Registration

Join us for the Summit! This ticket includes:

• Two days of Summit presentations, happening Wednesday, September 10 – Thursday, September 11
• Breakfast, coffee and snacks each day of the Summit, provided by our generous sponsors!
• Access to exhibitors

NAMI NH’s Connect Suicide Prevention Program for School Personnel

School staff are key to spotting changes in student behavior that may signal depression, substance misuse, or suicide risk. Connect is a community-based program that equips schools to recognize warning signs, promote prevention, and respond to individuals at risk. The training includes National Best Practice protocols, interactive case scenarios, discussion, exercises, PowerPoint, and printed materials.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE PRE-CONFERENCE SESSION*

School Safety

This session will focus on the following topics:

• Developing Threat Assessment Teams to get students the help they need before a problem arises
• Emergency Planning
• Other safety measures

Participants will be able to work on plans for their district with subject matter experts and share their own solutions with each other. This is an opportunity to bring a team from your district.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE PRE-CONFERENCE SESSION*

Supporting Educator Wellness: Practical Strategies for Building Resilience in Ourselves and Our Communities

Educators will be oriented to models of resilience, neuroscience related to active coping, and trauma stewardship. We will learn and practice accessible, evidence-based strategies for personal wellness and health that can be used in our daily life in our multiple roles including those of community membership and as professional educators. We will also explore ways we can translate these best practices to use with our students, colleagues, and in our communities to promote spaces of wellness and resilience in the face of challenge and difficulty. Time will be dedicated to consider tailoring of these practices for relevance to our individual and community cultures.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE PRE-CONFERENCE SESSION*

Chronic Absenteeism

This session will focus on this complex problem which has impacts across the country and across Alaska. This session will introduce new resources from the Department of Education and Early Development and provide a space for districts to bring what works to share. A multitiered system of support resources to increase attendance will be made available for districts to use as they wish. The opportunity for an ongoing community of practice will be shared.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE POST-CONFERENCE SESSION*

Alaska Safe Children’s Act

This session will cover how districts can meet the requirements of the statute regarding sexual abuse prevention and safe dating through state funded curricula, or through other local school board approved materials. This session will be a kick off to a Community of Practice where school staff can share ideas and resources about what they are doing to teach these important topics.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE POST-CONFERENCE SESSION*

Safe Homes, Safe Students with PC CARES

The single most effective way to prevent suicide is firearm lethal means reduction in settings with guns. Most families in Alaska have firearms, and school staff need to be ready to engage in conversations with family members to keep young people safe, especially when students are struggling with mental health. The hands-on session will offer information and resources to participants and give them time to practice how to engage with parents and guardians about lethal means safety to prevent suicide.

Discussions will invite participants to consider how they might institutionalize conversations about lethal means safety in their schools and districts. The workshop will invite participants to consider how to balance an evidence-based intervention to reduce suicide risk – lethal means safety – with school communication norms related to parents and guardians, and to consider school policy can open doors to respectfully engage with adult family members to promote safety when concerned about a student’s mental health struggles.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE POST-CONFERENCE SESSION*

AASB Beyond the Classroom: Extending Trauma-Engaged SEL to Families

Kids thrive when schools and families work together. In this deep dive session, we’ll cover how to share your trauma-engaged skills with families so that parents have the language and tools to use at home. We’ll also explore how school staff can learn from families about strategies and approaches that might help students in the classroom. The result: students are supported and thriving at home and at school.

*Note: YOU MAY ONLY ATTEND ONE POST-CONFERENCE SESSION*