the students we serve face extreme adversities in their daily lives. Housing insecurity and homelessness can impact academic engagement and success in the classroom. With this funding, Acknowledge Alliance will help deliver critical social-emotional and mental health services to our community’s children, teens and educators, including those at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. 

“I am proud to partner with CZI and excited to work together to provide educators and youth the social emotional support they need to succeed in school and beyond,” said Sharon Navarro, Executive Director, Acknowledge Alliance.
 
“The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative works alongside local partners to support homeless children, youth, and families in our community. Through these partnerships, we’ve learned that access to mental health services is critical for many youth and families experiencing homelessness,” said Darnell Cadette, Manager, Community, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “Partners like Acknowledge Alliance can help connect young people with the social emotional support they may want or need.”
 
We appreciate the generous grant from CZI and look forward to our partnership to create positive, healthy, and emotionally safe school environments that effectively allow teachers to teach and students to learn.

Our Executive Director Appointed as AFP Silicon Valley Chapter President-elect

This year is off to an amazing start! We are proud to announce that our Executive Director, Sharon Navarro, has been appointed as the President-elect of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Silicon Valley Chapter. Since 2018, she has served on their board as the Vice President of Education. Now in her new role, she will learn alongside the current President and become the Acting President in 2021. AFP is an international organization that supports the professional development and growth of fundraising professionals, with over 30,000 members in over 230 chapters. The Silicon Valley Chapter is one of the largest in the country, with over 300 members working to advance philanthropy through education, advocacy, research, and certification programs. Members support one another by promoting meaningful causes, sharing professional advice, building partnerships and so much more. The connections made within this network are invaluable. Sharon is excited to expand her fundraising knowledge and strengthen her leadership skills through networking events, trainings and sponsored conferences. In the Spring, she will be heading to Baltimore to attend AFP ICON, the world’s largest conference for fundraising professionals, where important trends and techniques related to philanthropy and fundraising will be discussed. She looks forward to implementing these best practices in our organization with the utmost integrity and consideration for our donors, clients, staff and board. “I am passionately invested in giving back to our community, keeping up with the ethics in the field, mentoring new people in this profession, and becoming a better leader for Acknowledge Alliance,” Sharon shared. "I also have deep respect for the current AFP SV Chapter President, Matt Siegel, who has exhibited exemplary leadership on the AFP SV Board - I'm so happy to have the opportunity to learn from Matt as I prepare to take the reins in 2021."​ At Acknowledge Alliance, we value professional development and encourage learning. Please join us in congratulating Sharon Navarro! We celebrate her tremendous success and cheer her on in her new role as AFP SV Chapter President-elect. We are grateful to have a leader who leads by example in her everyday efforts to make a positive impact in our community.

Local Family Gifts $200,000 During the Holidays

We are honored to announce that a local family has made a $200,000 donation to Acknowledge Alliance in hopes of inspiring other donors to join them in supporting our agency's mental health services for youth and resilience support for teachers.

This gift is from a supporter of our agency who wishes to remain anonymous. It will be used to augment the agency's core operating fund to serve even more students and teachers and encourage other supporters to give, especially between now and December 31st, 2019. 

"This thoughtful and generous family is committed to our mission to promote lifelong resilience in children and youth, and to strengthen the caring capacity of the adults who influence their lives," Acknowledge Alliance Executive Director Sharon Navarro said. 

"We are able to make this gift because our parents were so resourceful and believed in the power of education and giving back. We are happy to have found an organization like Acknowledge Alliance that we believe in and that will wisely steward the gift," the family spokesperson said.

We hope you will consider making a special year-end gift, of any amount meaningful to you, to ensure that Acknowledge Alliance continues creating resilient school communities where teachers want to teach and students want to learn.

At this time of year, we are immensely grateful for your kindness and support. We wish you and your family a splendid holiday season filled with happiness, gratitude and hope!

