“Leading with Superpowers: Building a Culture that Shapes Climate”

Presenters

• Kelvin WilliamsFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

EdD

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2024

First Presenter's Field of Study

Education

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

South Carolina State University

First Presenter's Institution

Sumter School District

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

Dr. Kelvin “Kel” Williams, Ed.D., LPC, CHO is the District Discipline Hearing Officer for Sumter School District. He earned his Doctorate in Education Leadership from South Carolina State University and is the first Certified Hearing Officer in South Carolina, credentialed by the National Association of Hearing Officials. A Licensed Professional Counselor, Dr. Williams brings over 25 years of experience in education, counseling, and leadership, including service as a district social worker, intervention specialist, and executive director of youth-focused organizations. He is also a formal certified senior instructor in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention and an authorized facilitator for Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children program. Known for his innovative frameworks—TheraPower, Empowerapy, and PowerHeal—Dr. Williams integrates emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and wellbeing into practical strategies for schools. His personal motto, “If life kicks you, let it kick you forward,” captures the resilience he inspires in educators and students alike

Location

Ballroom D

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

Relevance to Primary Strand

This proposal aligns with the Mindfulness and Wellbeing strand because it equips school leaders with practical tools to reduce stress, increase focus, and improve emotional balance for themselves and their communities. By reframing culture as what we do and climate as what people feel about what we do, the session emphasizes awareness of lived experiences—a core principle of mindfulness. The three superpowers—self-control, place values, and forgiveness—serve as actionable wellbeing practices. Self-control cultivates presence and emotional regulation, reducing reactive behaviors. Place values teaches perspective-taking, helping staff and students de-escalate stress by deciding which challenges deserve energy and which can be released. Forgiveness fosters resilience, preventing anxiety (future-focused worry) and depression (past-focused regret) from undermining the school environment. Together, these principles strengthen mindfulness, wellbeing, and self-care practices for both students and staff, directly supporting the strand’s goals.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Leadership/ Continuous Improvement

Brief Program Description

School climate and wellbeing are shaped not just by policies, but by how leaders show up each day. This session introduces three practical “superpowers” for educators: self-control, place values, and forgiveness. These tools help reduce stress, shift perspective, and release the weight of past conflicts. Participants will leave with clear strategies to create calmer classrooms, stronger connections, and a climate where everyone can thrive.

Summary

School culture and climate often feel like abstract concepts, but they directly shape how students, staff, families, and communities experience education every day. Culture is defined by what a school does, while climate reflects how people feel about those actions. This distinction matters, because while culture sets the framework, climate reveals the lived impact. Leaders may not be able to control every circumstance, but they can influence both culture and climate through intentional practices.

This session introduces three practical “superpowers” that school leaders and educators can immediately apply to strengthen mindfulness and wellbeing in their schools. The first superpower is self-control: recognizing that the only person one can truly control is oneself. Rather than demanding specific responses from others, effective leaders model composure, provide choices, and implement consistent consequences. The second superpower is place values: deciding whether to treat challenges as “big things” or “small things.” By assigning the right weight to issues, leaders reduce unnecessary stress and model balance for their teams. The third superpower is forgiveness, which serves as a release valve for the anxiety of living in the future or the depression of being stuck in the past. Practicing forgiveness allows schools to move forward with resilience and clarity.

Through discussion, reflection, and real-world examples, participants will explore how these three superpowers can improve attention, lower stress, and promote self-care in classrooms and offices. The session will provide tools for embedding mindfulness into daily routines, strategies for responding to conflict without escalating tension, and practices that restore relationships.

Attendees will leave with actionable methods they can take back to their schools to build calmer classrooms, stronger connections, and healthier climates where both students and staff are equipped to thrive.

Evidence

Evidence of Effectiveness and Research Base

The proposed approach integrates three practical “superpowers”—self-control, place values, and forgiveness—that align with evidence-based practices in mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed leadership. These strategies are not theoretical; they have been applied in schools to reduce stress, strengthen relationships, and improve climate by shaping daily interactions between educators, students, and families.

Self-control reflects core findings in emotional intelligence research, which demonstrate that self-regulation is one of the strongest predictors of effective leadership and classroom management (Goleman, 1995; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). By focusing on what individuals can control—their own actions and responses—educators reduce conflict escalation and create more predictable, supportive environments.

Place values draws from cognitive-behavioral theory and stress appraisal research, which show that the way individuals assign meaning to events directly impacts their emotional and behavioral responses (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Helping educators evaluate whether challenges are “big things” or “small things” lowers unnecessary stress and promotes balanced decision-making.

Forgiveness has been identified in psychological and educational research as a protective factor against anxiety, depression, and relational breakdowns. Forgiveness interventions in schools have been shown to improve student wellbeing, reduce conflict, and increase overall school connectedness (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2015; Worthington, 2006). By practicing forgiveness, educators and students release the burden of past conflicts and cultivate resilience.

The combination of these three strategies aligns with promising practices in mindfulness and wellbeing, which emphasize present-moment awareness, emotional regulation, and relational repair. This framework is field-tested in educational settings where reducing stress, strengthening focus, and fostering healthier climates are ongoing goals. Participants will leave with actionable strategies supported by both research and practical application, making the session relevant and transferable across varied school contexts.

References

Enright, R. D., & Fitzgibbons, R. P. (2015). Forgiveness therapy: An empirical guide for resolving anger and restoring hope (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14526-000

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.

Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.

Worthington, E. L. (2006). Forgiveness and reconciliation: Theory and application. Routledge.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to differentiate between culture and climate and understand their distinct impact on school communities.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to apply the three superpowers—self-control, place values, and forgiveness—as mindfulness-based strategies to improve emotional balance, reduce stress, and foster healthier relationships.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to implement practical wellbeing practices that strengthen resilience, improve focus, and create climates where both students and staff can thrive.

Start Date

6-2-2026 1:00 PM

End Date

6-2-2026 2:00 PM

Recommended Citation

Williams, Kelvin, "“Leading with Superpowers: Building a Culture that Shapes Climate”" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 48.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/48

Creative Commons License

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