Weaving our Common Threads:
Social-Emotional Learning, Engagement & Social Justice

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

Featuring collaborative, innovative & engaging approaches to strengthening our local network of supports for children & youth, from birth to young adulthood.

Click to view workshops descriptions:

• Social Justice from Early Childhood to Youth Development
• Social-Emotional Learning In Early Childhood
• Bullying Prevention, Social-Emotional Development & Resiliency
• Creative Expression for Social Justice
• Advocacy & Engagement for Justice
• Culturally Competent & Relevant Programming
• Power of Partnerships: Family, Community & School
• Supporting Juvenile Justice Involved Youth
• Building Strong Relationships: Children, Youth, Adults & Families
• Funding & Improving our Work
• Spanish Workshop Track
• And more!

View workshop schedule (click)

View the program (click)

SOCIAL JUSTICE FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Talking with Children about Racism and Privilege
Ilsa Govan (Cross Cultural Connections)
In this interactive workshop, we will discuss real situations drawn from work with children and youth from preschool through high school. Learn how parents, educators and other care-givers can intervene to help children develop a healthy ethnic identity in the face of stereotypes and bias they encounter daily.

From Charity to Social Justice- Supporting Youth Led Service Learning, Philanthropy and Action Projects that Move Beyond Charity
Mike Beebe (Penny Harvest, a program at Solid Ground)
Learn from Penny Harvest staff about the social justice philanthropy curriculum they use to help young people grades K-12 think about how making grants and planing service projects that move beyond a charity approach to a social justice approach. This tool helps young people reflect and find ways to address root causes of the issues affecting their communities.

Addressing Equity and Diversity in Afterschool Programs
Louie Praseuth, Charhys Bailey, Melody Waring & April Miller (School's Out Washington)
Join us to discover tools, strategies and best practices that address equity, diversity, and cultural relevancy in afterschool programs. You will experience a research-based model that has been used in afterschool programs in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma to address racial equity and diversity. Learn methods and best practices to create afterschool and youth programs that embrace equity and truly include the youth you serve!

Time In -  Understanding, Listening to and Supporting Toddlers to Teens
Moshe Hecht (Seattle Parks and Recreation)
How are young people institutionally oppressed and set up to act out irrationally and often violently? How can supportive adults counter this? Calling “Time-In” creates a safe space to heal from racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, learned patterns of oppression and other ways a young person may be hurt.   “Time-In” nurtures strong bonds between adult and young people, heals internalized oppression, increases hopefulness, and strengthens one's sense of self-efficacy.  Some examples of Time-In from recreational programming will be shared.

 

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Laying a Foundation for Early Learning: Integrating Best Practices that Promote Social, Emotional & Cognitive Development
Rebecca C. Cortes (University of Washington, Center for Child and Family Well-Being; co-author, PATHS Preschool Curriculum)
In this session, parents, teachers, and others who interact with young children will learn how to integrate best practices that provide a solid foundation for children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. Participants will discover how many of the activities they provide for young children, such as book reading and creative arts, build skills in several areas of development that affect children's ability to self-regulate and maintain a love of learning. This is a relationship-focused session where the role and needs of adults is balanced with the needs and learning process in children.

Video Observations: An Approach to Supporting Teacher Reflection, Goal Setting, and Promotion of Children’s Social-Emotional Development
Soleil Boyd & Claudia Marquez (Child Care Resources)
Participants will learn how video observations can be used as a collaborative assessment tool for professional development in education.  We will focus on  caregivers’ awareness of their own behaviors, emotions and interactions with children, using video observation to identify teacher strengths and concerns, and setting goals for improved interactions and social-emotional supports for children.  We will also introduce the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS),  a tool that can help caregivers pinpoint particular aspects of caregiver/child interactions and guide goal setting.

Weaving Social-Emotional Learning into Daily Classroom Activities
Tonje Molyneux (Committee for Children), Huyen Lam (South Shore), Karen Virta (Everett Community College Early Learning Center)
You will come away from this interactive session knowing research-based, innovative ways to develop children's self-regulation and social-emotional skills in early childhood classrooms (preschool through grade 3). In the context of the new Second Step program, you will  learn about core self-regulation and social-emotional skills needed for school and life success, and classroom activities that integrate social-emotional learning. You will experience innovative, engaging ways to develop these skills through games, songs and puppets, and learn how to reinforce skill use throughout the day.

