LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Defined the school as connective tissue, exploring what has been permanently lost due to COVID-19, what is healing and where there has been unanticipated growth.
2. Examined children’s unique vulnerability to chronic stress and range of responses to the stress.
3. Critiqued the system and its effects on children who sit entrapped in it.
4. Defined and examined how consistency can be rebuilt.
5. Explored factors of student satisfaction.
6. Named the roles and responsibilities of adults in creating safety for children and helping develop their polyvagal brake.
7. Anticipated what to expect in terms of student learning this school year.
Erin Leraris has formal training in education, earning a master’s in school leadership from Concordia University as well as a graduate level certificate in Applied Educational Neuroscience from Butler University. Although she has worked in public, private and charter schools, she has long been a public-school advocate. Erin's advocacy work shows up as "Invest in Teachers; Not Tests." Erin has worked as a teacher, teacher's coach and substitute teacher, and created Cultivating Climate in which she blends knowledge of social-emotional learning and neuroscience with anti-racism curriculum. Erin has three children -- a senior at Xavier University, a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University and a sophomore at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis.
