Webinars

Welcome Back! Meeting the Resilience Needs for Students and Staff

“Welcome Back! Meeting the Resilience Needs for Students and Staff During this School Year”

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Why prioritize student resilience now?

One thing the past two years have taught us is that we need to help students engage with school and help them make the connection between what they learn in school and how it relates to life. Combine that with a focus on building relationships, and our experience tells us that we will see students’ resilience increase and their readiness to learn will be unlocked.

Meeting the resilience needs of students and staff this school year

Join us for this webinar as we discuss strategies for how we can help both students and staff to be more resilient in their day-to-day struggles at school and at home. Our panel of education experts share insights and answer your questions so please come and join the discussion!

Dr. V. Keith Wilks
Dr. Wilks is the Assistant Superintendent of Support Services in the Rock Hill School District, Rock Hill, South Carolina. He is also the Treasurer of the National Association of Pupil Services Administrators (NAPSA). As an educator for three decades, he has continued to be a student in his own right. He believes that every experience must be a learning experience. Good, bad, or otherwise, you learn what to do or what not to do from every experience. His approach is systematic and entails Preflection, Planning, Implementation, Assessment, Reflection, and needed Re-implementation, concepts he has used since he was a corporate trainer for then Wachovia Bank in the 1990’s while also teaching middle school mathematics, earning a master’s degree and starting a family. That personal approach has been instrumental in my development of a Strategic Engagement Model to guide institutions in adherence to their Strategic Plan for which they have invested.
Every experience as a teacher, school assistant principal in middle and high school, principal in high school, and Executive Director of Student Services has been in preparation for Keith’s current position as the Chief of Strategic Planning, Engagement, and Program Support. The ideas, developments, exposure, training, professional development opportunities, and civic and community engagements are coming to fruition as he continues on his career path.

Jeanne Knouse
Jeanne is the Director of Student Services for the State College Area School District in State College, Pennsylvania. Jeanne has over 30 years of experience in education, including 11 years utilizing Restorative Practices and seven years as a Restorative Practices Trainer. Prior to her position in the State College Area School District Jeanne worked as a Special Eductaion Supervisor, High School Principal, and Special Education teacher. Jeanne has extensive experience with Chapter 14 (Special Education Services and Programs), Chapter 15 (Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act or ADAAA), and Chapter 16 (Special Education for Gifted Students). Currently, Jeanne supervises the following programs: AEDY, Counseling, Nursing, Home School Visitor, Family Outreach Specialist, Child Accounting, and PIMS Administration. Jeanne works closely with community service providers, the PSU campus community, and district staff to provide a full range of services for SCASD Students. Building and maintaining strong relationships has been the key to her success as an educator.

Larrissa Henderson Ed.D
Dr. Henderson, currently serves and the National Association of Pupil Services Administrators (NAPSA) President
She is the director of pupil services in Oak Ridge School District in Oak Ridge, TN
She wears a lot of very different hats from attendance, discipline, food services, foster care, homeless, migrant, immigrants, ELL, school nurses, court liaison, Title IX coordinator, Title VI, and Title III. She calls pupil services the “customer service department for the school district.”
Dr. Henderson feels that the most rewarding aspect of her job is working with and helping students and their families. Her day changes hourly and the change can be overwhelming, but she enjoys a good challenge every now and then.

Jason Johnson Ed.S
Jason is a licensed school psychologist and has published research on resilience and student performance. Jason is a passionate advocate for disadvantaged students and currently consults and trains educators across the nation as the director of training and research for the WhyTry organization.
Jason is a thought leader on resilience education and has spoken at hundreds of conferences around the country. He has led successful implementations of all WhyTry programs and has pioneered training for clients in healthcare, corporate, and the US Military.

Want to Learn More?

Our online social and emotional learning curriculum can be taught in virtual classrooms. Help your students develop resilience in this time of crisis and isolation.

