The Nest, from Safe Passage Across Networks (SPAN)

The big idea I’ve had for ages is that lucky kids—and perhaps also the adults who raise and teach them—might think about their school where they feel safe as an attachment figure.  It seemed to me that a school that is there for kids when they’re in emotional need—a school that kids feel like turning to when distressed because they're confident that people will help—this would be the kind of schoo...

This sixth layer of bedrock tackles a difficult topic.  What is unresolved grief and loss?  How does it happen, and how does it get transmitted from generation to generation.  And most importantly, what can you do about it?  In this layer, we hope you’ll find out how your feelings are like rivers, how they can become blocked, and what you can do to allow them to flow in healthy ways once again.  W...

This fifth layer of bedrock looks at the neurological structures and pathways involved in empathy.  Why would you need to know about that?  Because you can use your voice to access and soothe those very pathways.  Mothers have been doing it for millenia, instinctively.  But they—and you—can forget to do it, too.  We sometimes raise our voices or let them harden—which has an opposite effect on anot...

Today we land in the fourth and central layer of bedrock in this seven part series: the students.  Sandwiched right in the middle of all this theory, right in the heart of the bedrock, is the layer that we do it all for: the young people in our charge, whose minds and hearts are being formed on our watch.  This is a special episode where I get the opportunity to interview a young man in front of a...

Today, we drill down to the third layer of bedrock: the baton.  The baton used in a relay race metaphorically captures the central problem in high mobility schools: who is responsible for the baton if it keeps moving from runner to runner.  We all are.  Come join us in finding out why, including listening to expert presenter Nikki Muller explore the implications of "the baton" with Dr. Doug after...

Today, we drill down to the second layer of bedrock: Attachment.  The science is crystal clear: people who can be characterized as “secure” in their ideas about attachment do better across the lifespan.  Come join us in finding out why, including listening to expert presenter Nikki Muller explore the topic with Dr. Doug after his brief opening overview. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Today, we drill down to the first layer of bedrock: Belonging.  More than any other construct in the literature, belonging captures whether students are thriving in their education—or not.  Come join us in finding out why, including listening to expert presenter Nikki Muller explore the topic with Dr. Doug after his brief synopsis. We hope you enjoy this episode.

In this first episode of Season 7, members of the SPAN Board and Leadership Team reflect on the major transition our own organization has been through.  Yes, even an organization that specializes in transitions goes through transitions itself.  The meeting catches the SPAN community up on recent developments, and points to the exciting initiatives ahead.