As you enter choose 1 of the following concepts and write your definition on a sticky note. Then place it on the corresponding poster.

• Opportunity

• Belonging

• Voice

https://bit.ly/4ne1a9h

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Strengthening Partnerships for Student Success: Centering Family, Student, and Community Voices

Alaska School Safety and Well Being Conference, September 2025

https://bit.ly/4ne1a9h

Attributions & Thanks to the Following Groups…

Learning Objectives

1. Student Engagement in PBIS� Participants will be able to explain how engaging students in planning, decision-making, and implementation of PBIS strengthens ownership, respect, and connectedness in secondary schools.

2. Student Voice as Partnership� Participants will be able to identify strategies for shifting student voice from token input to authentic partnerships where students and adults share power, responsibility, and co-create solutions.

3. Family Engagement in PBIS� Participants will be able to describe how family engagement leverages cultural knowledge and strengthens school–home partnerships to ensure equitable, culturally responsive practices.

4. Collective Student + Family Engagement� Participants will be able to analyze how integrating both student and family voices builds more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable school improvement practices.

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“Human learning is socially constructed: welcome to understand the world throughout interactions with others. Feeling part of a community of learners is a powerful motivator.”

~Camille Farrington

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Belonging

Design for Belonging by Susie Wise

“A chance for a better situation”

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“Favorable conditions and circumstances”

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“…refers to the expression of values, opinions, beliefs, and perspectives of individuals and groups of students in a school and to instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions.”

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Student Voice: A growing movement within education that benefits students and teachers Kendel St. John & Lori Briel, VCU Center on Transition Innovations April 2017

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Voice

Authentic Engagement

“Belonging:

more than just being seen or feeling included, belonging entails having a meaningful voice and the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures. Belonging means having the right to contribute to and make demands on society and political institutions. Belonging is more than having access; it is about the power to co-create the structures that shape a community”

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https://belonging.berkeley.edu/john-powell

When We Feel Like We Belong

• Raise our sense of well-being and self-worth
• Improve our performance
• Lessen our defensiveness and hostility
• Increase our tolerance of outsiders
• Make us more compassionate

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We become more humane.

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Cohen, 2022

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When We Feel Like We Don’t Belong

• Feel worse about ourselves
• Perform below our potential
• Behave impulsively
• See others as hostile
• Lash out defensively

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Cohen, 2022

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Instagram post from jennifer_osmundson

THE OPPOSITE OF BELONGING

Turn to your neighbor and please share what you consider the opposite of belonging.

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OTHERING

• A phenomenon in which some individuals or groups are defined and labeled as not fitting in within the norms of a social group.
• Attributing negative characteristics to people or groups
• It is an “us vs. them” way of thinking

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Cherry, 2023

Very Well Mind

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Adapted from Ami Flamini

Could these be “OTHERING”?

• Excluding students from “school wide celebrations”
• Not equally representing subgroups (e.g., students with IEP, low income, race) in decision-making groups
• Fundraisers where students donating $xx receive XX reward
• Excluding students with set GPA from finals

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Are we fueling belonging or disconnection?

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Adapted from Ami Flamini

Could these be “OTHERING”?

• Family nights with high-cost-associated
• Expecting students to “code switch” expectations between home, school, and community
• Not engaging students and families in matching interventions to their student needs (e.g., problem-solving conversations)
• Academic rewards
• Let us know “if you don’t celebrate Christmas.”

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Are we fueling belonging or disconnection?

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Adapted from Ami Flamini

Othering

Opportunities for Engaging Students

• Ambassadors
• Circle Keepers
• Design Jam
• Student-Led Conferences
• Data Day
• Magazine
• other ideas …

Image from Faculty Focus

What is Youth Voice?

Students engaged in ongoing, meaningful discourse with adults about critical issues pertaining to the improvement of their school.

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Students involved in actions that address current school improvement challenges.

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Students and adults sharing decision making power, playing the roles of both teacher and learner, and viewing each other as assets and resources.

~ Singleton, 2022

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‘Why’ engage youth voice in schools?

Benefit for youth

Benefit for adults

• A part of something larger
• Raise issues of equity and other difficult topics that may go unnoticed, misunderstood, or avoided by adults.

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• Bring fresh perspectives to school topics and problems.
• Demonstrate that students possess valuable knowledge and perspectives about topics, challenges, and solutions.
• Provide educators with greater access to information about, and relationships with marginalized student groups, families, and community groups.

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Creates a synergy of ideas for improvement that transcends what either students or educators could accomplish alone.

Ladder of Student Involvement

Gauging Student Voice: �Degrees of Student Participation

#7 Youth and Adult Initiated

and Directed

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Have students lead an

assembly sharing

the data they interpreted and

determined how it would best be

communicated to peers

Whose Voice?

