NNSTOY's 2021 National Summit on Student and Teacher Resilience and Well-Being
July 13, 2021
This one-day event contributes to a national conversation about the importance of focusing on the social-emotional health and well-being of students, teachers, school leaders, and community members for the crucial 2021-2022 school year.
Learn Together, Lead Together
The impacts on two separate school years by pandemic disruptions create never before experienced challenges and stresses on our nation’s education system this coming fall 2021 school year. Students, teachers, education support professionals, families, and school administrators across the country need a thoughtful, flexible, and unified education strategy that fosters resiliency and well-being to address our national education recovery and the inequities experienced by our most marginalized students, BIPOC, and students from low-income families. Yet, still, even in moments of crisis our educators manage to do what they do best: teach and care for students. Recovery requires a bold vision for the future grounded in equity from teacher leaders, and an unwavering commitment to protecting the emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing of students.
The Summit will:
- Address the importance of student and teacher well-being and resilience within teaching and learning after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Focus on strategies for achieving equity for BIPOC and low-income students, especially during this critical 2021-2022 school year.
- Highlight exemplars and share best practices for teaching and learning that fosters and ensure student and teacher well-being and resilience.
Conference Details
Registration will be open to teachers across the country. The event will include keynote speakers, a Teacher, Student, Policymaker, Parent Roundtable, and professional development breakout sessions. More information will be coming soon.
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Sydney Jensen, a Georgia native, is a ninth-grade English teacher at Lincoln High School in the epicenter of America’s heartland: Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln is one of the nation’s top cities for refugee resettlement, and students at Lincoln High speak more than 30 languages. Jensen also serves as an instructional coordinator working with new and veteran teachers to provide instructional support and mentorship and is an adjunct professor at Doane University where she teaches a course on being Trauma-Informed and Trauma-Responsive. In recognition of her work in the classroom and the school community, Jensen is the 2019 Nebraska Teacher of the Year.
She is a passionate advocate for increased mental and emotional wellness support for both students and the teachers who serve them. When she is not teaching, she is advocating to policy leaders about the importance of supporting teacher wellness. In 2019, she gave an official TED talk on the impact of secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue on teachers who work with students experiencing trauma. Her talk has received over 2.6 million views to date.
Jensen earned her BsED in English Education from the University of Georgia in 2013, and a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from Doane University in 2020.
Josh Parker’s mission in education and life is to “help people and solve problems.” Throughout his career, he has achieved both goals. He has served students and teachers within the Baltimore/Washington D.C. corridor as an ELA Instructional Coach, Language Arts Department Chair, Secondary Language Arts teacher, professor and compliance specialist. He has also served teachers, administrators and educational leaders throughout the country as the Senior Director of Programs and Engagement at Unbound Ed. Mr. Parker, a Teaching Channel Laureate and Education Week writer, was also a Lowell Milken Unsung Hero (2017), N.E.A. Global Fellow (2013) and Maryland Teacher of the year (2012). He is now a full-time educational consultant and lives with his wife of over a decade, Tiffany and their two children, Laila and Joshua.
Education Roundtable
Dr. Richard Warren Jr has nearly a decade of teaching experience and holds a Bachelors in Science, Masters in Teaching, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In February 2019, Richard was inducted into the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hall of Excellence, the highest honor of achievement offered by his University. As the eighth-grade science teacher at Crisfield High School and Academy, Dr. Warren led the school’s first-ever S.T.E.M program. An award-winning program he designed to meet the challenges of the global society through innovation, collaboration, and creative problem-solving. His students were selected as state finalists out of 3,000 applicants in the national Samsung S.T.E.M competition. Richard has been recognized statewide as a top educator by the Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland General Assembly with honors in both the House of Delegates and State Senate.
Qorsho Hassan is a bilingual educator, researcher, and community organizer. She is the 2020 Minnesota Teacher of the Year and teaches fourth grade at ISD 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan). Qorsho is the artist and co-author behind the exhibit and book “Urur Dhex-Dhexaad Ah: Community In-Between,” which presents color portraits, first-person video stories, and written narratives of Somali-Americans from Columbus, Ohio. She is a strong advocate for educational equity and amplifying student voice and agency. Qorsho serves on the board of 826 MSP, a creative writing and tutoring nonprofit in South Minneapolis that serves students of color.
