Systemic Solutions Are on the Menu for Reducing the Risk of School Violence in a Local Area Public School District

We are excited to send out the following press release........................

As schools are opening their doors for a new academic year, teachers and students are excited about a new season of learning and connecting with others. However, for many, trepidation underlies the excitement with the fear of another school shooting. They ask questions like: Will it be us this year? Will we be prepared? How do we prevent it?

A small town in west Texas is getting serious about answering these questions. O’Donnell Independent School District is partnering with a counseling and consulting firm in Lubbock and have constructed a comprehensive training program which will address the issue on a system-wide, comprehensive level.

Bradley and Carrie Roark of Roark Kerr & Associates Christian Counseling & Coaching will lead the OISD team, students, and parents through an in-depth team and culture building program designed to encompass the 2018-2019 school year. The heart of the plan is to focus on the area of emotional health and raise the Emotional Intelligence of the entire school community. Emotional intelligence can be the most potent weapon in a network’s armory. It helps boost self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skills, all of which help us become much better people and community members.

Current efforts attempt to curb violence in schools and prepare schools to deal with attacks, but this program addresses the system and culture that’s producing violent behavior in the first place. "Bullying, failure, low self-image and poor character decisions are at the heart of many of the challenges facing young people today," said Paul Martinelli, president of the John Maxwell Team. Raising a community’s Emotional Quotient will give school systems practical tools and ideas to bring success in today's challenging world.

RKACC began its program with training at OISD on August 14^th at the teacher in-service and was a huge success. Further trainings are planned at every level of the system throughout the school year that include student assemblies for all age levels, school staff, administration, and parents. Networks will magnify whatever they are seeded with. This program intends to seed the network with seeds of increased emotional capacity and growth.

To learn more about this program, you can contact RKACC by e-mailing leadership@roarkcc.com or calling at 806-283-8586.