Suspended

Incarcerated

Foster-care

Disengaged

Highly Motivated

Student Government

Link Crew

Athletes

Robotics

Artists

Withdrawn

SWD

Homeless

Youth from Diverse Socio-Economic Backgrounds

LGBTQ+

Alternative Schools

1. Who are you missing?

Pick 1 ‘group’

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2. What needs to happen to change that?

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3. Share

Students and Data

Attribution: Roanoke County Public Schools

Heart Messages

Tiered Fidelity Inventory for Tier 1

Include all students

Share out: Student Voice

• Think of all the ways you include youth voice.

• If you were going to make that youth voice “authentically engaged” what would that look like?

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• What ‘group’ are you not hearing from?

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Share with your neighbor.

Family Engagement defined…

A partnership is an equal relationship. This means families and educators work together to support children’s growth and success from birth through high school and beyond. Family partnerships begin with a mindset where schools and families see one another as an asset and an essential part of student success.

Stronger Together -

Association of Alaska School Boards

Stronger Together -

Association of Alaska School Boards

Investment in FE:

• Need focused resources, energy, and time.
• Staff have often not been trained.
• Families have often been hurt or burned by education.

Relationships first:

• Starts with school staff and families seeing each other as partners (Mindset), and building relationships.
• Culturally responsive education is impossible without partnering, implementing, or knowing if we got it right).

Healing and repair:

• Some communities may need healing work
• School itself was a source of trauma, stress and family disruption, and without specifically addressing this history- partnerships may not be possible.

Partnerships for Impact:

• Families care about their children, and want to partner to strengthen supports for their children.
• Families and educators are stressed - partnering makes supporting youth success more comprehensive

https://alaskafec.org/

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Tech Bridgers

Attribution: Hannah Hershfeldt

Los Altos High School, CA

http://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAlEjpcQal3-9bvDpG1u4qYOvHdjxGg1/view

Tyson Elementary School, Anchorage AK

Engaging Families

• Share your updated teaching matrix or your SW expectations
• Provide ’tips’ on how to create a family matrix that reflects yoru SW expectations
• Provide a template for families to use
• Encourage sharing
• PTA social media
• Weekly announcements
• Through the faith-based community
• Local radio
• Youth centers
• Athletic events/plays/concerts families attend
• East Mesa Juvenile Detention Center

How does family/caregiver engagement benefit PBIS Implementation?

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Engaging Communities:

What do corporations say?

When we consult with corporations, they tell us they’re searching for employees who persevere with a task, who take personal responsibility for their work, who can get along with others, and who function as members of a team.

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Not technical abilities or specialized knowledge—they’re looking first for emotional attributes.

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Brackett, Ph.D., Marc. Permission to Feel (p. 20). Celadon Books. Kindle Edition.

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ADAPTABILITY

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Adaptability can be the difference between treading water and swimming in uncertain times.

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It's also important to learn to adjust when circumstances change.

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It's helpful to recognize when a situation is new or uncertain and discuss how to adapt.

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The Adaptability Advantage. Angela Duckworth, PH.D. Posted November 29, 2021.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/actionable-advice-help-kids-thrive/202111/the-adaptability-advantage

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�Discuss with your neighbor�How do we currently teach youth to:�

How do we currently teach young people how to:

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• persevere with a task
• take personal responsibility for their work
• get along with others
• function as members of a team
• be adaptable

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Ideas for Engaging Community

• Oakland High School example
• Expectations posted in retail/restaurants
• High school-high school collaboration on critical topics

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Plan for Engaging Educational Partners

Resources

High School Think Tank 2025-2026

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• September 18
• October 16 *PM meeting
• November 20
• December 18
• January 15
• February 19
• April 16 *PM meeting
• May 21

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--

Morning Months

Alaska Time 7:30 AM

Pacific Time: 8:30 AM

Mountain Time 9:30 AM

Central Time: 10:30 AM

Eastern Time: 11:30 AM

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Afternoon Months

(October and April)

Alaska Time: 12:00 PM

Pacific Time: 1:00 PM

Mountain Time: 2:00 PM

Central Time: 3:00 PM

Eastern Time: 4:00 PM

Introducing!!!!

High School Symposium

Virtual Event, December 2, 2025

Theme: Effectively Integrating Academics & Social Emotional Behavioral Learning, hosted by Northwest PBIS Network

Start your day with a Student Panel sharing their school experiences then, dive into powerful morning & afternoon sessions on:

• Factors Affecting Attendance
• High Leverage Instructional & Relational Practices
• Family & Student Voice & Agency
• Successful Practices for Educational Assistants

Formerly sponsored by CalTAC PBIS

Registration is open!

Register here

For more details visit info@pbisnetwork.org

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Patti Hershfeldt, Youth Engagement Specialist, NW PBIS Network patti@pbisnetwork.org

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Any questions, need more resources, please reach out!