Located on the campus of Lenoir Community College in Snow Hill, NC, Greene Early College High School is a valuable resource for its community. A small school with a family feel, it offers students the opportunity to graduate with an associate’s degree and a high school diploma.
Since its last feature in the Resilience Reader in May 2024, the GECHS Resilience Team has taken meaningful steps forward in building a trauma-informed school culture. With support from the NC Center for Resilience & Learning, the team committed to deepening their work by learning together, listening to staff and students, and grounding their efforts in practices that strengthen both relationships and accountability.
Early in fall 2024, the team reviewed results from the spring 2024 staff survey and noticed a need for more opportunities to build trust, communication, and connection across the staff. To respond, they invited all staff to a listening circle facilitated by Stacey Craig (Resilience Coach).
In this circle, staff reflected on what already helped them feel connected, shared challenges and barriers, and offered ideas for improving understanding and collaboration. The circle created space for open dialogue and modeled the kind of relational practice that GECHS hopes to bring to students as well.
From this feedback, the team worked with staff to implement changes such as:
- Embedding team-building activities into staff meetings
- Planning monthly staff outings to strengthen relationships outside of the school day
In the spring 2025 staff survey, respondents gave positive feedback on the impact of these team-building strategies, affirming that intentional staff connection is shaping a healthier and more collaborative school culture.
Expanding Strategies for Students
This past year, subgroups of the Resilience Team also piloted additional strategies to support students directly, including:
- Bi-weekly voluntary “chat room” circles for students. These were designed to build peer connection and communication skills. Students were invited to participate in an hour-long community-building circle facilitated by a school staff member. Circles provided students with a space where they could hear from and share with their peers in ways they didn’t usually have the opportunity to.
- “Zero-free” incentives –These create more structure and accountability for students in completing their schoolwork on time. Students had a weekly opportunity to win incentives and have their name recognized by turning in all their assignments fully completed and on time.
Staff survey data from spring 2025 highlighted encouraging outcomes from these efforts:
- 58% of respondents reported positive changes in their relationships with students
- 75% of respondents reported mostly positive changes in how they view and respond to student behavior
In reflection, Co-Chair Elizabeth Meeks shares, “The practice of slowing down to consider the experiences (both positive and negative) that students bring to school with them has had a great impact in terms of how we respond to student behavior, attendance, and academic success. It can be easy to forget the experiences that students have had, which impact them in so many ways and are often beyond their control. The staff has worked with students to reflect on their academic success, gathered together to support students struggling at home, and ensured that students are offered opportunities for growth and fun.”
Reflection and Looking Ahead
As the year came to a close, the Resilience Team was encouraged by the progress made in their first full year of trauma-informed work!
Together, they built structures for listening, learning, and responding; they strengthened team membership and engagement; and they identified strategies that support both staff well-being and student growth.
By the Numbers: After One Year of Implementing Trauma-Informed Strategies (2024-2205)
10 Resilience Team members (over half the staff)
58% of staff saw stronger student relationships
75% of staff made shifts in responding to behavior
2 new student strategies piloted (Chat Rooms + Zero-Free Incentives)
1 shared goal: Building a stronger, more connected GECHS communities
Principal Taylor Moore shares, “Our work with R&L has shifted the schoolwide conversation around student success to include both academic growth and social-emotional well-being. The conversation of trauma-informed strategies has prompted staff to view adult and student actions from a different perspective and develop support structures through a more restorative lens, leading to deeper relationships between students and adults….These changes are helping us move toward developing processes where students take more ownership of their own learning and well-being, strengthening long-term resilience.”
For the 2025–26 school year, Ms. Pamela Gonzalez and Ms. Elizabeth Meeks will serve as co-chairs on the Resilience Team, supported by Principal Dr. Taylor Moore and Resilience Coach Stacey Craig.
The Resilience Team’s intended areas of focus include:
- Aligning Resilience Team goals with School Improvement Team goals
- Continuing staff and student relationship-building strategies to strengthen the community
- Identifying, implementing, and evaluating strategies to increase student accountability and empowerment, with stronger communication and coordination between the Resilience Team and the whole staff
Principal Taylor Moore shares his excitement in looking ahead, “This year, I am looking forward to continuing the work made possible by our partnership with R&L, but with R&L playing a supportive role as two staff members take on the role of facilitating this work. As a school, we will focus on student accountability and ownership of their progress. By connecting trauma-informed strategies with clear systems for students to track their own growth, we can empower them to take a more active role in their academic and personal development. I am also eager to continue expanding staff professional development on resilience practices, ensuring that every educator feels equipped to support students’ diverse needs. Finally, we are looking forward to building stronger community connections, using R&L’s framework to rebuild perceptions of support and to extend the culture of resilience beyond the school walls.”
With a strong foundation now in place and clear goals for the year ahead, the GECHS Resilience Team is poised to deepen its impact—supporting a school environment where both staff and students feel connected, empowered, and equipped to thrive.