Celebrate the Impact of Your Kindness

“I thank you for supporting this very important work, which allows all children to learn lifelong skills and receive social emotional support. I see that it makes a difference in the kids.” The words of Laura Hull of the Palo Alto Unified School District resonate with us on Giving Tuesday, and we send our heartfelt thanks to YOU for helping us instill hope and lifelong resilience in the youth and educators we serve. A former teacher and librarian at Palo Verde Elementary School, Laura is a firm believer in the importance of social emotional learning after receiving our services: “Mindfulness, writing in your journal, figuring out your happy places, who makes you feel good, what to do if you have conflict, what to do if you’re really stressed out…these skills are things that kids need.” These tools are just as beneficial for teachers to learn and practice as well, especially self-care, which is what led Laura to reach out to Acknowledge Alliance this year to provide professional development training for District staff. For Alex Del Prete, a former therapist intern in our Collaborative Counseling Program, her experience of professional growth happened when she was providing counseling for teenage students in Juvenile Hall. Under our guidance, she offered support that youth weren’t receiving anywhere else. “All of my students expressed similar sentiments of feeling no meaning and purpose in life, of having no hope, of feeling like failures. Their experiences in other therapy programs focused only on short-term behavioral change like, ‘Let’s fix these kids.’ There was no focus on healing or developing a healthy sense of self. But Acknowledge Alliance is different and their therapeutic model is unique because it focuses on the long-term relationships and outcomes.” Thank you for helping us give youth and educators the opportunity to experience a strengths-based and consistent relationship with a caring adult or peer that allows them to feel safe, seen, valued, and hopeful. Your support is a gift that keeps on giving, and we are immensely grateful.

You Help Put the Heart in Learning

We hope you will consider making a year-end gift to help us create more resilient
school communities where teachers want to teach and students want to learn.
Thank you.

If you have already made a contribution, we would like to reiterate:
We appreciate your generosity and the difference you are making.

Founding Board Member Shares Her Heart for Giving

As we celebrate our agency’s 25th anniversary, we are delighted to honor Mary Lou Schiavo, one of our Founding Board Members. In a recent interview, she shared powerful insights on why she continues to support Acknowledge Alliance and why she is still connected to our agency’s work twenty-five years later. 

1. How did you become involved with Acknowledge Alliance and what attracted you to this cause?
I was introduced to the agency through Chester F. “Chet” Villalba who was a Founding Board Member of Acknowledge Alliance. Once I learned about the premise of Acknowledge Alliance, I joined the Board and regularly attended the board meetings which used to take place in founder Cleo Eulau’s living room! I am passionate about the agency’s work because I love children and I know that if we support teachers, we ultimately help kids. I also appreciate the “hands-on” quality of the agency and that we always maintain personalized services despite our continuous growth in the community. 

2. After 25 years, what inspires you to continue supporting the organization?
Because the agency is still relatively small, I am confident that the money you receive goes directly to support your mission to promote lifelong resilience in children and youth, and strengthen the caring capacity of the adults who influence their lives. Acknowledge Alliance is a great steward of its contributions and has strict financial responsibility standards to ensure that it maintains high quality programs.  

3. In your opinion, what is the most important work that this organization does?
There’s not just one important thing. I believe there’s a “domino effect” to the agency’s work. When we help teachers, we help kids, and when we help kids, we support their parents. Additionally, the agency’s vision and culture always remains the same, even with staff or organizational changes - I always emphasize this fact when I am telling others about the agency. 

4. What do you hope the organization will achieve in the future?
I hope to see more of the same great results of the agency’s work. I also want to see the agency continuing to provide children with access to caring adults who can change their lives for the better. I attended an inner-city school and my teachers/mentors would always say, “You are a leader.” This phrase transformed my life and I appreciated knowing that my teachers were cheering me on. Inspiring kids to believe they are better than they think they are is extremely powerful. 

5. Do you have a message to share?
Always stay aware of what’s going on around you and the small ways you can help. For instance, I was in the grocery store and the woman in front of me appeared to be concerned about the amount of her grocery bill. I just went ahead and paid for her groceries. I would like to tell everyone that there is always a way you can make a difference. When we lack awareness, that’s when things go wrong and we start to get overwhelmed by all the challenging things going on in our world. Staying aware helps us to find ways to address a lot of problems we see in our community.

