Webinars

Webinars

Crisis Communication Management for Education Leaders


March 5, 2021


Since it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only a few seconds to destroy one, “managing the message” is a necessary skill set for board members, school superintendents – and your attorneys - especially when a crisis occurs and the district’s PR people either do not have the necessary skill set or they are precluded from participation for reasons of confidentiality. Join the Ohio School Boards Association, Hennes Communications, and NSBA for a complimentary webinar.

This seminar focuses first on a highly strategic approach to communicating during a wide variety of crisis situations, then discusses how school boards, attorneys, and other outside professionals can best work together, especially when confronted with issues that simultaneously impact student safety, student education, and legal imperatives, along with short and long-term reputational considerations.

Learning objectives include:

  1. Learn and understand the use of the “Damage Control Playbook,” which include practical and actionable activities designed to blunt, avoid and/or mitigate crisis situations.
  2. Know how to establish and maintain control of the message.
  3. Better understand how to balance legal, educational and reputational considerations – and why “no comment” should never be used

RESOURCES

Connecting Teachers and Families: Mental Health and Social and Emotional Supports in the Remote/Hybrid Classroom: Hosted with Mental Health America and With Respect LLC

December 2, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has created countless challenges for our schools and communities. With these challenges and the shift in many communities to remote and hybrid instructional settings, it is more important than ever for teachers to understand the needs of students and effectively communicate with families. In collaboration with the National School Boards Association, this presentation will focus on the role that mental health supports play within the social-emotional development of students during remote and hybrid instruction, along with the essential need for teachers and families to have the tools to successfully communicate with each other in these settings to meet these unique needs.

This webinar discusses: 

  • How do mental health needs of students show up in remote and hybrid learning?
  • Why must we respond to those needs in ways that support positive social-emotional development?
  • What are the tools of productive communication that can be used between teachers and families to identify and meet the mental health needs of students, whether in classrooms or virtual learning?
  • What are the next steps in implementing the necessary language and tools that support effective communication between teachers and families as it relates to student mental health, social emotional learning, and remote/hybrid learning?
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Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Health: Hosted with Mental Health America

August 4, 2020

2020 has turned our schools and communities upside down. The COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed routines and increased feelings of fear and anxiety, and a greater awareness of prevalent systematic racism has created growing social unrest that can no longer be ignored.  These issues have created new mental health concerns in our communities, and in many cases amplified existing ones. These drastic changes have had a significant impact on the mental health of our students and although knowing these issues exist is likely not surprising, a better understanding of the data can help us to further understand these challenges and in turn how to better support our students and families through these times.

The data collected from Mental Health America’s screening program allows for unique insights to the mental health of young people during the COVID-19 crisis. Mental Health America’s screening program (MHAScreening.org) has a suite of free, confidential, and anonymous clinically validated tools that are available to individuals to use to assess their mental health and determine if they are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness. During this session you will learn more about student mental health, and through MHA’s data, what youth are looking for online. MHA will share research on best practices in promoting early intervention among students and school staff as well as programs and resources to invest in to support emotionally stronger communities.

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Sports and Performance Programs: Support for the Social Emotional Wellness of Students

July 10, 2020

Sports and performance programs are known to bring communities together in fellowship and support. But as school district leadership teams ponder the budget shortfalls and the financial implications for the coming year, these important programs are sometimes the first to be eliminated. Join Virginia High School League Executive Director John “Billy” Haun, National Federation of State High School Associations Executive Director Karissa Niehoff, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s David Wyrick for a discussion on the financial implications of sustaining these types of activities and the important education-based role these programs provide to students.

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The Transformative Role School Resource Personnel Have in Reopening Public Schools

July 8, 2020

Public schools were created to provide safe learning environments to evaluate issues that could impact a student’s welfare or impede their success. As we look to reopen schools this fall, keeping in mind COVID-19, racial and mental health concerns, school districts must rethink the role of the school resource officers and school security personnel.

