However, some of these fires can be avoided before they happen if the students feel they have equal representation, equal voice, and an advocate for them in the building.- Resilience Team member
Columbus County is located in Eastern North Carolina and has a population of around 50,000. The county has 17 schools which cater to students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. These 17 schools are divided into four high schools, four middle schools, and nine elementary schools.
One of our Eastern NC Center Coaches, Angela Mendell, initiated discussions with Dr. Heather Wing-Pigott, the District student support director, about introducing resilience training in Columbus County Schools. Subsequently, Angela presented our work to the District, and following the introductory training, many school leaders expressed interest in partnering with us for more information. Due to a high demand from school leaders to bring this work to their school and only one Center Coach in the area, the Center partnered with Columbus County Schools to create a Leadership Cohort in May of 2022, consisting of principals, assistant principals, and support staff. In total, 18 individuals from Columbus County Schools joined this cohort. The process spanned six months and included initial training and monthly small group consultation calls to help leaders apply the Center training and framework to their own school building in creating a trauma-informed action plan. The main goal of the cohort was to find a way to disseminate trauma-informed training and coaching to all Columbus County Schools.
As the Leadership Cohort began its goal of reaching leaders across the district, Dr. Deanne Meadows, a highly respected figure in the field of education, opened her heart and mind to this endeavor. Dr. Meadows served as an educator for 34 years and recently retired as superintendent of Columbus County Schools after five years. She was passionate and dedicated to bringing trauma-informed education practices to Columbus County and was critical in the implementation and expansion across their schools. After the Leadership Cohort, Dr. Meadows and other district leaders discussed plans to start a new Columbus County District Resilience Team, which began in October 2023 with her support and leadership. Many readers may be familiar with the Center’s model of creating school-based Resilience Teams, but working with a District Resilience Team was a new concept.
The primary goals of the District Resilience Team are: To provide accountability and support to individual partner schools. This support ensures the continuation and sustainability of the trauma-informed schools’ work beyond the initial two years of coaching support. To embed trauma-informed policies and practices into key areas of district operations such as hiring and onboarding of school administrators, discipline handbook and practices, and providing ongoing professional development on trauma-informed topics to staff so that the work is consistent and sustainable across the District. To create and support a district-wide framework for resilience that includes expectations, protocols, and budgets for schools to identify and implement their own initiatives related to staff wellness, relationship-building, overall environment and structures, and social-emotional learning (SEL). Angela described Dr. Meadows as a humble leader and team player. Dr. Meadows prioritized the Resilience Team and met monthly with this group throughout the 23-24 school year. This District Resilience Team underwent training to understand ACEs and trauma, assess the needs of their schools, and develop an action plan. Angela stressed the need for district leadership to be open to learning about any necessary shifts or additional resources to teach and implement the strategies effectively. District involvement involves changing perspectives rather than simply implementing a new program.
Dr. Meadows effectively exemplified what Angela described. The district leadership’s dedication to understanding and modeling this resilience work is vital for its successful implementation and impact on students.
After the team set this goal, they got to work on their action plan!
Dr. Meadows had the District Resilience Team and principals undergo the morning meeting training to implement this district-wide for all K-8 schools. She modeled to her district staff and principals what she wanted to happen in every K-8 school. One simple way of modeling this was to start their staff meetings with morning meetings! When the next action step arose, it was time for Angela to train each school about morning meetings. She said leading these school trainings was amazing because the principals already knew what to expect because they had participated in district-level morning meetings. Angela has spent the end of the spring semester and summer providing training to all K-8 educators in the district about morning meetings. She is working with the district team to ensure each school and educator is equipped with training, resources, and fidelity measurement tools to begin full implementation at the start of the school year. Superintendents model to Principals, Principals model to staff, and staff will model to students. Imagine how this could ripple to families and the next generations. This work is about planting seeds; looking at the big picture and working from that perspective is important. The positive impact of the Resilience Team’s work is already evident and promises a brighter future for Columbus County Schools.
We asked members of the Resilience Team to share feedback during the last meeting.”Why do you think having this team is important?”We have to do some things differently—we have to make changes and acknowledge areas we need to improve to serve our students, families, and community, and sometimes, we don’t know how to do it. Transitioning from reactive to proactive: We often put out fires, often so reactively when so much is coming at us. However, some of these fires can be avoided before they happen if the students feel they have equal representation, equal voice, and an advocate for them in the building. Angela shared that open communication is key to the success of the Resilience Team’s work and ensures that everyone is engaged and involved in the process. Because of the District Resilience Team, the schools have an advocate in Angela, and the District listens to the needs of the schools. The Center and district team celebrated Dr. Meadows in May, and although her passion and hard work will be greatly missed, we wish her the best during her retirement. She is passing the baton to Mr. Eddy Beck. He served as the assistant superintendent under Dr. Meadows and is an advocate and model in this work, already having served as a member of the District Resilience Team this past school year.
The Center is excited for another year ahead, watching the journey of Columbus County Schools as they seek to sustain and grow trauma-informed practices in all 17 schools!
