In-Service Workshops

Core needs for everyone and crucial in creating a supportive, dynamic learning environment are connection and belonging. Creating an environment of safety, trust and engagement is the foundation for fostering healthy relationships amongst students and adults. One key and powerful way to create this environment of trust and engagement is using well-led play. Play helps create a social and emotional learning environment of cooperation, active engagement, joy and social connection. Thus, a Community of Care and Belonging.

Many play activities and Play leadership skills will be taught. Skills and activities that highlight how to use playfulness to engage students, how to add in playful movement as brain breaks, how to interject simple mindfulness activities and offer voice and choice which fosters safety and internal control, all while having fun ourselves.

This workshop will allow the participants to "Expand their bag of tricks." Utilizing energizers, ice breakers, circle games, active games, theater games, team building games, free play and imaginative play, this strand will offer many activities that will support any PBIS and SEL programming, responsive classroom curriculum or restorative circles practices.

Play is one of the fastest and most direct paths to building genuine connection — at any age. When people play together, something shifts. Guards come down, laughter opens doors, and belonging follows naturally. This highly experiential workshop explores how intentional, well-led play builds the social-emotional foundation every thriving classroom needs.

Drawing on the neuroscience of learning and behavior, the power of a growth mindset, and the science of positivity, you'll discover why play is the brain's most natural path to engagement — and how to use it purposefully. You'll leave with a toolkit of simple games and collaborative problem-solving activities designed to spark curiosity, build student agency, and deepen relational trust.

This workshop is informative, immediately applicable, and genuinely fun. Because when students feel connected, they're ready to learn — and when teachers feel it too, everyone thrives.

Designed for all K-12 school personnel, this 2-part workshop series aims to build a compassionate school system by challenging and empowering each member to be intentional about their approach to mental health. These interactive and engaging sessions explore strategies to improve systemic well-being and eliminate mental health stigma, while also facilitating authentic connections and self-care strategies as antidotes to isolation, stress, and burnout. Offered in partnership with Minding Your Mind, this in-person series invites participants to examine their attitudes, values, and actions regarding emotional well-being, both for themselves and their colleagues. Each session lasts 60-90 minutes and is exclusively available to school staff and administration.

This presentation is designed to inspire and empower general education teachers, special education teachers, specialists, and administrators to help students achieve their potential through compassionate collaborative strategies that address the whole child. We will talk about appreciating neurodiversity, proactive strategies for supporting students, cultivating partnerships with parents, interdisciplinary collaboration, and responding rather than reacting to challenging situations. The goal is to promote consistent mindsets and approaches across the district and to provide educational experiences that are supportive, student-focused, and reflective of today’s educational challenges.