This webinar focuses on the responsibilities of the SRO that are not just aligned to enforcement, such as playing a pivotal role in cultivating a positive and supportive school culture. The webinar will focus on critical issues and the need for investment in proper training/resources for SROs to help rebuild trust and reshape how they are viewed by students and staff, and the community.

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Navigating Virtual Education - With Calm, Connectedness and Compassion (COVID-19)

April 2nd, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our way of life, we recognize that schools and families are engaged in daily challenges to support ourselves and our students. As the number of cases of COVID-19 increase, so does the level of fear, stress and anxiety being experienced in our communities. As we shift to remote learning environments, it is important to not overlook the mental health impacts that this may also be having on our staffs, families and students.

With this in mind, the National School Boards Association's Center for Safe Schools, in collaboration with the Attachment & Trauma Network, has hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on Navigating Virtual Education -- with Calm, Connectedness and Compassion. This discussion focuses on the impact of school closures and the new "normal" this is creating for families and educators alike. This discussion addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools and families and how we can help children and families, especially those with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), navigate this new environment. 

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Understanding Cyber Risks in Our Schools and Homes

March 5, 2020

Nearly 60 million Americans have been affected by cyberattacks to include data breaches and identity theft, according to a 2018 online survey by The Harris Poll.

Just how vulnerable are you, your family and our schools in the era of personal computers, the internet and internet connected devices?

This webinar, done in collaboration with in collaboration with Soteryx, a team of former Federal intelligence, law enforcement, and information technology professionals aimed at providing solutions focused on preparing for issues and crises and protecting business and school operations, focuses on the cyber risks our schools and communities face on a daily basis and provide guidance on how to protect your devices, privacy, personal information, in our schools and homes.

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PASS K-12 Safety and security guidelines: a roadmap to implementing a layered and tiered approach

November 14, 2019

Security management is a core responsibility of school administrators, who face daily pressure to ensure that students and staff are protected, often without significant security expertise or the benefit of full-time safety/security staff.  When it comes to security, school administrators are faced with two difficult questions:

  1. What do we do?
  2. How do we prioritize?

This webinar addresses those questions through the PASS Guidelines and a Checklist that were developed to provide administrators with the means to effectively evaluate safety and security infrastructure already in place, prioritize investments and maximize safety and security gained by leveraging available resources.  The Guidelines and Checklist identify and classify best practices for securing K12 facilities in response to the urgent needs identified by the educational community.

Is Your District's Data Protected? Assessing Your Cyber Security Risk

September 18, 2019

In 2018, NSBA in conjunction with BoardDocs, surveyed K-12 education professionals on their cyber-risk knowledge. Over 480 individuals responded and the results were somber - school boards generally spend little time ensuring their districts’ cyber security programs are effective and student data is safe. Many board members seemed unaware that cyber risk is even part of their fiduciary obligation. Meanwhile, others inadvertently increase their school districts’ cyber risk by relying on unsecured methods of communication.

This webinar is designed specifically for school board leaders and superintendents – to discuss the findings of the report and some specific steps your district can take to improve cyber-risk readiness. Our speakers will share their take on the findings and how the school board community should respond.

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Prevention 101: the Science Behind Healthy Decision Making for Students

August 13, 2019

This webinar will help the listener understand the evidence and theoretical base underlying Prevention Science, identifying the D.A.R.E. curricula as a model program. The D.A.R.E. curricula focuses on providing cutting edge instruction that helps prevent drug use by developing basic, core Socio-Emotional skills needed for safe and responsible choices. Dr. David L. Wyrick and Dr. Richard Clayton will discuss both the critical elements in the logic models supporting the elementary, middle, and high school curricula as well as the research findings related to D.A.R.E.

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Trauma-Informed Schools are Safe Schools

June 5, 2019

As the National School Boards Association launches the NSBA Center for Safe Schools, it's important to consider what it means to be a safe school. Safe schools are not the same as trauma-informed schools. Trauma-informed schools are on the rise. There are similarities and differences between the two.

Join us for this engaging discussion about where they intersect and diverge. The qualities and characteristics of being safe and trauma-informed will be explored.

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