Four Bellefontaine City Schools’ educators sharpened their skills this summer.

Shanel Henry, Julie Kurtz, Sandi Chervenak, and Cheryl Poppel attended the Innovative Schools Summit in Atlanta. The purpose of the summit was for educators to learn more about how to address learning loss, use supportive discipline, and help marginalized students.

One of the keynote speakers that the group found to be most powerful was Michele Borba, Ed.D., who spoke about the critical need for caring champions. She renewed their beliefs that students need adults on their side to stand with them through success and failure.

Another keynote speaker who was a crowd favorite was Stand Tall Steve Bollar. He had an incredible personal story, used humor in his presentation, and had an immense amount of ideas for motivating and encouraging children. He also explained how important it is for the whole staff to be on board when instituting a school plan.

Larry Thompson, Me.D., was another keynote speaker who had great ideas. His presentation and book were titled “Closing the Exits off the Road to Responsibility.” All four attendees agreed that his system would really be useful if implemented into Bellefontaine City Schools.

Beyond the keynote speakers, the attendees had opportunities to attend breakout sessions from many areas of interest surrounding the theme. Cheryl Poppel attended a session presented by Jennifer Moore, Ed.D., and Lisa Barajas from Chicago entitled “Using the Well-being Wheel to Guide School Wellness Work.”

Mrs. Poppel explained, “Using the tools introduced in this session will help guide my students and peers to make choices that are best for their overall mental and physical well-being. This tool allows input for each member of our educational community. I am very excited to put it to use.”

Mrs. Kurtz listened to “Inside Out: Supporting Child and Secondary Trauma with Emotional Intelligence” presented by Brian Dinkins, Ed.D., from Indianapolis. His presentation explained that through research it has been determined that trauma and stress can impact the brain and cause long term health issues. He gave practical ways to help these children.

Mrs. Kurtz said, “One of the best ideas I got from this session was how to help build resilience plans that can be personalized by each teacher, counselor, or administrator. This is really going to have an impact on our students experiencing trauma.”