 

BULLYING PREVENTION, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESILIENCY

Welcoming Schools: A Program for Improving School Climate and Embracing Diversity
Tracy Flynn (Welcoming Schools, Human Rights Campaign Foundation)
Welcoming Schools is an elementary school climate improvement program that provides tools to help the entire community embrace family diversity, avoid gender role stereotyping, and stop bullying. Welcoming Schools is unique because it addresses gender bias and is LGBT-inclusive, and it teaches the skills necessary to be respectful of all members of the school community.  We will include data on families and bullying to clarify the need for this program and show how school climate affects academic success. We will present how other communities have implemented the program, and share tools and resources that can be used for family inclusion and staff training.

Social Emotional Learning and Bullying Prevention
Brian Smith PhD & Mia Doces (Committee for Children)
We will present a brief overview of Social Emotional Learning (SEL), discuss the latest science on the prevention of bullying, and discuss from both research and practice perspectives the ways in which Social Emotional Learning can be used to support bullying prevention. We’ll also address what is needed for bullying prevention that goes beyond SEL, and some surprising reasons that increasing social competence may not be the best way to reduce bullying.

OUTspoken: Coming Out Stories from LGBTQ and Ally Youth
Youth Panelists & Kristina Armenakis (OUTSpoken Speakers Bureau)
Hear the stories and experiences of a diverse group of LGBTQ youth and allies and how issues of bullying, hate crimes, hate language, and the lack of institutional, social, and familial support affect the lives of queer and trans youth today. After the panelists have shared, you can ask questions and find out about strategies to make your environment safe and supportive for all youth.

Challenging Behavior: Why, Where and What to Do About it...
Jody McVittie, MD (Sound Discipline)
How can teachers and childcare providers respond to challenging behavior and lead young children in ways that demonstrate that we know they are capable and can be socially successful? We will discuss the link between social-emotional development and discipline  --  "connection before correction"  -- and how what we do is linked to brain science. We will talk about how to set effective limits and feel good in the process.  You’ll learn tools for encouragement and how to use discipline to teach children to do the right thing when no one is looking.

CREATIVE EXPRESSION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Without the Luxury of Realism: Theater as a Tool for Empowerment
Eli Steffen (Power of Hope)
In a world where youth and youth workers alike face many obstacles to living healthy, fulfilling lives, how do we create spaces for personal and communal empowerment?  Through the art of play, improvisation, and community building, this workshop will explore techniques for using theater as a tool for empowerment.  We will learn basic lessons and activities that can be used with groups of all ages and abilities.  No experience is necessary.

Creatively Challenging Oppression & Building Community in the Classroom
Roberto Ascalon, Sean O'Neill, Estrella de Leon & Lara Davis (Arts Corps)
We approach professional development for educators and youth workers armed with a transformative lens of creativity, community-building and liberation. Using theater exercises participants will identify, examine and challenge institutional racism, sexism, heterosexism and adultism in majority-youth, adult-led settings.  As we discuss “student-initiated” conflicts, we will look critically at the ways adult facilitators can unintentionally contribute to a culture of disempowerment, disunity and oppression.  And most importantly, we will tap into our collective brilliance to challenge this! The scenarios we will role-play are taken directly from the experiences Arts Corps’s Teaching Artist faculty.

Verbal Graffiti: Celebrating Youth Voice through Poetry
Alicia Whitlow (Saghaile Middle School), Garfield Hillson (Washington State University), Shanyanika McElroy (Ethereal Experiences)
The Verbal Graffiti curriculum is a youth development tool that uses spoken word poetry as a vehicle to help young people develop communication skills and literacy, experience positive social and emotional development, and heighten their sense of social justice.  Verbal Graffiti challenges young people to employ the power of written and oral expression to examine themselves, their environment, and the impact they have on their community. With this curriculum, youth exercise crucial life skills while mastering creative expression and gaining a sense of belonging within a writers’ collective.

 

ADVOCACY & ENGAGEMENT FOR JUSTICE

Increasing Educational Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care: Educational Advocacy 101
Heather Toothaker (Treehouse)
10,000 youth live in foster care in Washington State at any given moment.  Many of these youth experience home and school instability, creating barriers to school success, and leading to a graduation rate of between 32-44%. However, with the support of caring and knowledgeable adults these barriers can be greatly minimized. This foundational training provides professionals working with children birth to 18 years old with the knowledge and tools to be effective educational advocates.

Advocating for Change in Public Education - Understanding and Engaging in the Decision-Making Process
Alma Villegas, Flor Alarcon & other Core Volunteer Leaders (Stand for Children)
Understanding power structures and engaging in the decision-making process are key components of grassroots organizing and advocacy. Learn how Stand for Children uses member-driven policy development and a civic action process to ensure equitable, high quality education for all students.

