Building Resilience in a Trauma-Informed School: Talk Less, Listen More
By Jenna Moniz, Student Resiliency Support, Broward County
Our student body at Aspire Academy at Atlantic Technical College in Broward County is made up of teens who have left the traditional school model in search of a different way to learn. Test anxiety, bullying, and overwhelming workloads were some of the factors that our students reported contributing to why they left their high schools before graduating. We knew our model would have to be different. Our curriculum would place our students at the centers of their personal hero’s journey while we worked together to weave in Multiple Intelligences, positive psychology, and mind-heart coherence into the existing academic standards. 21st Century social-emotional learning (SEL) was our specialty. It all seemed doable.
And then the pandemic hit.
So many things were changing at once. We were more dependent on technology than ever. Most of us were new to teaching online. We were building the plane while flying it. We would have to get comfortable in the unknown. The online exposure, the microphones, the cameras, the background distractions, the awkward interaction wiped us out at first. Some days were more tiring than weeks in person.
And then, something seemed to let up. “What’s the worst that can happen?” I heard the voice of my dear friend and mentor, Diane Wolk-Rogers. “Just be there to listen to them. That is often enough.” These were wise words that Diane gifted me with before her June retirement. After what she and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas community survived and persisted through, I knew we would make it through this together too. I remembered how vulnerable Diane had been with the student groups she invited me to co-facilitate. She showed us that there was strength and grace in being honest. We adults have feelings too and there is so much to be gained by sharing whole-heartedly. We jumped into the arena with the kids.
Read a blog by Jenna’s colleague, Diane Wolk-Rogers:
Focusing on student wellbeing in remote learning
The students took turns leading our daily check-in, where we allowed each student to share briefly about how they were feeling. This led to open conversations about sleep issues, family tensions, and the frustrations and fears that were on our students’ minds. It also led to silly stories, surprising similarities, and cross-cultural connections.
We listened to and learned from one another, and our only rule was that we did not judge anyone for what we heard — starting with ourselves. We leaned on flipped learning, and prepared students to take the lead on teaching weekly heart coherence techniques and even co-facilitating Yale’s online Science of Wellbeing modules that we enrolled in together. We applied the research and tools to our personal and collective experiences, and our conversations were open and honest.
As some students shared later, we began to feel more like a family than a class.
Students volunteered to share journal entries, music they created or loved, poetry, and more. We were having fun getting to know one another — and to know more about ourselves. We were expressing ourselves. And for the first time, for many of us, we were being heard.
It became clear that the community we created within our group was a direct affront to the isolation that we knew could become so dangerous for so many — especially for the most vulnerable students like these. Now, they were connected. They were safe. They belonged. Together, we made it through the months at home.
Building relationships back in the classroom
When it was time to return to the brick and mortar, the adjustment back became our major challenge. We had to leave the cocoon. We had spent months studying and measuring the electromagnetic energy of plant life, music, and mostly our thoughts and emotions. So, we were all acutely aware of how our wellbeing is affected by one another — and by our environments.
Our school buildings felt drastically different from the virtual space we had cultivated. The adults were nervous. And in our understandable attempts to avoid the worst, we cranked up the rules and regulations to an all-time high.
Human touch and connection was now the enemy. There were times we questioned if our work would be undone.
One of the important relationships that we developed this year was our partnership with the HeartMath Institute (HMI). We were invited to pilot several projects including the Coherent Classroom project and the 10-Day Coherence Challenge. This connection was right on time! We learned a lot about the human heart including the fact that it forms in a fetus first, is 5000 times stronger than the brain, and sends far more information to the brain (afferent waves) than the brain sends to the heart (efferent waves). The heart is the seat of our intuition and our connection to intelligence far greater than the limitations of the mind. The mind thinks. But the heart knows.
Together, we practiced heart-focused breathing, quick-coherence, and several other simple techniques that are research-based and super simple to follow. We used them while challenging assessments. We used them in our conversations. We used them while we waited in line. We noticed how our triggers didn’t have the same impact on us. We were out of the cocoon and yet still in control of how we felt. This, we knew, affected our thoughts. And vice versa. We were now in our inner control centers. And while we were not in control of what happened outside of us, we felt more and more like the true heroes of our own journeys.
We trekked on. We pushed through together. We learned. We played. We laughed. We cried. We made it through together.
After graduation, our graduates and their families were invited to give us feedback about their experience in our pilot SEL program. What we gleaned from their responses validated the wise advice I had heeded from my now retired dear friend, Diane. The stress that our team placed on ourselves for the logistical and academic components proved to dissipate.
What resonated with our kids and their families was our commitment to their wellbeing. We encouraged them to be themselves and to feel welcomed to express their thoughts and feelings rather than bottle them up. They knew in their hearts that they would be heard and accepted no matter what. We celebrated them for their uniqueness and encouraged each one to be true to themselves and who they are to become.
Here is some of the feedback we received from students:
“Aspire academy helped Me mature and helped gain more confidence in my Knowledge and in myself”
“Everything. Aspire academy completely changed my life”
“The teachers helped make the students feel comfortable and were always there to help it felt less like a class and more like family”
“Aspire Academy has really helped me become a better young man, Aspire Academy felt like a family. They truly do care about every kids success and making it in the real world. It’s all love and success at Aspire Academy”
“That fact that our peers and everyone around us care for us”
“The teachers are very patient and work hard along with the students to help them improve and encourage them.”
And here’s some feedback we received from parents:
“Before attending the Aspire Academy my daughter was depressed and didn’t want to attend regular school. In this program my daughter felt accepted, supported and inspired to become a professional. I am extremely grateful for this program and especially for Ms Jenna, she is an extraordinary teacher and human being. Thank you!!”
“My student gained confidence and felt empowered in his decision to choose Aspire. He is proud to have earned his diploma through this fantastic program.”
“Aspire Academy ignited her passion to learn and restored her belief that there are teachers that care about students.”
It was the focus on the heart that shone through for us this year, and that is exactly what our students tell us they wish had been more of the focus during their school careers — even as early as kindergarten.
Jenna Moniz is an educator of over 25 years, serving in various roles from classroom teacher to district administrator. She has served as a Peace Corps volunteer and taught in several countries abroad. Here in Broward, she has worked as a secondary teacher, district coach and administrator for the Multicultural & ESOL Department as well as the district’s Adult Education programs. She has helped to create Broward’s Mindfulness platform and resources and most recently started a school for teenagers seeking their high school diploma through a social-emotional approach. Jenna has a Masters degree in Brain-based Instruction, is Nationally Board Certified, and has a certificate in the Science of Well-being. Jenna’s passion is teaching and learning about brain & heart coherence to help students and professionals achieve higher levels of resiliency and over-all well-being. She is a mother of one son who is a student at the University of Central Florida. She enjoys reading, exercising, having fun outside, and enjoying time with the family.
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