OFFICIAL TITLE:
Matthew L Blomstedt, Ph.D.
Commissioner of Education
BIO:
Dr. Matthew Blomstedt was named Commissioner of Education by the Nebraska State Board of Education on January 2, 2014.
Dr. Blomstedt led the successful development and implementation of a comprehensive state accountability system, AQuESTT, and positioned Nebraska to meet new federal requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
AQuESTT ― Accountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow ― is Nebraska’s next-generation accountability system. AQuESTT goes beyond test scores and graduation rates to classify schools and districts under a system that provides critical information for continuous school improvement. This forward-thinking system is expected to position Nebraska to not only meet new federal guidelines but to also empower the state’s excellent schools to become even better while helping schools needing improvement. AQuESTT’s goal is to provide the data and information needed to strengthen school and district support of student learning by focusing on every student every day. AQuESTT has earned the support of Nebraska educators, state education policy leaders and the State Board of Education.
To further develop and focus on improvement efforts, Dr. Blomstedt and the State Board of Education, jointly initiated a comprehensive strategic plan to guide their student-focused work and that of the Nebraska Department of Education.
Dr. Blomstedt serves on several boards and commissions in Nebraska. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Council of Chief State School Officers in December 2017 and assumed the presidency in 2020.
BACKGROUND:
Dr. Blomstedt is a native Nebraskan whose career focuses on local, regional and statewide education issues. Blomstedt’s experience includes education finance and organization, assessment and accountability, professional development, and the development of systems to enhance blended and distance learning opportunities across the state.
Dr. Blomstedt earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Higher Education and a Master’s Degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Arianna Prothero is a Texas-based reporter for Education Week covering students and their well-being. She has also extensively reported on school choice policy for the paper. Previously, she was a reporter and anchor at WLRN, the NPR-affiliate station in Miami and before that at WFIU in Bloomington, Ind. She holds a degree in political science from Indiana University.
Bobbie Cavnar received a Bachelor of Science in English Education from Florida State University in 1999. He taught English and Journalism for four years in the Ft. Lauderdale area before moving to North Carolina where he teaches Advanced Placement Literature and heads the English Department at South Point High School in Gaston County. In 2011 he earned a Master of Arts in English from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, wherein his focus was English Renaissance Literature.
Mr. Cavnar frequently conducts both local and state-level workshops for teachers and begins every school year by providing all beginning teachers in his district with a tour of his “Model Classroom.” Mr. Cavnar is a five-time recipient of his school’s “Most Inspirational Educator Award” (which is voted on by the students of the school). Mr. Cavnar is the 2015 Gaston County Teacher of the Year, the 2016 North Carolina Teacher of the Year, and was just named “The Nation’s Top Public School Teacher,” when he received the NEA Foundation’s national award for teaching excellence.
Mr. Cavnar’s North Carolina platform centered around equal access to education being fundamental to the success of our society but also the keeping of a historical promise made in the founding documents of our nation. His national platform challenges schools to teach empathy as a skill through a renewed focus on the arts and humanities.
Breakout
You're Feeling Burned Out, Let's Fix It!
50% of teachers leave within the first five years. Most leaders last only three. Burnout contributes to this crisis, which robs professionals of chosen careers and students of experienced educators. But it doesn’t have to be this way. During this session, learn what sets healthy, high-performing, and resilient teachers apart from those who burnout. Walk away with three strategies to model positive attitudes and behaviors throughout the school community.
Julia King Pool is a former educator, the 2013 DC Teacher of the Year, and founder of Burn-in Mindset, an organization focused on reducing teacher and leader burnout. The Burn-in Mindset coaching program works with high-performing teachers and school leaders and utilizes components of positive psychology to reignite educators’ passion for their work. Through one-on-one coaching, Burn-in Mindset helps schools retain their top talent, reduce symptoms of burnout, and increase teacher morale.