Want to Make a Difference? How to Effectively Advocate for Yourself and Others
Catalina Ángel, Tammy Dang, Mia Franklin, Patricia González, Verónica Guzmán, Khadro Jama, Lance Morehouse, Barni Musse, Teresa Nguyen, and Khadijah Toms (Arc of King County)
African American, Caucasian, Latin, Somali, and Vietnamese presenters from Arc, an organization that serves people with developmental disabilities and their families, will share their testimonials about the importance and basics of advocating at a personal, community, and legislative level. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn specific ways to get involved at a level that is comfortable for you-- ranging from very easy and basic steps (asking questions, teaching others, writing letters) to complex (community organizing, lobbying).

 

CULTURALLY COMPETENT & RELEVANT PROGRAMMING

Building Cultural Competency to Better Serve Refugee and Immigrant Families
Laura E Garcia (Reachout)
Cultural proficiency is an ongoing process.  We will use a discussion process to identify our strengths and to foster the integration of cultural competency into daily life and work with refugee and immigrant families. Participants will be inspired to renew their personal and professional commitment to cultural competency, and they will take away relevant strategies and an action plan to sustain these skills.

Community Conversations about Young Children
Angelica Cardenas (Child Care Resources), Community Partners & Parent Leaders
In recent years, community members and organizations have been seeking information about child development that is presented simply, in everyday language and easy to understand.  Conversations for the Community was created in response to this community need.  Conversations offers research-based dialogue and hands-on activities that natural leaders, community liaisons, service providers and educators can use to engage parents and caregivers of young children in informative conversations about how they can support early learning and development.  Each topic area includes a fact sheet, questions and answers for dialogue, hands-on activities, and highlights about connections to school success and cultural considerations.

Lessons Learned in Culturally Relevant Programming
Frank Fuentes (Francizco Consulting)
This session will introduce participants to guidelines and activities they can use to implement culturally relevant programming in their sites. Based on  a program model and methods developed at Van Asselt Elementary in southeast Seattle, participants will learn cross-cultural strategies   to help youth understand similarities among differences. The experiential activities presented are designed to get participants (and ultimately the youth they work with) moving and having fun.

 

POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS: FAMILY, COMMUNITY & SCHOOL

Parent Leaders Making Connections in Families, Schools, & Communities
Nelrica Mosqueda & Flora Ybarra (Dearborn Park Elementary), Yui Dhevaraj & Olga Wilson (Bailey Gatzert Elementary), Parent Leaders (Seattle Public Schools' Readiness to Learn Project)
Parent leaders from Bailey Gatzert and Dearborn Park Elementary Schools will share their hands on strategies for welcoming and involving parents in engaging activities that strengthen their children's academic and social success.  From multicultural potlucks to zumba classes Parent Leaders -- home grown school volunteers -- are trained to reach out and attract fellow parents from richly diverse communities to be part of their schools.

Transformational Partnerships: A Catalyst for Change and Student Support
Bernardo Ruiz (Seattle Public Schools, National Network of Partnerships Schools, Harvard Family Research Project Family Involvement Network of Educators), Courtney Cameron (Seattle Public Schools), Solynn McCurdy (Alliance for Education), Rachael Stewart (Seattle University Center of Service and Community Engagement), Asha Mohamed (Seattle Housing Authority)
More than a school program, family and community engagement is a way of thinking and doing that recognizes the central role that families play in their children’s education -- and the power of collaboration between teachers, school staff, families, and community along with students themselves.  Come learn how meaningful, strategic, and intentional partnerships improve students’ academic performance and social justice at our schools.

Pathways to Partnerships: What’s Working Locally between Schools and Organizations?
Members of the Pathways to Partnership Action Team & Local Partnership Practitioners
Pathways to Partnerships (P2P) explores effective collaboration strategies that support children and youth’s academic and social success by sharing local testimonials from front line staff, principals, teachers, and administrative staff.  This interactive session will expose you to the exciting P2P project; the five (5) cornerstones of collaboration: communication, relationship building, common goals, benefits, and process; and information on adding to the P2P body of work.

 

SUPPORTING JUVENILE JUSTICE INVOLVED YOUTH

PathNet- A Networked Reengagement System
Dr. Kelly Goodsell & Dr. Mick Moore (Puget Sound Educational Service District)
This courageous conversation will discuss what King County is doing to end the dropout epidemic among juvenile justice-involved youth through the PathNet System. We will discuss how a systems changing, policy driven, coordinated partnership of youth-serving agencies can make a true impact. PathNet breaks down silos by systematically coordinating youth-serving organizations and key institutions that support interconnected pathways to credential attainment, post secondary education and career training for juvenile justice involved youth. Participants will explore the four cornerstones to successful re-engagement: (1)  strength-based assessment; (2)  youth-driven plan; (3)  care management; and (4) connectivity.

