Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES' Comprehensive School Health team conducted a multi-part professional development series with the Dunkirk City School District during the summer break. The workshops engaged a broad range of Dunkirk faculty and staff, including K–12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school counselors, to develop interconnected frameworks for wellbeing.
Facilitated by Comprehensive Health Coordinator Jason Mank, Coordinated School Health Specialist Alycia Bongiovanni and Community Health Education Specialist Brady Deuink, the series offered five targeted workshops. The first began by exploring practical strategies for embedding social-emotional learning into daily routines and core curriculum objectives. Participants then examined the impact of trauma on student behavior and engagement using proactive behavioral supports and crisis de-escalation techniques.
The focus shifted to developing strong classroom communities using restorative communication and effective classroom circles to build trust and elevate student voices. A follow-up workshop expanded on this foundation with approaches to address low-level behavioral incidents through restorative inquiry and problem-solving circles.
The series concluded with a Youth Mental Health First Aid certification training, a course designed to equip participants with early intervention skills to assist adolescents experiencing mental health challenges or crises.
Deuink says, "We've worked with Dunkirk for the past few summers, and they have been part of training funded through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant. This spring, they reached out and really wanted to add to their professional development offerings that we could provide over the summer."
While each session addressed specific skill sets, the overarching goal was to deliver a unified approach to strengthen school culture. Bongiovanni said, "While they're separate, they’re still very interconnected, so we presented that holistic viewpoint. It was encouraging to see high attendance and high engagement for a summer series."
Photos by Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES
