Mental Fortitude & Resilience Model + Trauma-Responsive Practice

Presenters

• Kaley Billick, Noblesville School DistrictFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

M.Ed

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2011

First Presenter's Field of Study

Education and School Counseling

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

City University of Seattle

First Presenter's Institution

Noblesville School District

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Kaley Billick is an elementary school counselor, originally from Tacoma, Washington. During her time at Roosevelt Elementary, she served as the Tacoma Whole Child Facilitator for the building, transforming their system of support into a comprehensive, effective and positive school-wide model. After moving to Indiana in 2018, she held the title of City Connect Coordinator, a grant through Boston College and Marian University to serve the Indianapolis community and families in a neighborhood Charter school. Through this work, she recognized strengths and needs from every student, built relationships with families and identified and applied community partnerships for family - school connection. Currently, Kaley is a full-time school counselor in the Noblesville School District. Her passion lies in utilizing data to discuss tailoring of services, co-leading Professional Development with staff on trauma-informed classroom management strategies and is a member of the Student Support Team (SST) in her building. She was a Counselor of the Year Nominee in 2023, a Keynote Speaker for Counselors Role in MTSS: Tier 2 cohorts for Pacific Lutheran University in June 2023 and 2024 and is an active participant with Keep Indiana Learning!

Location

Ballroom D

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

Relevance to Primary Strand

This proposal is essential to wellness in a school environment because it highlights the connection between mindset, mental health and community growth. By focusing on resilience and trauma-responsive teaching, educators strengthen their ability to support students’ emotional needs while modeling perseverance themselves. The Warrior Mindset Framework encourages purposeful reflection and sustainable habits, which are key to reducing burnout and fostering belonging. Linking research on suicide prevention and habit formation ensures the work is both compassionate and evidence-based. Ultimately, this professional development cultivates a shared culture of accountability, empathy, and hope—foundations of a thriving, emotionally safe school community.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

This professional development focuses on building mental fortitude and resilience among educators and students using the Warrior Mindset Framework. Grounded in trauma-responsive teaching and post-pandemic behavioral needs, the session connects mindset growth to community, purpose and hope through evidence from suicide-prevention research and habit-formation science. Educators will learn why grit and perseverance matter in schools and life and how new thought and behavior patterns form over 66 days. Together, staff will reflect, set growth goals, and explore our new Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs, fostering a shared, compassionate approach to accountability, coaching and student success.

Summary

This is an effective proposals that will include a clearly defined outcome: What educators will do differently as a result of the session. This might include learning to use a new instructional model (Tier 1 strategies they can apply building wide and in the classroom), applying data-informed decision-making (Tiered Fidelity Reports, Scoring, self-assessments), strengthening social-emotional learning systems, or designing equitable classroom practices. For example, participants will leave with a ready-to-use lesson plan template, a coaching conversation framework, a rubric with a self assessment score and a toolkit for managing student behavior through restorative strategies.

Methods will include modeling, small-group collaboration, case studies and guided practice that promote active engagement. Demonstrations of successful programs, such as trauma-responsive approaches, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and culturally sustaining pedagogy, will help participants visualize application within their own context. Additionally, this presentation will integrate opportunities for reflection, encouraging educators to connect new learning to existing initiatives or challenges within their schools.

“Take-home” learning opportunities might include implementation guides, checklists or action planning templates that help participants sustain momentum after the session. I will offer digital resources, follow-up reflection prompts and access to a shared online hub for collaboration ensures learning extends beyond the workshop.

Evidence

Evidence supporting the field-tested effectiveness of this approach comes from multiple data sources demonstrating measurable improvements in educator mindset, student engagement and overall school climate. Noblesville School District adopted Behavior Solutions and Behavior Academies to support prevention and interventions aligned with the mindset framework. My comprehensive program implemented the Warrior Mindset Framework and trauma-responsive strategies and have reported increases in student self-regulation skills, self-efficacy, reductions in office discipline referrals and improved teacher confidence in managing challenging behaviors.

Survey data collected from participating educators show consistent growth in self-reported resilience, collaboration and use of restorative practices after eight weeks of implementation. Classroom observation data confirm that educators who engaged in mindset training and structured reflection cycles displayed more consistent use of positive framing, proactive relationship-building and calm response techniques.

Further evidence is drawn from pre- and post-assessment comparisons aligned to MTSS Tier 1 and Tier 2 intervention goals. Across pilot programs, teams reported a 35–50% increase in goal attainment related to classroom community, student coping skills, and peer conflict resolution. These gains were sustained over time when supported by coaching and data-informed feedback loops.

In addition, this approach integrates findings from suicide-prevention and habit-formation research, which emphasize the 66-day period required to form lasting behavior change. This evidence-based timeline has been successfully used to structure professional development cycles that promote gradual, sustainable growth rather than short-term compliance.

Learning Objective 1

Demonstrate understanding of the Warrior Mindset Framework as a trauma-responsive, evidence-based approach to fostering educator and student resilience, mental fortitude, and purpose within school communities.

Learning Objective 2

Examine research-based strategies from suicide-prevention and habit-formation science that connect mindset development to improved social-emotional wellness, engagement, and long-term behavior change.

Learning Objective 3

Develop an actionable implementation plan that integrates Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports through reflective goal setting, coaching collaboration, and data-informed accountability practices to sustain wellness initiatives across classrooms and teams

Start Date

6-1-2026 2:15 PM

End Date

6-1-2026 3:15 PM

Recommended Citation

Billick, Kaley, "Mental Fortitude & Resilience Model + Trauma-Responsive Practice" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 18.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/18

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.