Schedule a Curriculum Demo

Suicide Prevention and Resilience

The Connection between Suicide Prevention and Resilience Education

Come listen to our panel of suicide prevention and education experts as they discuss the ties between building support systems and strategies to combat suicidal ideation and the importance of teaching the skills of resilience to all students.

Dr. Gregory A. Hudnall

Dr. Hudnall is a former high school principal and associate superintendent. He has been involved with suicide prevention for the past thirty years and is nationally sought after for his expertise in postvention.
Dr. Hudnall is the founder of the school-based program, Hope Squad, which has been responsible for over 5,000 students referred for help and over 1,000 hospitalized. The Hope Squad program is now in over 950 schools around the world.

For over fifteen years Dr. Hudnall has led a state-wide volunteer suicide crisis team that has responded to over fifty youth suicides. He has presented at over 100 national and state conferences on suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. He also presents on bullying, connectedness, community collaboration, and school safety. Dr. Hudnall was invited to testify before the United States Surgeon General on suicide. He has presented to the U.S. Department of Health and at the national conferences of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Association of Suicidology. Dr. Hudnall was also invited to participate in a webinar on African Americans and Suicide by the White House.
Under Greg’s direction with Hope Squad, over 60,000 people nationwide have been trained in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. He has presented across the United States and in many countries around the world on suicide prevention, including to the Minister of Education for Spain.
Dr. Hudnall is considered one of the leading experts in community and school-based suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. He lives by the mantra, “while it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire community to save one.”

Amy Pool M.Ed.
Amy Pool is a Thrive Strategy Manager at Grant Halliburton Foundation in Dallas, Tx. working with schools to infuse mental health into the culture of academics. She has over 30 years of experience working in school systems as a special education teacher, elementary classroom teacher, reading interventionist, campus principal and educational consultant. Because she believes the mental and emotional well-being of students and their teachers is paramount to educational success, Amy works collaboratively with schools and community-based agencies and organizations to provide education and resources for mental health awareness and social emotional learning.

Jason Johnson Ed.S
Jason is a licensed school psychologist and has published research on resilience and student performance. Jason is a passionate advocate for disadvantaged students and currently consults and trains educators across the nation as the director of training and research for the WhyTry organization. Jason is a thought leader on resilience education and has spoken at hundreds of conferences around the country. He has led successful implementations of all WhyTry programs and has pioneered trainings for clients in healthcare, corporate, and the US Military.

Are you at risk? CALL 1-800-273-TALK

Want to Learn More?

Our online social and emotional learning curriculum can be taught in virtual classrooms. Help your students develop resilience in this time of crisis and isolation.

Schedule a Curriculum Demo

Hope Squad

Hope Squads reduce youth suicide through education, training, and peer intervention. Hope Squad members are nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers and trained by advisors.

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Student Resilience and Reclaiming the Joy of Education

WhyTry Social Emotional Learning and Resilience Education - The Maze

Student Resilience and Reclaiming the Joy of Education

Bringing the joy back to education

One clear impact that the last two years of this pandemic has left us with, is a shift in the way both students and staff look at education. Our perspective has been focused on, how do we survive this year and keep up with the necessary work? How do we help students stay connected and keep showing up? What is the minimum performance we have to maintain to receive credit and move forward? So often our focus has been on dealing with the special circumstance we have dealt with during COVID and the impact it has had on everyone. If you feel like much of the joy you have felt about education is not there as it was before the pandemic, then we have a great webinar for you!

Panelists:

Dr. Malik A. Small
Dr. Small is a middle school principal in the community of East New York Brooklyn with over ten years of experience in educational leadership, both in charter as well as district schools. Dr. Small is a passionate advocate for social justice, restorative practices, culturally responsive education, equity in schools, and empowering children, families and community to close the opportunity gap that persists due to institutionalized racism. Dr. Small is a public speaker and frequent guest and panelist in forums that include The Heather B Show, The Raw Perspective, & The Dr. Selma B Show. Dr. Small is also a proud member of the Off School Grounds Coalition. Dr. Small also sits as a board member on the Mount Vernon Youth Board as well as a member of Eagle Foundation/BERC Pilot Design Team for the Education Equity Action Plan. Dr. Small is currently working on several books and was recently published in the National Association of Secondary School Principals Journal.

