Honoring Grief in our Classrooms: Uplifting ritual to support regulation, recovery, and renewal within our school communities

October 2022 – March 2023

3:30 – 4:30 pm PST / 6:30 – 7:30 pm EST (convert to your time zone)

Online via Zoom

What pedagogies and practices might support us in creating a more humanizing classroom culture to support safety, connection and healthy grieving for students after a crisis?

Educators, how are you making space for students to process and heal from the emotional toll of grief in their lives? What are the rituals, structures and practices you’ve integrated into your pedagogy to make sure there is a place where grief is seen and held, tenderly?

Join us for a six-part series in which we engage in classroom practices; rituals, techniques, frameworks and methodologies that support students in navigating the grief they hold while also supporting them in dreaming beyond it.

Safety, witnessing and meaningful connection are powerful antidotes to crisis and rupture. Without intentionality, there is little space within the classroom to envibe a culture that supports students’ holistic wellness; emotional safety, belonging, witnessing and authentic affirmation though we know these are the experiences we remember, the conditions that support healing beyond traumatic events. Providing students with a consistent space that centers humanity over production, supports them in examining and affirming the many parts of themselves and builds meaningful connection to classmates creates an infrastructure in which they might be able to metabolize grief and traumatic experiences.

Sessions

All sessions are scheduled at 3:30 – 4:30 pm PST / 6:30 – 7:30 pm EST (convert to your time zone)

October 12, 2022 Co-creating Ritual: Honoring the Practice of Dia de los muertos
November 9, 2022 – Co-creating Rhythms: Sharing the Practice of Grief Awareness (in honor of Children’s Grief Awareness Month)
December 7, 2022 – The Practice of Circles in the Classroom as a Rhythm and Ritual
January 11, 2023 – See and Be Seen: Exploring Practices of Scaffolding Grief Conversations Using Literature
February 8, 2023 – Reestablishing Rhythm: Practices that Support Reconnection and Recovery after Time Away (e.g., school breaks)
March 8, 2023 – In Closing: Refining and Defining our Rhythms and Rituals

Learning Goals

Build a pedagogy that honors and integrates classroom practices that support students in navigating grief
Solution-find ways to integrate ritual into existing classroom structures and practices

Resources (priming resources for participants)

Intended Audience

Educators, school leaders, teacher coaches, and school based mental health providers

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this program eligible for Continuing Education Hours (CEH)? No
Will this offering be recorded? Yes
Do I need to attend all sessions? No
Who can I contact if I have additional questions? Email us at scrr@cars-rp.org or Oriana directly at oides@cars-rp.org

Faculty

Oriana Ides (she/hers), MA, LPCCI, PPS, is an SCRR Field Coach who approaches healing the wounds of trauma and oppression as core elements of social justice. She has worked with young people across life courses from elementary school to college, and has served as teacher-leader, school counselor, classroom educator and program director. She is committed to generating equity within school structures and policies by focusing on evidence-based mental health techniques and institutional design. Her work to forge a more just world is motivated by and dedicated to Amilca Ysabel Mouton Fuentes.

Brianna Young (she/hers), M.Ed

SCRR Field Coach with Trauma Transformed

Brianna Young is a Midwest native, currently based in the Bay Area. Her role is a Lead Trainer and Project Specialist with Trauma Transformed, and serves as a Field Coach for the School Crisis Recovery and Renewal project. Having started her professional career as a middle school teacher and instructional coach, Brianna has a particular heart for schools and all the potential they hold. She obtained her Masters of Education from Concordia University, emphasizing Trauma and Resilience in Educational Settings. Brianna dedicates this work to teachers who view their classrooms as healing spaces, and to the students who walk through those doors.