PODCAST: Body and Brain Brilliance-A Discussion with Dr. Lori Desautels and the contributors of the new manual
Please join us for “Body and Brain Brilliance: A Discussion with Dr. Lori Desautels and the contributors of the new manual”
ABOUT THE PODCAST PANEL
Dr. Lori Desautels
Dr. Lori Desautels has been an Assistant Professor at Butler University since 2016, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education. She was also an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis for eight years, where she founded the Educational Neuroscience Symposium. Currently, the Symposium is in its 10th year and is sponsored by Butler University College of Education. Through these conferences and symposiums, educators, parents, and the community learn deeply about how adversity, trauma, and resiliency impact the developing nervous system, helping our students to feel a sense of autonomy and purpose along with social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Because of her work, Dr. Desautels has been able to attract the foremost experts in the fields of developmental, relational, and the social neurosciences, which significantly grow the conference each year.
Dr. Dustin Springer
Dr. Dustin Springer has been an educator for 27 years and is currently an elementary school principal in Kansas. Additionally, he serves alongside Dr. Lori, Angie Zara, and Rob Beltz as affiliate faculty at Butler University in the Applied Educational Neuroscience certification program and as a consultant for Revelations in Education. Dr. Springer is married with three children and actively pursues any opportunity to watch live music to bring calm to his nervous system.
Crystal Williams
Crystal Williams is a 7th-grade Social Studies teacher at Belzer Middle School. She began at Belzer in the Alternative to Instruction classroom in 2015 as an Instructional Assistant (IA). While as an IA, she returned to school to obtain her Master's in Education. She has obtained the Applied Educational Neuroscience Framework Certification program with Dr. Lori Desautels. Crystal has had the pleasure of presenting at the Lawerence Learning Summit, Lawrence Advance Academy, and the Butler Neuroscience Symposium; Crystal is on a mission to help adults and children become aware of themselves through Educational Neuroscience. She aims to teach others how to integrate educational neuroscience in the classroom.
Angelina Zara
Born and raised in the heart of Washington, DC, Angelina Zara found her passion in education in 2015, serving students and caregivers in her hometown. As an elementary school teacher in a Title 1, full-inclusion classroom, Angie learned early on about the power of research-based, trauma-informed strategies, and her philosophy was forever changed. She has first-hand experience of the impact of trauma-informed education and the direct correlation to powerful relationships and increased student achievement in diverse learning communities. Angie completed Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification from Butler University in 2021, and has had the privilege to work closely with Dr Lori Desautels. These collaborations include designing and incorporating various applications within her Applied Educational Neuroscience (AEN) Framework. These have focused on wellness practices for the educator nervous system and intentionally incorporating equity within the AEN Pillars. In addition to national presenting and working full time at her school, Angie serves as an adjunct faculty for Dr. Desautels' Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification Program and consults with the Trauma Informed Educators Network under Mathew Portell. In 2023, Angie also launched her LLC alongside her business partner, Nicole Keler, entitled "LiveWellEd". This LLC provides advocacy and education coaching to caregivers and parents of neurodiverse students to empower parents from a strength-based approach.
Robert Beltz
Robert Beltz is a dedicated educator and consultant based in Oakland County, Michigan, and he also teaches the graduate Applied Educational Neuroscience program at Butler University. With an extensive background that spans over 20 years in the field of education, Robert has served in various roles as a teacher, ELD specialist, and trauma-responsive coach. He holds multiple certifications in areas such as Trauma-Responsiveness, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Applied Educational Neuroscience, and English as a Second Language (ESL). His primary focus is on enhancing social-emotional learning and promoting brain development, specifically for students who have been impacted by trauma. In addition to his work in the United States, Robert has also spent time in rural Africa, where he worked to address issues related to poverty and educational inequity. He currently resides in Southeast Michigan with his wife and their three children.
ABOUT: Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
Restraint and seclusion, outdated crisis management techniques that are commonly used in schools across the nation and beyond, are disproportionately used on disabled and minority children. These interventions are dangerous and can lead to significant trauma and injuries to students, teachers, and staff. Some children have even died as a result of the use of restraint and seclusion. There are far better ways to work with children that avoid the need for crisis management. Our schools should be moving towards neurodevelopmentally informed, trauma-sensitive, biologically respectful, relationship-based ways of understanding and supporting students. Our mission is to inform changes in policy and practice to reduce and eliminate the use of punitive discipline and outdated behavioral management approaches and end the school-to-prison pipeline.
Previous Post