Hillsboro Wrap Up

Well Hillsboro is a pretty special place, I cannot speak highly enough of the people who welcomed me to their schools and their offices - I think it's impossible to be around people who are trying to do this kind of work, especially with children and be dispassionate about it. The success of any system is of course based upon planning, structures, principles and so forth... but in reality it also needs the right people with the right attitude, in this respect Grant has hit gold with his team. I can think of few weeks in my professional life where I felt so impacted by the people that I met and the work that they do.

Firstly they believe in and care about what they have to deliver - trauma informed work is HARD, you need to be aware of your own actions and regulation and you have to be prepared to be honest about what you find difficult. Secondly they need to care about what they are doing, about each other and about the children in the schools - you cannot be trauma informed if you try to do it dispassionately, it's an 'all in' approach. Thirdly you need to model what you are hoping the children will adopt, this means letting people around you (including kids) see that you are fallible, that's really hard! Finally you need to be patient and you need to trust yourself and those around you, things can change slowly, days can be bad, it can feel easier to take a shortcut - so being consistent and committed is hard but it is vital.

 

Two examples of some of the above are this - the Wellness Center's are a great resource, it is undeniably the case that they give an opportunity for children to learn regulation and reflection that they can use in future. But the Wellness Center's are also a room with an adult in, I am sure that if the Center is quiet or feels underused for a time that it could be tempting to make use of them as 'drop zone's for children who are out of control or in the Red Zone. But, the principle is that to be in a Wellness Center a child needs to be able to learn, they need to not be in the Red Zone! Sticking to that is vital, even in the face of a teacher who may be frustrated or concerned.

Second is Recess (play time) this can be a time of the day that doesn't seem like it matters that much academically, get the kids out of the way for a while. But it is in fact a time when they should be demonstrating self regulation - if for months they have been taught in class or Wellness Center how to self regulate then when they have an issue in the playground that is absolutely the time that they should be demonstrating those skills? But how much emphasis is placed on what happens (in a trauma informed way) during Recess? Well in Hillsboro that is what Coach Carter is there to look at, he's working with the schools to support them to have a more trauma informed approach - the challenge is that at a time of day that can present some of the most difficult situations you are working with staff who may not have access to the learning, or may not have the obvious skill set for work of this kind. The answer is more hard work, more planning, more thought and Principles who buy in to the idea - I saw this on my last day as the Recess team was being established at Free Orchards where Karen as Principle lead the way showing enthusiasm and emphasising the importance of the plan and of making Recess a really valuable experience for the children.

I'm moving on to the Olympia, Seattle area and steadily heading over to Walla Walla now - I'm really excited but I'd be lying if I didn't say that the people of Hillsboro made a huge impact on me and I hope that I'm allowed to say I'm #proudtobehsd even from a distance!

PS one of the things that I am incredibly bad at is endings, it's one of my personal issues around resilience! Thankfully they took care of that for me with a lovely chance to say goodbye in a nice way. But at the same time I feel quite sad today, but grateful.