Introduction

Introduction:

What is trauma?

According to the American Psychological Association: Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.

What we've found over the course of this year in working on this project is that the way we individually define trauma can be very different, much as the way we perceive it, internally and with others, and the way we respond to it, particularly in such public settings as schools.

In West Virginia, how each county and school addresses trauma can be very different. While the West Virginia Department of Education offers a wealth of resource links for school climate resources, there are no statewide guiding policies for making schools more trauma-informed. There is no statewide assessment underway to study which counties or schools are implementing trauma-informed strategies, and there are no evaluation plans or data to help inform the efficacy of what schools are implementing across our state.

Still, some counties and communities are doing great work that could be replicated across the state.

And so, this project was a first step in creating a greater dialogue around the concept of trauma-informed schools— what's working, what's needed, and what can be done to improve how we address trauma in the school setting in West Virginia.

Because it is only a collective first step forward, this report is by no means exhaustive of the work done around the state, from the state to school level, to address student trauma. We hope that educators and advocates share more insight in an effort to coalesce our individual work into a more collective, unified approach.

For schools making an effort to train staff, educate families, and implement trauma-informed policies and practices, thank you. May we learn from your example.