Mary Lou is a shining example of her own advice of being aware of her community’s needs. Every year, Mary Lou and her husband, Tony, warmly open their home and host our annual Appreciation Party. This event is a celebration of the kindness of all Acknowledge Alliance supporters, and we also celebrate Mary Lou as she continuously inspires us with her never-ending generosity.

Student Counseling Sparks Renewed Hope

Manny* came into Juvenile Hall with a history of depression. He was falling behind in school and was socially isolated. He was also withdrawn from his family in his home life, which included his mother, two younger siblings, and his physically and emotionally abusive stepfather.

After building trust with his Acknowledge Alliance therapist, Manny opened up and shared that he lost his birth father as a young child. He spent time reminiscing about the “good old days” and mourned the loss of his father who was “everything” to him. His therapist also provided him a safe space to express his complicated feelings toward his mother. He loved her but he felt conflicted because she didn't protect him from his stepfather. 

Through the therapeutic process, Manny worked on exploring his need to be seen and valued in his family. He started to realize how his behaviors, such as skipping school, were contributing to his troubles with his mother. His therapist devoted time to listen and learn about his interests, such as animal conservation, hiking, local reptiles and amphibians, and climate change. Having these interests heard and validated was quite powerful and motivating for Manny. With genuine support, his therapist helped him identify and utilize his strengths of resilience, intelligence, compassion and kindness.    

When Manny left Juvenile Hall, he felt more confident and hopeful about the future. He was empowered to talk to his mother about his need to be an important and valued member of the family. He planned to spend meaningful time with her and his siblings, now that his stepfather was no longer living with them. He was highly motivated to attend school regularly and graduate from high school. He was excited to explore and participate in his extra-curricular interests so that he could get a job to protect animals.

Having a caring and trusted adult who listened, supported, and believed in him inspired him to heal his relationships, set goals, and reach his full potential. Our Collaborative Counseling Program helps youth like Manny experience renewed hope and a glimpse of a bright future with new possibilities.

*Student's name has been changed to protect confidentiality.

Supporting and Strengthening School Leadership

“What’s something that you’re pleased with about the leadership at your school?” Jean Hamilton, Acknowledge Alliance Resilience Consultant, asks each principal this question when they meet for their monthly Principal Resilience Group.

Students need great teachers, and teachers need great leaders. Acknowledge Alliance facilitates a Principal Resilience Group to provide school leaders with the support and resilience they need through small group conversations. We offer a safe place for principals to build meaningful relationships with each other, feel listened to, learn effective strategies for dealing with stress, share strategies for better communication with colleagues, and break down some of the isolation of being a principal.

Principals are often the first one to arrive at school each day and the last ones to leave. No two days are ever the same and each day brings new challenges. They are responsible for every student, teacher, staff member, and program in their building. They work to fulfill the needs of both the district and the teachers and staff on campus, serving as the liaison between the school board and the school community. They focus on improving teacher quality and raising student achievement. They encourage parental involvement and address family concerns as well. On top of managing many relationships and completing daily administrative tasks, they also have to be available for every unforeseen crisis and every celebration. This pressure-filled job, while highly rewarding, can also be extremely demanding and isolating.

Those who have participated in our Principal Resilience Group have found it to be very beneficial. On our most recent survey, principals rated the statement “Overall this group was very useful to me” using a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from “not at all true” to “very much true.” The average score was 4.4 out of 5. These positive findings were echoed when they were asked whether the group met their needs. The answer was overwhelmingly “yes,” with everyone feeling that the group provided them a safe, supportive place.

Principals were grateful for the opportunity to discuss challenges, process emotions, and learn strategies with those in a similar position:

“The group provided an invaluable opportunity for me to share with my peers about the challenges we face as school leaders. I found the sessions to be very helpful as I was able to gain new perspectives, engage in meaningful conversation and, most importantly, feel valued and heard.”

“The group has met my need to collaborate with colleagues to solve larger problems. It has also built a community in which we can empathize with the struggles of our colleagues and offer support.”

