CATCA 2021

You are the front line of this pandemic. Change has become the one constant that this school year has brought.
So how can you survive through the struggles of being in this strange world, often isolated and seeing each other through the small window of a computer screen? How can you ensure that you end this year happy and healthy? How can you best support your students and create inclusive learning environments behind masks, through screens and without close physical contact?

So much of this pandemic parallels the world of grief and loss. The death of my son Colin in June of 2018, has led me down a path that focuses on mental health and well-being. My own experience in the classroom at an arts immersion charter school gave me the tools to understand how staff and student mental health needs to be a priority during times of crisis or change. We as a society are going experiencing the loss of what we once knew, how we once lived and worked. These changes bring on similar emotions to those experiencing loss and the associated grief responses that occur.

This session is composed of 4 main parts:
Introduction: My story, Innovation, the Arts, and my son Colin
COVID-19: Not just loss (audience activity)
Grief and Loss: Experts on Grief and Loss
Connecting while being apart

The session is grounded in mindful meditation opening and closing as well as moments of interaction with the audience and others.