Fia Davis
Fia is an educational leader who believes she is called to serve. Her 26-year career in the New York City Department of Education is a demonstration of her service. Her stated mission is “to motivate children and adults to see and achieve their highest potential despite their circumstances.” She is committed to cultivating joy, transformation and equity focused leadership. Ms. Davis currently serves as Deputy Superintendent of Community School District 10, the fourth largest district in NYC educating over 32,000 students. As Deputy Superintendent she helped lead her district during the pandemic and into Homecoming 2021. Ms. Davis served as principal for 15 years, most recently at Pathways College Preparatory School, a secondary (6 – 12) and early college high school, Title 1, which enrolls 100% students of color. Upon her arrival at Pathways, she declared that the school would be a pathway into college and career for all students. In her four years there, Pathways graduation rate rose from 67% to 94%. Her leadership earned her a spot in the 2019-20 cohort of the national Cahn Fellowship for Distinguished Principals, Columbia University. In 2006, Ms. Davis founded the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts. She holds a BA in English and Africana Studies from the State University of New York at Albany, an MA in Secondary Education from New York University, and an MS in Educational Administration from Pace University, which she completed in partnership with New Leaders for New Schools. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Fordham University.

Aneesha Jacko
Aneesha is an authentic, bold and compassionate leader with over 22 years of instructional, coaching, operational, planning, administrative and financial management experience in a large urban school district.
She received her undergraduate degree from Hampton University in Hampton Virginia, her master’s degrees from Touro College in Special Education and Early Childhood Education, Long Island University Brooklyn Campus specializing in Literacy and Long Island University C.W. Post in Educational Leadership. She is president and owner of The Results Are In LLC. Her primary goal is to connect the world through meaningful interactions and talk. She serves as a licensed minister at The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York. An active community leader serving in a number of organizations for over 20 years. She collaborates with leaders across the globe with Off School Grounds (OSG) to support impact schools and communities. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Inc, and Jack and Jill of America Inc. Audacity to Speak is the first book in her series to support others to unmute and to live the life of their dreams. Jacko lives in Queens, New York, with her husband, Danny. They have two children, Sy and Avi.

Jason Johnson
Jason is a licensed school psychologist and has published research on resilience and student performance. Jason is a passionate advocate for disadvantaged students and currently consults and trains educators across the nation as the director of training and research for the WhyTry organization. Jason is a thought leader on resilience education and has spoken at hundreds of conferences around the country. He has led successful implementations of all WhyTry programs and has pioneered trainings for clients in healthcare, corporate, and the US Military.

Want to Learn More?

Our online social and emotional learning curriculum can be taught in virtual classrooms. Help your students develop resilience in this time of crisis and isolation.

Schedule a Curriculum Demo

The WhyTry Approach to Teaching Every Student Resilience

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How do you motivate and engage even those difficult to reach students?

Over the last 20 years, WhyTry has led the way with practical and effective social and emotional education resources. These include curriculum, tools, and training to help educators motivate, address mental health needs, and follow a trauma-informed approach to build emotional resilience in every student.

Incorporating The WhyTry Approach

The WhyTry is not just a series of tools and resources to teach life skills; it’s an approach to motivating even the most difficult to reach students. In this webinar, we discuss practical examples of how educators can build competencies that are key to student engagement and follow our proven model of teaching resilience to all students.

