Desert Sands Charter High School and Antelope Valley Learning Academy Celebrates their TREC Organizational Accreditations

Congratulations to Principal Victor Contreras and Principal Mary Reagan for your team’s dedication and heart-centered work in becoming TREC Accredited Trauma-Resilient Organization. Over seventy-five colleagues celebrated on January 29, 2024, at Lifelong Learning Administration Corporation. Food was provided by BJ’s Catering, and some of the TREC Team, Craig Beswick, Vice-President School Development Division, TREC Director, Staci Roth, and Dana Brown, PACEs Science Statewide Facilitator were in attendance supporting the TREC Accreditation.                

Craig Beswick excitedly awarded Principal Mary Reagan for Desert Sands, Lake LA and AVLA Palmdale 5th Street. Danyale Wallin accepted for Principal Victor Contreras, AVLA Palmdale 47th Street, as Victor was not feeling well.

Dana Brown shared brief, high-level overviews of each team’s anonymous Strengths & Needs Assessments.

Mary Reagan, Principal, AVLA Home School, 5th Street, and Lake Los Angeles Desert Sands, reflected on TREC, “It really provided an opportunity for me to be vulnerable in my own space because we weren’t around other people to really take in and have raw emotions in terms of what we were learning. It really continued to expand my knowledge of different cultures, the different responses that we can have, different things that sound so simple, that can have a great impact on changing the course of the path of those adverse exposures.”

Mary shared what she’s learned from TREC, “I think it continues to broaden my perspective. I'm a reflective person by nature, in terms of myself,  but just also as a leader, just my approach and how I work with kids. The feedback that I get from parents and students, regardless of what my view is of it, I take to heart and very seriously.  One of the things that we really delved into with regard to TREC was the design of our Home School program for our K-8 students, making sure there were sitting spots, quiet spots, time-in places for them to de-escalate. So, we created a house with padding so they can de-escalate themselves without that pressure of having some privacy but that we can still have eyes on them. That has helped tremendously.”

Mary shared, “Recognizing this isn’t just for students, but staff as well. Since going through this training, we implemented a 30-minute wellness time that staff can use to read, to meditate, to work, to take a break, however it might be, just making sure they have that mental time for themselves to re-energize and be ready for the second half of their day.”

Mary reflected on her TREC’s approach with students, “Being more able to help students share what they feel, why they have a hesitancy, instead of assuming judgements on them, oh, they’re not talking because they don’t want to or they don’t care, it’s really trying to find a way to get to know enough so that I can provide a hook that lets them know that whatever circumstance they’re in, they don’t have to stay there.”

Karen Aguirre, Assistant Principal, shared, “Trauma-Resiliency is so important to me because it impacts us in every level of society. As teachers, when we reflect on our PACEs, for example, it makes us more relatable to the students that we serve. We have so many special populations; we have our foster care youth that we try to touch base with, we have our homeless, and so they’re really struggling. And, so if I’m aware of the things that impacted me, it makes me more relatable and able to impact them and be able to  give them hope that they can get through this.

Karen shared TREC’s effects on her, “Well, I think for me, it’s a reflection on the science because at our sites, we do a half-hour wellness period.  And this is some time that we set aside during the work day that we can really gauge how important it is for us to take care of ourselves with wellness. Whether that’s meditation, doing some exercise, maybe just a little break to get some healthy food, it carries over because whatever we’re doing at the top level, or at the educational level, is going to permeate to the students because they’re looking to us for guidance, they’re looking for us for direction and leadership. We’re modeling for them.”

Karen reflected on their staff’s TREC approach with their students, “I think that it gives everybody, from the Counseling team to the Teachers, a better understanding of what our students are going through, and just how hard it is for some of our families. I think it’s important that we keep going because this is a vault. It’s really a form of pride to be TREC Accredited.”

Congratulations to all the staff members for the plethora of equity-focused solutions, healing-centered practices, and thoughtful, intentional engagement with the process of becoming TREC Accredited.

Thank you for the leadership of every single staff member! You are appreciated profoundly.  Joy and excitement permeated through the folx in our group picture following the Accreditation!

We appreciate our TREC Point of Contact, Tinisha Hamberlin, for her leadership in weaving TREC through the learning centers!