This school year is off to a fantastic start! Our Principal Resilience Group is scheduled to meet soon and due to the demand from more schools, we hope to launch a second group this fall. We believe that our school leaders will continue to maximize their impact in effective and transformative ways.

Jean Hamilton shares, “My hope is that principals could really see how valuable they are. I encourage them to reflect on all of the positive things they have brought to their school communities, to see the incredible changes they have been able to facilitate, and to feel good about themselves in their role as principal.”

With the support of Acknowledge Alliance, principals are remembering to look for the positives, draw on their strengths, and build their own resilience to support the resilience of everyone in the school community.

Celebrating Resilience as Students Graduate

Forget-Me-Not Event Inspires Hope, Kindness and Inspiration

During Mental Health Awareness Month and Teacher Appreciation Week, we were honored to present our educator and youth awards on May 9 at our annual Forget-Me-Not event.

We are still moved by the heartwarming stories, acts of kindness, and compassion that made the event so meaningful. We are in awe of our strength as a community, and are grateful for the incredible amount of support we received.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Forget-Me-Not 2019 extraordinary! We'd like to especially thank Wells Fargo and Hood & Strong for sponsoring our event.

Forget-Me-Not Honorees

Our honorees were awarded for their exemplary work in our school communities. Hear from them below.

Principal Leadership Award
Columbia Middle School's Administration Team:
Mary Beth Allmann, Principal
Esteban Ybarra, Assistant Principal
Daniel Aguilar Poo, Assistant Principal

This stellar team was recognized for their commitment to social emotional well-being for staff and students. 95% of their students at Columbia Middle School reported that they had caring adults on campus!

Educator Award
Stephanie Keith, 6th Grade Teacher, Selby Lane School

Stephanie was honored for being a champion of social emotional learning in the classroom. Her thoughtful and creative approaches inspire her students to practice mindfulness and develop a growth mindset.

Outstanding Role Model Award
12th Grade Student, Carlmont High School

This student was acknowledged for her resilience and growth amidst tremendous adversity. She will be graduating this June and plans to attend college. She also hopes to work with at-risk populations in the future to give back and help change the lives of youth.

We are respectfully honoring the student's request to keep her name confidential and share her written speech in lieu of a video.

Forget-Me-Not Event Photos

We invite you to view our event photo album. Huge thank you to ilyanne Photographic Art for donating their services and capturing the essence of Forget-Me-Not.

Connections Between Achievement, Neuroscience, and Stress

From left to right: Carrie Du Bois, Dr. Ryan Matlow, Dr. Jacquelyn Ollison, Sarah Kremer, Jeneé Littrell

On May 20, Acknowledge Alliance co-hosted the Sixth Annual Education Conference: Connections Between Achievement, Neuroscience, and Stress.

Stress and trauma levels are rising in schools for students, families, and staff due to a changing society, increased academic expectations, family/friend issues, and normal child development. Schools are seeing an increased need for a variety of services for everyone to support learning in existing environments. 

Keynote speakers, Dr. Ryan Matlow and Dr. Jacquelyn Ollison, discussed the impact trauma and stress have on students and educators alike. Dr. Ryan Matlow addressed the neurobiological and developmental impact that stress and trauma have, and how to foster resilience and growth for individuals and systems. Dr. Jacquelyn Ollison explored ways in which we can support educators, and improve teacher retention by addressing teachers' compassion fatigue.

The conference received positive feedback from our attendees:

“Thank you for sharing such valuable information, validation, and inspiration!” 
–Educator

“Thank you for explaining the concept and offering suggestions for our area.” 
–District Staff

“All information was very relevant and helpful for figuring out next steps in our Redwood City School District.”
–Educator, Curriculum Coach

“Enjoyed hearing all the pieces from neuroscience and stressors then bringing it together in actual on-the-ground programs.”
–School Board Member

“Great information presented throughout the event. Totally worth the time and worth of further reflection and implementation.”
–County Staff

Thank you to our partners and event sponsors — San Mateo County School Boards Association, San Mateo County Office of Education, Sequoia Healthcare District — for organizing a powerful day of learning.

