Currently going into the fourth week of school it’s hard to believe we completed nearly 60 hours of training before we got to this point!

Promise Corps pre-service orientation kicks off the week before school staff begin returning to their school sites and leads Promise Corps Coaches directly into the start of the school year hopefully armed with information, knowledge and resources to kick start an incredible year of post-secondary coaching!

Included in orientation members learn the history of AmeriCorps and National Service, the Philadelphia School District and national education reform. Members complete practical training’s including mandated reporting and other procedural important topics. This year content focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences, otherwise known as ACE’S. Members were provided an overview on this important research and given strategies to work with students that include a high percentage of ACE’s. As referenced by the Philadelphia ACE Research Committee, in Philadelphia, where roughly a quarter of residents live in poverty, researchers found that almost seven in ten adults had experienced one ACE and two in five had experienced four or more. Examples of ACE’s include witnessing violence, experiencing divorce and living in foster care among other experiences. By working through possible scenarios and learning about local and national resources, members were provided with a variety of ways to support students that may need the additional assistance.

Orientation included nearly a full day for members to practice facilitating post-secondary workshops for students. The best part was pretending to be an audience of high school students! Members were able to ask questions, react and engage with each other while playing the role of coach and student. While members were able to become familiar with their workshop content, they learned even more about behavior management and critical thinking!

We’re looking forward to being back together for our first Promise Corps Professional Development day later this month!