Breakout
Backtracking Apathy: A Road Map to Understanding Academic Disengagement Among Teens
We’ve all faced students who possess the cognitive abilities to succeed academically, but whose lack of engagement, motivation, or perseverance hold them back. There is no panacea for this, no simple answer to what looks like apathy. But with a better understanding of adolescent development, especially from neurological and psychological perspectives – combined with the voices of teenagers themselves – we can maximize our opportunities to reach, teach, and transform these students. What adolescents tell us is what scientists are now telling us (without the big words). It is important, enlightening, and applicable. These are their stories.
The approach Chris takes with teaching and learning is to cultivate curiosity, facilitate introspection, and foster hope – a pedagogy influenced by 21 years of classroom experience and hundreds of interviews with adolescents. Over the past three years, Chris has traveled to 48 states to discuss with teenagers and young adults the origins of academic disengagement and the purpose of high school. The 2015 Missouri Teacher of the Year, Chris has created a successful dropout prevention program, helped found a school for students who learn differently, and developed a Human Learning & Well-being curriculum.
Attendees will leave this session with information, insight, and goals to reconsider their approach — and their schools’ approach — to maximizing adolescents’ cognitive and affective growth. A Google doc template is provided to help educators plan and implement meaningful post-conference change. This document also serves as a tool of introspection for teachers: a reunion with why we teach.
Breakout
Barriers to Bridges: Empowering English Learners through Resilience, Relationships, and Relevance.
English Learners encounter multiple barriers to learning. These barriers were magnified during the pandemic. English Learners also come to school with many assets and strengths! Learn strategies to build upon these strengths by cultivating student resilience and mindset. Participants will leave the session with resources and strategies to bridge barriers and empower ELs’ success through self-advocacy in the classroom, school, and community.
Jamey Olney
Jamey Olney was 2000 DoDEA Teacher of the Year. She teaches English Language Development at Glick Middle School in Modesto, CA, where she serves as the ELD site coordinator and advises the Hispanic Youth Leadership Council. Jamey previously taught grades K-8 and has served as an instructional coach and school administrator in underserved communities throughout Northern California and for DoDEA in Germany. In 2019-2020 she served as a California Teach Plus Policy Fellow and is currently a Teach Plus Change Agent Network leader. She was recognized as a 2020 California League of Middle Schools Educator of the Year.
Breakout
Resilience: What it Means and How to Teach It
What does it mean to be Resilient? How can educators tap into Resilience, let alone teach it to students, if they don’t understand what it means? In this session, participants will benefit from 10+ years of research into Resilience, understanding what other educators have identified as key components of Resilience. They will unpack these components, along with those of Courage, Mindfulness, and Leadership, all SEL competencies that complement Resilience. Participants will identify ways in which the components of these four competencies can be taught to others – adults and students – and will leave with materials to help them do so.
Participants will be prepared to lead others in unpacking the content of Resilience, Courage, Leadership, and Mindfulness. They will be prepared to teach these competencies through their academic content. They will have a much deeper understanding of what we mean by Resilience, as well as Courage, Mindfulness, and Leadership. Finally, they will leave with posters for each of these competencies, broken down into components in student-friendly language, that they can use in teaching them to students.
Katherine Bassett, NJ State Teacher of the Year 2000, is the Executive Director of the NJ Tutoring Corps and CEO of Tall Poppy LLC, providing consulting services for the Advanced Studies in Culture foundation and TeachUpbeat. Bassett served as President/CEO of NNSTOY, Director of Policy/Partnerships at Pearson, Director of the Educator Relations Group at ETS. She led development of the Teacher Leader Model Standards and co-led development of the Model Code of Ethics for Educators. Her research focuses on Social/Emotional learning, teacher leadership, and adult learning. She spent three years researching teaching SEL, developed SEL assessments, and courses in SEL.
Kristen Record, the 2011 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, has taught physics at Bunnell High School in Stratford since 2000. She is the recipient of the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for pre-college math and science teachers. Kristen is currently serving her fourth year as co-chair of Voya’s National STEM Fellowship through NNSTOY. She is the lead facilitator for the Center for Curriculum Redesign’s course, Introduction to 4D Teaching, which teaches educators how to infuse Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies across the dimensions of skills, character, and meta-learning, into K12 content instruction.