Opportunities to Learn: Eliminating Barriers that Exclude Juvenile Justice Involved Youth from Education Success
Karen Pillar (TeamChild), Hazel Cameron (4C Coalition), YMCA Alive and Free Outreach Staff, Youth Advisor
Youth who are in secure detention and state facilities are suspended or expelled from school at disproportionately high rates.  After they are released, youth face the same barriers to completing education that existed before they were incarcerated. Systemic change is needed to divert youth from what is nationally called “the School to Prison Pipeline”.  This panel, funded by a public/private partnership which includes the U.S. Department of Labor, will prompt participants to rethink school discipline and how to reconnect at-risk youth back to school.  We will share effective collaborations that increase opportunities for school success.

Experiential Education for Socio-Emotional Development- Discovering Compassion and Empathy
Roger Kluck (Alternatives to Violence Project)
Come experience the power of discovery-based learning to develop compassion and empathy.  Feel its power to create community and change the culture in your classroom or organization.  You will participate in several exercises from the Alternatives to Violence Project and Help Increase the Peace Project’s experiential programs.  These are aimed to quickly build community, create inclusiveness, and reduce conflict and bullying.  Learn by doing.  (Limited to 20 people)

 

BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: CHILDREN, YOUTH, ADULTS & FAMILIES

Crushes, Dating and Romance: Tools for Supporting Healthy Youth Relationships
Rebecca Goldberg (New Beginnings), Eli Crawford (Northwest Men's Project)
Crushes, dating and romance are exciting, complicated and emotionally-charged topics at all ages and stages. How do we support youth in navigating the complex world of intimate relationships and help them to develop healthy boundaries and communication?

The Social Side of Social Networking
Mike Donlin (School Safety Center, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction)
21st century youth have a full, rich life online -- creating communities, establishing social norms, and dealing with experiences which directly impact their social-emotional learning. Given what is often portrayed in mainstream media, adults often wonder what's going on!  We will focus on social networking and its role in social-emotional learning and look at the 5C's: cyber safety, cyber security, cyber literacy, cyber citizenship, and, of course, cyber bullying. We will discuss caution signs to be aware of, ideas to help keep young people safe, and excellent resources directed to parents. We’ll reserve time to ask questions and share with others.

Strengthening Families: Adults and Youth Learning Together
Sue Lerner (WSU King County Extension), Marath Men (Atlantic Street Center), Isabel Mireles (South Park Community Center, Seattle Parks and Recreation)
Finally, an evidence-based, culturally appropriate family skills development program that improves parenting of 10 to 14 year olds, prevents substance abuse and increases school performance.  Strengthening Families works!  In this workshop, participants will experience activities and games used in the program, find out about training and resources available through WSU and learn about the program's evidence of positive outcomes in promoting healthy families during the transition from elementary school.  Experience for yourself  how effective and fun SFP is during this interactive workshop presented by site staff and WSU trainers who facilitate this program in diverse cultures throughout King County.

Making the Social Emotional Connection:  Promoting First Relationships Program
Lea Ann Miyagawa (Public Health- Seattle & King County, White Center Early Learning Initiative), Julie Nagel (UW Promoting First Relationships), Deborah Greenleaf (Public Health- Seattle & King County- CPS Early Intervention Program and Early Family Support Services), Beth Larsen & Marie Sohl  (Childhaven)
It is vital that in young children's first relationships with caregivers, their feelings are validated and supported and their needs acknowledged and understood.  Promoting First Relationships (PFR) is a prevention and early intervention program that seeks to build a strong and secure foundation  for caregiver-child relationships . Community service providers will share their experience in applying PFR principles with low income families in public health, CPS, and Childhaven, a Medicaid treatment childcare center.

Better Together: Youth and Adult Collaboration That Empowers and Inspires
Rataya Crenshaw, Sunny Kim, Jeremy Louzao, & Asia Reed (Seattle Young People's Project)
It's no secret that adult-youth collaborations can often lead to bad and disempowering experiences for both young people and adults; with constant dangers of unfair power dynamics, tokenism, or mistrust.  But in this energetic, interactive workshop, the youth and staff of Seattle Young People's Project (SYPP) will explore how adults and youth can work together in ways that are respectful, fair, and powerful.  We will discuss adultism and allyship, how to assess your group's level of youth involvement, tools and tips for respectful adult support, and lessons from SYPP's own youth leadership development model.

