In-Service Workshops

Open-Ended Art for Educators explores the value of process over product, encouraging teachers to prioritize creativity, exploration, and individual expression rather than perfect outcomes. Participants learn how open-ended art supports children’s self-regulation, confidence, and problem-solving skills, while fostering a classroom environment where mistakes are seen as a natural and valuable part of learning. The workshop highlights how giving children freedom in art-making promotes imagination, independence, and deeper engagement. This workshop is recommended for Preschool through Grade 2 staff.

We all want to protect young people from harm. But in an era of rising mental health concerns, it can be hard to know when to step in and when to step back. Learning to tell the difference between harmful stress and productive stress is one of the most valuable tools we have. This session offers schools and families a shared framework for understanding how resilience is built and how adults can support young people in developing the capacity to meet challenges. Participants will leave with a common understanding of the nervous system, shared language around stress, and practical tools for working together to build resilience.

This session can serve as a standalone for school administrators or can be offered through schools for parents.

This presentation is designed to help educational, mental health, and community professionals both deepen their connections with their colleagues, students, teams, and families and focus on their own self-care as a way to build and maintain professional resilience. We will focus on strategies to foster interprofessional collaboration so that all team members share both the challenges and joys of their work. We will also discuss barriers and share solutions to collaborating and engaging in consistent self-care.

Do you have a student or know a person who has "Given up” on trying to learn, feels like they are just not good enough, or outside or internal criticism has led them to believe that no matter what they do, their circumstance will not improve? They may be a struggling learner, and the pain of dealing with their disability, even though they feel they have tried to learn, has led them to constant failures, shame, and the inability to progress. This is a state called "Learned Helplessness." The person feels that whatever they do, they have no power to change their current circumstances. This can also lead to anxiety, stress, depression, and substance abuse. Dr. Martin Seligman theorized learned helplessness, which can leave a person feeling hopeless, passive, and lacking motivation or internal drive. Change can happen if we help a person rewire their brain. Changing the negative story they have been telling themselves is the first step in this process.