Opening and Grounding exercise (10 Minutes) We will welcome participants, review the agenda for the day and set the tone for the day’s learning using trauma effective practices such as an awareness of the topic’s high emotional content; acknowledging and validating one’s experience; and setting clear expectations that our conversation is private and confidential.
Connect to Purpose (5 Minutes) We will share our personal stories as school shooting survivors in order to help participants connect their own experience to ours.
Gain Momentum (5 Minutes) Participants will learn about the realities of gun violence in American schools and communities as we share statistics and a history of school shootings and lockdown drills.
Integrate and Process (10 Minutes) Participants likely have their own experiences to share, because gun violence is so prevalent in the United States. Through guided questions, partners and then small groups will have time to share and process what they have learned so far during the session.
Get Informed (5 Minutes) We will share a variety of research-supported resources and actions that participants can take to reduce gun violence in their communities. Examples of resources we will share include tools for personal and professional advocacy work and prevention and postvention support Teachers Unify Crisis Intervention and Support Team can offer. The purpose of this time will be to give participants resources they can integrate into the action plan they will build.
Integrate and Create Action Plan (20 Minutes) Participants will collaborate with peers to build a personalized action plan for their school community. They will be able to integrate their own knowledge of their community along with actionable steps we suggest to build a plan that addresses gun violence in a sustained and multi-faceted way. Participants will consider how they can use social media, letter writing, strategic community partnerships and other creative avenues to begin and sustain their action plan.
Reflect (5 minutes) Participants will use individual reflection and think time to consider what their next most elegant step might be as they prepare to leave our idea lab and move into their school communities.
Take Action Now (5 Minutes) To help jumpstart our collective action, we will all take a first action step via social media or personal text messaging to spread the importance of reducing gun violence.
Closure (15 Minutes) Participants will create a safe space to process and reflect on their experience in order to bring closure that offers a sense of collective power and hope.
During the Idea Lab, participants will collaborate with peers to gather and select resources to incorporate into a personalized action plan to help advocate for research-supported gun violence prevention strategies in their school communities. With their action plan in hand, participants will leave feeling supported by a growing, nation-wide community of educators empowered to take action.
https://www.teachersunify.org/
https://teachersunify.transistor.fm/
Schultz, M. J. (2021). Systems Consultation When Trauma Strikes: Stories of Hope, Collaboration, and Change.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/school-shootings-database/
https://www.everytown.org/solutions/active-shooter-drills/
https://everytownresearch.org/report/how-to-stop-shootings-and-gun-violence-in-schools/#introduction
https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/health/surviving-school-shooting-impacts-mental-health-education-and-earnings-american
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/the-impact-of-active-shooter-drills-on-student-health-and-wellbeing
https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=phs
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