In between feats of strength — ripping a phonebook and tightly rolling up a frying pan — Jon Pritikin delivered a powerful message to Highlands School District students. “My message for you guys as upperclassmen is this: someone here or off campus will go through a difficult time and you’ll have to be a hero […]

Seven years ago, the Penn Hills School District made what former superintendent Nancy Hines called a “pretty bold move.” Collectively, the board came to a decision to mandate mediations after school fights or related situations. Since then, Hines said the policy has been quite effective, so much so that over the summer, the district decided

On August 16th, the AIU and Project SEEKS SES held its first virtual community of practice meeting. The meeting — which was attended by over 40 people —revolved around chronic absenteeism.  Each community of practice meeting will focus on a shared topic of interest between school district, higher education and community partners. Each meeting will

Click here to see a full training schedule Click here to register Dr. Christie Lewis and Dr. Krisitin Harty of Chatham University are passionate about Youth Mental Health First Aid Training (YMHFA). Both are certified YMHFA instructors and have facilitated training for the PA Inspired Leadership program for PA Dept of Education training, some local

The AIU and Project SEEKS SES held its second stakeholder meeting on August 4th for the wide-ranging grant, bringing together a diverse group of school district, higher education and community partners. Over the course of the meeting, the focus was on sharing updates and progress of the grant, chiefly on the higher education side. Partners

Since 2016, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) has been focused on adolescent behavioral health as a priority public health focus area.  The Foundation started with a focus on health care quality improvement, and over time, the focus shifted to strengthening the community safety net for teens and involving youth voice in advocacy towards system change to help

About a year ago, McKeesport Area’s administration had heard about Pressley Ridge’s YESS (Youth Engagement Support Services) team model. The YESS team — which was piloted at the Penn Hills school district — focuses on helping address issues like truancy, while also assisting in de-escalation, interventions and generally trying to create a more positive environment

During an expansive and informative presentation, Robert Reed, the Pennsylvania executive deputy attorney general for special initiatives, highlighted the immense impact that trauma has on school-aged children. “Trauma is the number one cause of most childhood adversity,” said Reed. With that being the case, Reed said it’s incredibly important for educators to be trauma-informed in

Cornell superintendent Aaron Thomas looks around a room in his school and sees chairs. Lots and lots of chairs. This room used to be a planetarium before eventually turning into a storage room for chairs and cabinets and various relics of years past. Soon enough, it will serve a new purpose as the Cornell Wellness