Exciting News from Sound Discipline

Champions • Upcoming Events • What We Are Reading • Engage with Sound Discipline

An Exciting Announcement from our Co-Founder and Executive Director:

Hello Friends,

I have very exciting news to share with you! This month (February), I will be transitioning to a new full-time role as Director of Strategic Partnerships for Sound Discipline. In this role I will direct our new District Partnership Model, which is aimed at reaching more schools across a broader region by training district coaches who then train staff directly. This new position taps what I do best and stirs my deepest passions.

Our Board of Directors decided to bring on a Transitional Executive Director to lead Sound Discipline for part of the next year. This plan gives Sound Discipline the advantage of bringing in a fresh perspective, allowing us to devote time to thoughtfully search for our next permanent Executive Director, as well as support Sound Discipline’s programmatic expansion via the District Partnership Model.

In January, after a rigorous search process, Andrea John-Smith was unanimously selected as our Transitional Executive Director. Andrea brings many years’ experience in consulting with a strategic viewpoint. Most recently, she served as Interim Executive Director for MENTOR Washington. She has a deep commitment to equity, social justice, and community building. Andrea began working for Sound Discipline at the beginning of February and plans to serve in this role for approximately six months until a permanent Executive Director is hired.

I’m thrilled to work with Andrea, and I have great confidence in the skills she brings to Sound Discipline.

I am very happy to talk with you about how Sound Discipline's work, that I love and believe in so deeply, is being supported and strengthened by this leadership transition. Please do not hesitate to contact me at (425) 530-1289 or at jody@sounddiscipline.org  with any questions or concerns.

With gratitude,

Jody McVittie
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Sound Discipline

February is Black History Month. Sound Discipline celebrates and honors the achievements of Black Americans and their many contributions. In addition to the recognizable faces above, are you familiar with these heroes?

Simone Biles
Kenneth Clark
Scott Joplin
Zora Neale Hurston
August Wilson
Phillis Wheatley

Sound Discipline Champions

Southern Oregon Educational Service District

Heidi Olivadoti, Mark Angle-Hobson and Kirsten Valenzuela are holding a vision for the 52,000 students in Southern Oregon. Together they are supporting work with the 13 school districts that comprise the Southern Oregon Educational Service District, so that all students know they are safe, they belong and they matter. Sound Discipline is collaborating with them and over the last year has offered trainings in trauma-informed practices and Positive Discipline to 400 of the 3500 educators working in this part of Southern Oregon – an area just a little bigger than the state of Massachusetts.

Heidi Olivadoti, Mark Angle-Hobson and Kirsten Valenzuela of the Southern Oregon ESD

And it is making a difference. One district has reduced its rate of chronic absenteeism from 31% to 19% in the last year. Educators are exploring ways to engage students and help them claim their voice. As one teacher reported, “The Positive Discipline workshop has really changed my teaching for the better this year. I have been implementing the mini-lessons and the class meetings. My class is moving faster through content than ever before, they are kinder to themselves, their peers and to me.”

We appreciate Heidi, Mark and Kirsten's vision and the work that they are doing to make schools more welcoming places across southern Oregon.

Kindness
This month we are exploring a new way to think about kindness for parents and teachers. How can we be kind and still hold kids accountable to our expectations? The answer is connection. Find information about kindness and connection for parents and teachers on our blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more tips and resources.

The heart of our work is around strengthening relationships. During this month that celebrates love in so many ways, we want you to know that we love your commitment to this work.
Thank you!

Upcoming Events

Building Resiliency 2: Firmness Tools
Seattle

Thursday, February 27
4:30-7:30pm
Register here

Mentor Group for Parent Educators
Seattle

Saturday, February 8
9:30-11:30am
Register here

Building Resiliency 1: Strategies to Engage Youth Exposed to Trauma
Seattle

Tuesday, March 17
4:30-7:30pm
Register here

Positive Discipline in the Classroom

We are currently scheduling our spring workshops in Kent and Highline School Districts. Email us if you would like to be notified when they are posted.

Teaching Parenting the Positive Discipline Way
Seattle

Thursday, April 30, 6:30-8:30pm
Friday May 1 & Saturday May 2, 8:30-4:00pm
Register here.

Parenting with Positive Discipline

We are offering several parenting classes in the area for specific communities.

Contact us for more information.

What We Are Reading

Kindness Snippet Jar
by Diane Alber

Kindness Snippet Jar is a story about a little snippet who wants desperately to live in a kindness jar. This book inspires children to make their own kindness snippet jar. There are directions in the back of the book to make a jar and some inspiration for the kindness snippets too!

Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni

Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. February is her birthday month, and this picture book pays tribute to Mrs. Parks and is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.

Find these and other recommended books on our website.

Engage with Sound Discipline

Demonstration School Tours
Join us at one of our partner schools to see our work first hand. Observe class meetings in action and listen to students and school staff talk about the impact of Sound Discipline in their school.

Our next tour is scheduled for Feb 25.

Find more information and RSVP here.

Check out our Parenting Newsletter
Would you like to bring a Parenting class to your school or community?

Join Sound Discipline's Positive Discipline Practitioners Group
This private Facebook group is for Positive Discipline practitioners trained by Sound Discipline. Connect and support one another by sharing resources and referrals, asking questions, and helping to promote one another's services.

Join here

Share the love and forward this newsletter to a friend today!
Invite others to connect with our philosophy of empowering educators, parents and caregivers to create respectful and equitable communities where all children thrive.

Donate to Sound Discipline