Panelists

Ashley Wright
Born and raised in Houston, TX, Ashley Wright went through undergraduate studies as an Education Major at Sam Houston State University as well graduate studies as a Professional School Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor. She currently serves as an elementary school counselor in Conroe ISD at Lucille J. Bradley Elementary. She has been an educator for the past 13 years and a school counselor for the past 4 years. Ashley Wright teaches students to accept diversity, increase their self-esteem, build character and maintain resilience. Ashley continues to implement a diverse comprehensive counseling program that is dedicated to meeting the needs of her students, staff and the community. From weekly counseling lessons, student leadership opportunities, parent education shows, and student achievement awards, Ashley brings enthusiasm and campus engagement throughout the entire school year. As an advocate for the school counseling profession, Ashley has also presented several national webinars with the national WhyTry program and Region 4 Education Center with counseling program implementation ideas, tools, and strategies to increase student attendance and engagement, and school counselor self-care. Overall, Ashley continues to influence other professional school counselors in their role and strives to create change in our education system.

Jennifer Kortge, LMSW
Jennifer is currently in her twenty-fourth year as a School Social Worker at the Consortium for Exceptional Children, the Special Education Department of Almont, Dryden, and Imlay City Schools in Lapeer County, Michigan. Jennifer is privileged to work with extraordinary students and staff in elementary and secondary settings across the districts. The WhyTry Program and Resilience for Youth Program have been foundational in her work to support social-emotional learning. In 2021, Jennifer additionally became a Certified Trauma & Resilience Trainer through Starr Commonwealth of Michigan.

Want to Learn More?

Our online social and emotional learning curriculum can be taught in virtual classrooms. Help your students develop resilience in this time of crisis and isolation.

Schedule a Curriculum Demo

Empowering School Counselors to Increase Their Impact on Students and Teachers

The increasing importance of school counselors

One thing the last two years have taught us is that due to the many emotional and social impacts of this pandemic on students and staff, the role that counselors have in our schools has become increasingly important . Today school counselors are like the Swiss army knives of education, filling so many important support roles for both students and staff. From guidance counseling to class changes, social and emotional supports to behavioral interventions, or testing, counselors do it all! In this webinar our panel of educators will discuss challenges we are facing today and what we can do to support and empower school counselors as they focus on fostering resilience in students and becoming a greater resource for our staff.

Panelists:

Denise M Cipolla
Denise is the Coordinator for Guidance and Counseling, working with the 173 counselors in 65 schools serving 68,000 students. Supporting Mental Health is a focus for Conroe ISD in Conroe, Texas. These efforts are strategically driven by prevention, intervention. crisis response and providing resources for support to students, parents and staff.

Denise passionate about working with young people to help them realize their potential and encourages them to reach for their dreams while freeing themselves from being victims of their past. She is a strong advocate of Reality therapy and teaching the importance of effective communication skills, patience, and acceptance of individual differences. She is dedicated to teaching Resiliency, grit, and using failures as fuel for future success.

Roger Gurganus
Roger Gurganus is Principal at Patrick Henry Middle School, a 8-9 building in Woodhaven, MI. He has a passion for children and education and strives to ensure that every student is connected and feels part of the positive communities he creates. Along with creating a culture of hope and love in his own middle school, Roger also is committed to bringing hope, love and education to the children of Uganda, Africa where each summer he travels in hope of making a bigger difference in the lives of students who need it the most. Roger believes that teaching is not a job, but rather a calling and hopes that through his work, lives can be changed, dreams can become reality and mountains can be moved.

Roger was named the Administrator of the Year 2021-22 by the Michigan School Counselors Association

Betsy Kanagawa
Betsy is a School Counselor at Patrick Henry Middle School in Woodhaven, MI. She is also a Licensed Professional Counselor and provides supervision for LLCs. Betsy is passionate about writing and teaching classroom lessons and providing small group support to her students. In 2019 Patrick Henry Middle School earned the Recognized ASCA Model Program Award. Betsy currently serves the Michigan School Counseling Association as the Middle School Level VP and Michigan Comprehensive School Counseling Program and RAMP chair for the MSCA and is the 2021 Michigan School Counselor of the Year.

Want to Learn More?

Our online social and emotional learning curriculum can be taught in virtual classrooms. Help your students develop resilience in this time of crisis and isolation.

Schedule a Curriculum Demo