Cape Assist Session Focuses on Adverse Childhood Experiences

WILDWOOD – Cape Assist and the Cape May County Pride Committee partnered with Cape Regional Wellness Alliance, N.J. Department of Education, SRI and ETTC Stockton University, and Atlantic Prevention Resources agency to expand the training for school-based Resiliency Teams in Cape May and Atlantic counties.
According to a release, Cape May county’s three-day training was held July 16-18,  at Millman Center in Villas.
The program focused on the latest research and strategies concerning educational neuroscience, the brain, and stress. The educators enhanced their skills and understanding of how stress response systems can hinder the learning process for students if they experience high levels of adversity, but lack support.
The teachers, administrators, and counselors took away tools and organizational components necessary to create trauma-sensitive and trauma-responsive environments in schools.
 “Schools in Cape May County are doing amazing things to support the health and wellbeing of their students.  The Resiliency Team trainings give schools the tools they need to combat the traumatic effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences and support kids in their growth and development.  Stressed brains do not learn, and Cape Assist is here to support schools as they support our communities’ greatest asset, our youth,” stated Katie Faldetta, executive director at Cape Assist, “Since the first training in July of 2018, the School Resiliency Teams have been growing, and more teachers and administrators wanted to be educated on the science of stress and its effects on the teaching and learning process. So, there was clearly a need to continue the training.”
This year, in partnership with SRI and ETTC Stockton University and Atlantic Prevention Resources agency, the training has expanded to include Atlantic County school districts. Atlantic county training will be held on Aug. 6, 7, and 8 at Stockton University in Atlantic City.  
The trainers are Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight. Desautels teaches Applied Educational Neuroscience at Butler University, and McKnight is an Educational Specialist for the state Department of Education working in the Cape May County office.
McKnight works closely with the 16 school districts in the county and is involved with a wide range of school district issues. They co-authored two books on how to better understand and support youth.
“The awareness about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and their effects on brain development is growing. More and more cross-sector agencies see ACEs as the root cause of behavioral, learning, substance abuse, and other problems for our youth. Cape Assist’s community outreach programs, such as PRIDE committee and the Cape May County Healthy Community Coalition, strive to build connections between multiple community sectors to weave a stronger support system for kids and adolescents. By providing training to our community partners, we hope to increase protective factors for our youth,” stated Natalia Wilber, coalition coordinator.
Some of the comments from the 2019 training session:
“I learned about different ways of looking at defiance, maladaptive behavior, new ways of assisting students.”
“I will make better, stronger, more frequent connections with my students.”
“I will be going into the new school year in a new position with much more confidence after this training.”
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