Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Drake University
Second Presenter's Institution
NA
Third Presenter's Institution
NA
Fourth Presenter's Institution
NA
Fifth Presenter's Institution
NA
Location
Session 3 (Ballroom D)
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Strand #2
Social & Emotional Skills
Relevance
Our proposal relates to multiple topics around academic achievement and leadership. The focus on the whole-child and wellbeing is the most direct focus. All educators who work with at-risk youth understand that students most basic needs must be met first before high levels of learning can take place. Our presentation is aimed at helping educators understand risk factors and how to build relationships with at-risk youth so that they are a caring and trusted adult that can leverage their role to help all students learn and lead.
Topics that align to our presentation are: Early intervention; Alternative schools; Career readiness; Academic instruction (reading, writing, mathematics, or science) for students at risk of failure; Reducing achievement gaps; Equitable opportunity to learn;
Our proposal clearly addresses fostering social and emotional skills for children and youth. The speakers with both share personal insights as well as feedback from incarcerated men and women who have shared lessons about how their social and emotional well-being could have been better served while in school. Furthermore, participants in the session will personally hear from a speaker (Jamie Ross) who is both a victim and success story. This both provides insight and motivation for those that work with at-risk youth. She will share her story with specific attention on how what the educators in her did and how it affected her overall well-being.
Topics that align to our presentation are: Creating a sense of community in classrooms & schools; Caring curriculum; Character education; Self-Esteem; School climate;
Brief Program Description
This presentation is designed to provide insight to those who serve at-risk populations. Participants will explore the risk factors and statistics around at-risk youth. Furthermore, participants will have the opportunity to hear first-hand from an incarcerated women who can testify to successful and unsuccessful interventions adults attempted to help her with. She is both a victim and success story that is the face of how education can indeed make a difference for kids.
After successful completion of this course students will be able to:
- Build empathy for students who do not have support from parents.
- Understand why attendance is often poor for at-risk students.
- Identify strategies to effectively communicate with at-risk students.
- Identify effective interventions to support pre-identified at-risk students.
Summary
Anyone can understand that it is difficult for students to learn when they do not have the stability and support outside the school setting. Educators themselves are legally obligated as mandatory reports to report allegations of child abuse. However, many at-risk students are not identified. Others who are identified never truly get the proper support needed to be successful in school. The call for educators to effectively intervene with at-risk students is more important now than ever before being that more and more students are coming to school at-risk. Although educators often try hard to intervene when they know students need help, they also miss risk factors and calls for help that may be the difference in a student getting they help they need.
This proposed presentation is part of a larger program called The Domino Effect Program. For more information visit: https://thedominoeffectprogram.weebly.com/ The program has had a profound impact on many educators and others that serve youth in Iowa. The presentation will highlight lessons from the program over the last 4 years and engage participants in hearing first-hand from victim and success story Jamie Ross. Jamie was incarcerated for being part of a murder in 1995. She turned her life around while in prison and also learned valuable life lessons that she did not learn from her family nor educators. In 2003 she started a work release program and was discharged from prison in 2009. She is now successfully employed with a husband and two children. She will share her story so that others can learn from her tragedies and triumphs as they strive to reach at-risk youth.
Evidence
The Domino Effect Program is a partnership between the men's prison in Fort Madison and the women's prison in Mitchellville and Drake University all in Iowa. The goal of the program is to expose K-12 educators to inmates who share insights and advice that will help them better serve current students. It has been a success with other 1000 people who have attended the programs over the last 4 years.
Refection’s from past participants:
Biographical Sketch
Trent Grundmeyer served as a high school principal for 9 years. He was named Iowa Secondary Principal of the Year in 2013. He earned a Specialist Degree from Iowa State University in 2008, Master’s Degree at Drake University in 2005, and Bachelor’s Degree from Buena Vista University in 2003. Trent Grundmeyer currently serves as an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. His research focus includes technology adoption, parent school communication, school law, and public school reform. Trent teaches multiple classes in the masters, specialist, and doctorate programs at Drake, which include Supervision of Instruction, Leadership and the Profession, School Law, and Advanced School Law.
Jamie Ross (https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/iowa-woman-uses-her-time-prison-help-others#stream/0).
Keyword Descriptors
At-risk, Intervention, Social/Emotional, Systems of Support, Lessons
Presentation Year
2020
Start Date
3-9-2020 3:00 PM
End Date
3-9-2020 4:15 PM
Recommended Citation
Grundmeyer, Trent and Ross, Jamie, "The Domino Effect: Lessons from the Prison Walls" (2020). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 24.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2020/2020/24
Included in
Academic Advising Commons, Adult and Continuing Education Commons, Counseling Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Educational Leadership Commons
The Domino Effect: Lessons from the Prison Walls
Session 3 (Ballroom D)
This presentation is designed to provide insight to those who serve at-risk populations. Participants will explore the risk factors and statistics around at-risk youth. Furthermore, participants will have the opportunity to hear first-hand from an incarcerated women who can testify to successful and unsuccessful interventions adults attempted to help her with. She is both a victim and success story that is the face of how education can indeed make a difference for kids.
After successful completion of this course students will be able to:
- Build empathy for students who do not have support from parents.
- Understand why attendance is often poor for at-risk students.
- Identify strategies to effectively communicate with at-risk students.
- Identify effective interventions to support pre-identified at-risk students.
