by Chan Hellman, Phd. and Casey Gwinn, J.D.
One of the bestselling children’s books in history is Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”  It will soon celebrate its 30th Anniversary. The 1990 classic includes this line: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”  We love to challenge children and adults to say it out loud and repeat it over and over. This summer thousands of children will chant it in Camp HOPE America, our camp for children impacted by domestic violence. No matter the toxic stress we faced in childhood or the adversity of our lives, no matter the heartache we have endured – the goals we set, the directions we choose for our future, and the obstacles we overcome on the journey to our dreams are at the heart of well-being.  Today, the lexicon that parallels Dr. Seuss’ book includes words and phrases like resilience, trauma-informed, protective factors, and ACEs. CLICK HERE to continue reading

Tobacco 21 goes into effect January 1, 2020. The state Department of Health has issued resources to assist schools in planning. Please see the attached letter and info about the new youth app. Together, we can support our collective effort to keep kids safe by preventing and reducing vaping.

• K-12 Letter
• K-12 FAQ
• Youth App Flyer

additional resources from Washington State Department of Health

GATE Equity Webinars, January 8 - Supporting College Readiness and Master Scheduling/College Ready Transcripts

School discipline, substance use, and restraint and isolation training, ESD 112, January 16th

GATE Advisory meeting: English Learners, SPSCC February 11

GATE Equity Webinars, February 12

MTSS Fest, SeaTac,  May 4-5

Piecing me Together, by Renee Watson. A Novel told from a young girl’s point of view as she navigates a mentoring program:

Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn't really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Just because her mentor is black and graduated from the same high school doesn't mean she understands where Jade is coming from. She's tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.

Hope Rising:  How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life by Casey Gwinn and Chan Hellman

“Collective hope requires the group to have a shared vision of the future (goals) and collectively agree on the strategies (pathways) for pursuing this vision along with a unified mental focus (willpower).”

Mentor Washington

Evidence Based Mentoring

New Zealand research summary:

Student Engagement in the Middle Years of Schooling (Years 7-10) Gibbs, R., Poskitt, J. (2010).  Student Engagement in the Middle Years of Schooling (years 7 to 10): a Literature Review, Ministry of Education, New Zealand, Education Counts Website.

What is Youth Engagement?

TVW series "Engaged"
episode list

TVW Documentary on Green Hill School "More than Their Crimes"

Youth-Adult Partnerships in Work with Youth: An Overview

Akiva, T., Cortina, K. S., & Smith, C. (2014). Involving youth in program decision-making: How common and what might it do for youth?. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(11), 1844-1860. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kai_Cortina/publication/265691887_Involving_Youth_in_Program_Decision-Making_How_Common_and_What_Might_it_Do_for_Youth/links/54fdf8730cf2741b69ef992e.pdf

Roger Hart's Ladder of Young People's Participation

Adult and Children’s Hope Scale

Hope Poster