 

FUNDING & IMPROVING OUR WORK

Fundraising For Busy Activists and Advocates
Lisa Arnold (Lisa Arnold Consulting)
How can community groups  working for systemic change raise needed funding without spending so much time and effort that they are too tired to focus on their social change work?  This workshop covers: 1) four keys to designing successful fundraising events, 2) four real life examples of how different organizations have applied these key principles to efficiently reach fundraising goals, and 3) how fundraising activities can advance social change goals. During the last 45 minutes, you will design a fundraiser for your organization and have a chance  toshare your plans with the group  for discussion and feedback.

Improving Program Quality: Getting to Engagement
Jessica Paul Werner (YMCA of Greater Seattle and the Center for Youth Program Quality), Krista Galloway (School’s Out Washington and the Center for Youth Program Quality), Youth Workers Methods trainers
Learn how to put youth engagement and social-emotional learning into practice! The Youth Program Quality Enhancement (YPQE) is a 3-part model developed by the Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, that has gained much traction in the past 2 years in King County and Washington State.  We will present the YPQE framework, which  includes a  quality assessment tool,  an improvement process,  and direct service staff training component, which help organizations to adopt a common language and improve quality at the point of service for young people in our communities. Both social-emotional learning and engagement are critical areas of focus for the Youth Program Quality process and the theory behind it.

 

SPANISH WORKSHOP TRACK
(Limited English interpretation headsets available)

Somos Familia/ We are Family: Los Efectos del Acoso en Estudiantes Hispanos/Latinos:
Los estudiantes que son objetivo  del  acoso (bullying) sufren emocional  y físicamente. Para los estudiantes que son gay, lesbianas, bisexuales o transgénero los efectos del acoso (bullying) pueden ser extremadamente perjudícales. En este taller se exploraran los efectos en que el acoso (bullying) impacta a los estudiantes Hispanos/Latinos, incluyendo aquellos que son LGBTQ.

Primera Parte
Heather Carter (Youth Suicide Prevention Program), Virginia Herrera & Marcos Martinez (Entre Hermanos)
Después de una breve introducción, se ofrecerá  una presentación sobre el acoso (bullying) en las escuelas y cómo éste afecta a todos los estudiantes. El enfoque  de esta presentación será el de explorar las maneras en que el acoso (bullying) impacta a los estudiantes que son gay, lesbianas, bisexuales, transgénero o aun no definidos. También veremos “Siempre mi Hijo” un vídeo que muestra los resultados positivos de la aceptación en una familia hispana-tradicional que tiene un hijo gay.  Al final del video tendremos tiempo para tener una discusión sobre nuestras opiniones.

Segunda Parte
Durante la segunda parte  de Somos Familia/ We are Family, se incluirá una discusión con un grupo de personas que han experimentado y que personalmente han sufrido los efectos y los estragos del acoso (bullying). Esta discusión será interactiva y ofrecerá la oportunidad para responder preguntas y compartir comentarios con un Panel integrado por miembros de la comunidad.

 

We are Family/ Somos Familia: The Effects of Bullying on Hispanic/Latino Students:
Students who are the targets of bullying suffer emotionally and physically, and for students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender the effects of bullying can be extremely harmful. This workshop will discuss the ways that bullying affects Hispanic/Latino students, including those who are LGBTQ.

Part I
Heather Carter (Youth Suicide Prevention Program), Virginia Herrera & Marcos Martinez (Entre Hermanos)
After a brief introduction, we will hear a presentation about bullying in school and how this affects all students. Special emphasis will be given on the ways that students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning are affected by bullying. We will also view “Always My Son”- a video that shows the positive outcome of family acceptance in a traditional Hispanic family with a gay son, and we’ll have time for discussion.

Part II
Community Panel
Part II of “Somos Familia/We are Family” includes a panel discussion with community members who have experienced and know firsthand about the effects and struggles of bullying. The panel discussion is interactive and there will be time for questions and comments to be shared.      

      

** Workshops and presenters may change **

 

EVEN MORE!

Keynote panel discussion on social-emotional learning, engagement & social justice

• Dr. Caprice Hollins, educator, trainer and consultant with Cross Cultural Connections;
• Dr. Deborah Sullivan, Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Program at Seattle Central CC;
• Shomari Jones, Director of the YMCA Black Achievers Program; and
• Mario Paredes, Executive Director of New Futures.

Facilitated networking session

Resource tables

CLICK FOR MORE CONFERENCE INFORMATION

 

Thank you to our generous co-sponsors:

For additional information about the event, contact SOAR at:
206.336.6930 | pieces@childrenandyouth.org | www.childrenandyouth.org