Trauma-informed social-emotional learning for Chicago public school students
I need this professional development to allow me to bring mindfulness and trauma-informed practice to my
Chicago Public School students.
$1,468 goal
This project expired on April 14, 2025.
This project expired on April 14, 2025.
My Project
When Robert Fulghum claimed "all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten," he was referring to the soft skills of sharing, cooperation, kindness, curiosity, responsibility, love of learning, and balance that help people live a healthy, fulfilling life. However, when kids come to school having undergone significant personal trauma, it can affect their ability to acquire these essential skills, as well as to learn academically.
In my own Chicago public school kindergarten classroom, I have many students who have faced significant trauma.
This includes fleeing from politically and economically unstable homelands, food and housing insecurity, family separation, language and culture shock, community violence, and parents who live in fear of what the next day will bring. This type of trauma has been shown to greatly impact attention, focus, problem-solving, communication, emotional regulation, and the ability to learn.
The Breathe for Change professional development that I hope to engage in this summer will help me acquire advanced knowledge of trauma-informed social-emotional learning and mindfulness. I will then be able to bring this to my classroom when I return in the fall. This will help me create the type of supportive, responsive learning environment that can be transformative in healing students' trauma and in allowing all students to develop those soft skills of kindergarten that are so essential. It will also allow me as a teacher to strengthen my ability to stay positive and strong for my students in what is often a stress-filled (though rewarding) profession.
Finally, Breathe for Change will provide me with trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness certification that I can utilize to provide workshops and professional development to other teachers, thus spreading the impact to classrooms beyond my own.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
24 students impacted
Boost your odds
Add a profile photo in addition to your classroom photo. If you add a photo, it'll show up right here on your project page.
You are more likely to receive funding if you put a face to your name.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Dr. Navejas and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
