The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center, and the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) invite you to join our next webinar: Youth and Young Adult Experiences as School Violence Survivors and Advocates.
Young people and individuals who have experienced acts of violence in schools or their communities carry that experience with them. These events can have lasting impacts and may also motivate survivors to become advocates to prevent and address violence. Whether they have personal experience with violence or are reacting to news about school and community violence, many students and young adults are working tirelessly to address school and community violence, and they have ideas to share.
This webinar, the fifth in the Preventing and Addressing School Violence Miniseries, elevated the voices of current and past students who have lived through acts of violence in schools or who are working and advocating to address school and community violence. Our five speakers shared how the focus on violence in the media and their real experiences of violence have impacted them. They talked about what safety means to them and what schools can do to increase safety. Using the past webinars in this series as a blueprint, the speakers discussed each phase of addressing violence in in schools; Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. The speakers will also share strategies you can implement in your schools and districts.
Speakers & Panelists
- Adeethyia Shankar, Sophomore, Brown University, President Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 1 Youth Preparedness Council, RI
- O’Marie Barnes, Founder, Community Organization Barnes and Scott Youth Law Camp; Member, Congressman Glenn Ivey’s Safe Streets and Youth Advisory Board; Student Advocate, Maryland Center of School Safety, MD
- Grace Fischer, Student, Newtown High School, Person With Lived Experience, CT
- Anja Herrman, Researcher and Disabilities Rights Advocate; Member, Illinois Advisory Council for the Education of Students with Disabilities, IL
- Rachel Schmucker, Functional Academics Teacher, Metropolitan School District of Warren Township, Person With Lived Experience, IN
Webinar Materials
Resources, slides, speaker bios, the webinar recording (available the day after the event), and more will be posted here.
Related Resources
REMS TA Center
- Toolkit: Building Blocks to School Safety
- Fact Sheet: Integrating K–12 Students With Disabilities Into School Emergency Management Planning
- EOP Interactive Tools
Center on PBIS
- Implementing Physical Safety Measures Effectively at Schools
- How State Leaders Can Help Respond to Incidents of School-Based Gun Violence and Support Recovery in School Communities
- Physical Safety Measures: Communication Systems
- Physical Safety Measures: Outdoor and Entrance Safety Procedures
- Physical Safety Measures: Classroom Safety Procedures
Other Resources
- Firearm Violence in America, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Mitigating the Academic Impacts of Proximity to Homicide, UChicago Consortium on School Research
More on the Lessons from the Field Series
To access archived materials from previous webinars and to find out what is coming next, go here.
In Case You Missed It
Looking for information on how to address the needs of neurodivergent individuals in emergency operations plans? Read this new fact sheet from the REMS TA Center: Integrating Neurodivergent K-12 Students and Staff Into School Emergency Management Planning.
Please contact NCSSLE if you have any questions.