Random Acts of Kindness

Random acts of kindness can improve our well-being, increase our sense of happiness, and reduce stress. Researchers have studied kindness and their studies indicate that helping others is beneficial to our own mental health. Kindness cultivates a mindset that puts compassion for others before our own interests. Kindness promotes gratitude and empathy. It helps us feel connected with others, which strengthens a sense of community and belonging.

In our Project Resilience social emotional learning curriculum, we explain to students that a random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a kind person to help a random stranger feel happier or better. We encourage students to perform a random act of kindness in their own time. They have an opportunity to share their experience with the class and reflect on their feelings in their journals. Teaching our youth kindness is important because not only does it help them feel good about themselves, they also help others feel good about themselves. Through these shared connections, they gain compassion and learn empathy, which contributes to a positive school culture for all.

We started a list of 10 random acts of kindness ideas to share with you:

1. Smile and wave or give a compliment to a stranger.
    

2. Share an uplifting or empowering song.
    

3. Let someone go in front of you in line.
    

4. Leave your favorite restaurant a good review.
    

5. Bake treats and deliver to our community helpers and frontline workers.
    

6. Do something good for yourself today like spend time in nature.
    

7. Thank a teacher with a gift.
    

8. Support a local business.
    

9. Send an appreciation note to someone who has made a difference in your life.
    

10. Leave a positive sticky note somewhere in the community.
    

One act of kindness can inspire a ripple effect of positive events, and even the simplest things can make a difference.

High Fives for Teachers, from Teachers

By Chris Chiochios, MFT, ATR-BC

“No learning can happen before you build relationships.”

“Sometimes you need to wait until a child is ready to accept your support.”

“Be patient with the process.”

Teachers from Beechwood School shared some of their “Pearls of Wisdom,” from what they learned after their meaningful group activity.

As an Acknowledge Alliance Resilience Consultant at Beechwood, I work closely with the principal on understanding and supporting the school’s needs. Each year, I lead a professional development session for school staff before the school year begins that focuses on a select few social emotional and resilience themes. In the 2018 school year, the focus was around establishing and practicing keys to cultivating and maintaining social and emotional well-being. The four keys to well-being that we identified and focused on were Resilience, Outlook, Attention, and Generosity. These keys, developed by Dr. Richard Davidson (neuroscientist and founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), are rooted in neural circuits and can be strengthened to promote higher levels of wellbeing. They have tremendous impact for educators and all staff at schools, as their wellbeing sets the tone for student wellbeing.

In our first professional development session, I led an activity called New Uses for Ordinary Objects, as a way to begin experiencing the idea of how easy it is to label a student or class in a negative and fixed manner. Six groups were given an ordinary item (such as tissue, a notepad, or a glue stick) and were encouraged to consider both the objects’ purpose and how it might also represent an aspect of their work with students. For example, a glue stick could represent a way to glue things together. A participant may then think that seeing this glue stick on their desk during the day will remind them that they can, as a teacher, help students feel “held together” in the classroom. It’s not “just a glue stick” - this activity helped teachers and staff stretch their understanding or definition of each object beyond its ordinary use. Teachers and school staff practiced the skill of reframing and incorporating alternative perspectives while also learning to balance stress, negativity bias, and personal/professional resilience.

We honed in on being able to cultivate a mindset that includes both recognizing and working with challenges that arise, while also maintaining, highlighting, and engaging with students from a strengths-based perspective. The idea of “We are all commas” arose. Seeing students as a “period” at the end of a sentence and being fixated on negative labels can lead to the conclusion “that this is all that they are and they can’t/won’t change.” But, by seeing a “comma” instead, teachers enthusiastically identified that change is possible with support and relationship with others. By calling out that everyone is a comma, teachers and staff also identified the need for avoiding negative labels for themselves and each other.   

We revisited this process in monthly staff meetings throughout the school year. In October, we discussed giving credit to themselves as teachers and appreciating small and large moments in the classrooms and with their students. To give themselves a “High 5,” teachers traced their handprints and wrote a self-appreciation or highlight reflecting times they were a part of a positive moment. Some of their thoughts were:

“Being a new parent has opened my eyes wider to the struggles that our families go through daily. I’ve gotten better at listening ‘differently’ to my students’ needs.”

“I feel good about the fact that, despite my position, students, staff, and families feel comfortable coming to me to engage in conversation. I am doing a good job of focusing, in the moment, on what the person is saying, and what they are feeling.”

We combined these with the initial Pearls of Wisdom mandala, already exhibited in the staff room, and added to it during the course of the school year. By strengthening Resilience, Outlook, Attention, and Generosity, teachers and staff were able to understand how their positive mindset and small actions can add up to supporting students in meaningful, profound, and yet ordinary ways. Making visible the countless tiny actions helped set a good model for students, too. Even today, the group activity from last year remains on display, serving as a reminder that everyone on campus continues to have a “hand” in this process!

From 30% to 94%

On Giving Tuesday, we'd like to give YOU our sincerest thanks and gratitude. Your support has made a tremendous life-changing difference for thousands of educators and students in our community. Columbia Middle School is a shining example of how your generosity has helped create caring school communities.

Principal of Columbia Middle School, Mary Beth Allmann, recently shared how our services have positively changed their whole school over the last 7 years. Before receiving services from Acknowledge Alliance, Columbia Middle School was ranked in the bottom 10% of schools in California. According to Mary Beth, “We didn’t know how to define the problem. We tried different things…there was still a missing piece to that puzzle that was around social emotional learning.” In a survey sent to students, one of the questions asked: How many of you feel like you have caring adults on campus? The result was a disappointing 30%. "It proved that there was some disconnect there that we weren't understanding and that we needed help."

Soon after, Acknowledge Alliance was asked to deliver professional development for educators on campus. Teachers began to receive one-to-one resilience consultations from our staff. Through our social emotional learning curriculum, students and teachers learned and practiced essential resilience skills.

Today, Columbia Middle School is recognized as a California Distinguished School. The school culture is different and has changed for the better. In the school’s most recent student survey,  a whopping 94% of students reported that they had caring adults on campus!

Mary Beth’s words of gratitude resonate with us on Giving Tuesday:
“I want to thank Acknowledge Alliance for providing those services. And I want to thank all of you who help make it possible through donations or through providing direct services yourselves. I love where I work, it’s an awesome place to be, and Acknowledge Alliance is a huge part of that.”

Watch the clip below to hear the full transformational story from Mary Beth.

Project Resilience Journals

We hope you enjoy this special “sneak peek” edition of our Project Resilience journals for grades 3 through 7. Our team of mental health professionals created and designed these journals for the students we serve. Every booklet is filled with many pages of valuable lessons and opportunities for self-reflection that are unique to each grade level. Our curriculum is all about social emotional learning (SEL) and helps students and teachers learn and practice essential lifelong skills like regulating emotions, understanding the brain, using problem-solving strategies, and making good decisions. Everyone can build their resilience through a strengths-based focus and through connecting with others, which is the foundation of our program. 

In addition to a variety of creative activities, Acknowledge Alliance staff lead mindfulness and gratitude practices in each lesson. And in that spirit, we extend our deepest gratitude to YOU for being a part of our mission to create more resilient school communities where students feel safe, seen and heard. In this past school year, Project Resilience touched the lives of 3,340 students! When asked which SEL topics were most useful, the top two categories that students reported were mindfulness and character strengths, followed by communication skills and coping with feelings.

Today more than ever, students face complex challenges in their lives that impact their ability to focus on learning. Many students live in poverty, experience high familial stress, cope with depression, battle immigration issues, and/or are exposed to traumatic events, like abuse and violence. With our resilience-building tools and training, we are not only reaching these students but also supporting educators so that they can maximize their positive impact on youth and overcome teacher burnout.

Airing Now on TV!

In partnership with MidPen Media Center, Acknowledge Alliance is proud to announce our new television series, Resilience from the Heart.

In our pilot episode, we discussed the importance and impacts of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the classroom. Our Resilience Program Manager, Tracy Lyons, gave an overview of how SEL classroom lessons are implemented. We invited a panel of educators to share their experience and benefits of SEL: Kennedy Middle School principal Steve Hamm; Barron Park Elementary School teacher Sylvia Sanders; and Columbia Middle School teacher Emily Moorehead. The panel was moderated by host Jenée Littrell, Associate Superintendent from the San Mateo County Office of Education.

In this episode, you'll also be able to see a social emotional learning lesson that features the Museum Walk of Feelings! Acknowledge Alliance Resilience Consultant, Chris Chiochios, facilitated a lesson about feelings for 5th grade students at Beechwood School as part of our original "Project Resilience" curriculum. In addition to a mindfulness and gratitude practice, students participated in an activity to help them identify when they feel certain emotions: I feel happy when ___, I feel sad when ___, I feel angry ___, I feel worried when ___. Through this shared group experience and process, students learned about empathy too.

Our Resilience Program Director, Sarah Kremer, says, "We want to ensure young people understand their own emotions, understand the emotions of others, and know how to work well with other people."

We are grateful to have been selected to be part of the MidPen Media Center On-Ramp program. The On-Ramp program helps non-profit, government and educational organizations launch new shows, series or screenings. Through collaboration, non-profits receive production support, and the Media Center broadens its community reach and impact.

The episode will be aired on mid-Peninsula cable channel 28 on the following dates:

Thu, Oct 25 - 6:00pm

Sun, Oct 28 - 9:30am

Mon, Oct 29 - 8:00pm

Tues, Oct 30 - 11:30am

Wed, Oct 31 - 2:00pm

You may also view the full episode below on our YouTube channel anytime you'd like!

From Trauma to Resilience

We look forward to the education conference we are co-hosting on September 28: How Educators Can Create Trauma-Informed Systems in School Communities, where we will address this critical issue, share concrete strategies to strengthen protective factors against toxic stress experienced by many students and, thereby, improve the learning environment for all students.

On average, every classroom has at least one student affected by trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, nearly 40% of students in the U.S. have been exposed to some form of traumatic stressor in their lives. Traumatic events – like sexual or physical abuse, domestic or community violence, death of a loved one – often cause children to have upsetting, overwhelming feelings that can negatively impact their daily life, development, ability to function and ability to recover. These experiences can lead to continuous states of grief, loss, abandonment, neglect, as well as persistent anxiety, fear, and depression.

For some students, school is the only place where they know they are safe and can form healthy relationships. However, students affected by trauma oftentimes have difficulty engaging at school, as they struggle to learn and connect with others. Their behaviors may come off as being defiant, demanding and disengaged.

Trauma-informed education shifts the question from “What is wrong with this student?” to “What has this student been through?” and “What does this student need to reach their potential?” When students are dealing with harmful relationships at home, educators and counselors may be the only people who help these students learn what a trusting, supportive relationship feels like. School personnel have a central role in children’s lives and they are uniquely situated to identify, respond to, and be impacted by students’ traumatic stress symptoms.

Acknowledge Alliance helps schools improve upon or expand their trauma-informed approach by working with both students and educators. It’s crucial to train educators on the trauma that students walk in with, so that they can support their students in the classroom with empathy and be aware of their challenges in terms of learning. Our team of mental health professionals also provides ongoing training and support to our counseling therapist interns, who in turn help students who are deeply traumatized. Many of the high school students we serve have been victims of violence and extreme physical trauma. Furthermore, it’s essential to support school personnel in not only dealing with students’ trauma, but sometimes, also their own.

The core of our work at Acknowledge Alliance centers on building resilience: the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy or even significant sources of stress. Being resilient does not mean that trauma has been erased and that further difficult situations won’t arise. But, by using resilience strategies, students and educators can gain better understanding of their situation, focus more on the positive, self-soothe in moments of distress, set healthy boundaries, let go of anger through compassion, develop a positive support system, and overcome tough times with grit and gratitude.