In the middle of Anchorage magic is happening within the walls of North Star Elementary School. Bordered by low-income housing and blocks of small businesses, the Title I school and its staff make an intentional effort to look beyond disruptive behavior and outbursts to find and nurture a child's unlimited potential.
The effort has paid off. Referrals to the Office of Children's Services from the school are down, test scores are up and overall behavior has improved.
The "magic" here is in the fundamentals of human connection. Trusted bonds are not happening by accident, and they are precisely what children need to build resilience and be ready to learn.
"This is where it starts. This is where we can change things for this generation," said Marcus Wilson, who took over as the school's principal about eight years ago and who has spearheaded the implementation of what's known as trauma-informed education practices.
Over the course of two years beginning in 2010, Wilson's staff underwent grant-funded training one day every month. Staff now understand that negative behavior is often driven by something happening outside of school, and can respond appropriately.
According to a 2012 report on the grant's success, North Star saw immediate academic progress in the program's first year, and sustained the improvement in year two.
At North Star, teachers have learned to speak quietly to an upset child, give the child time to de-escalate, and to ask how they're doing before talking about what happened. This gentler method, which calls for seeing the frustration and hurt that's behind unwanted behaviors, prevents an already traumatized child from being re-traumatized at school.
The school's staff has also learned to ask "What happened to you?" instead of "What did you do?" It's an important distinction. The former encourages the child to explain what's going on with them. The latter immediately places blame and can keep the child's defense's up.
Wilson said his office, hallways and spare waiting areas used to be jam-packed with kids who'd acted out and were awaiting some disciplinary measure. But now, days go by when he doesn't need to have a behavioral talk with a single student. Bullying is down, as are schoolyard scuffles.
Perhaps more importantly, the school is making what Wilson and the school's full-time counselor, Jennifer Buchanan, characterize as dramatically fewer referrals to the Office of Children's Services.
"Kids know that any adult here will be here to help them," Buchanan said, noting that families are also starting to trust the school as a place to seek support. Buchanan calls it the "trickle-down effect." At the end of the school day, students bring their social and emotional skills home, where those skills take root and spread to the rest of the family.
Much of the work has to do with conflict resolution and modeling how to express feelings, wants and needs while simultaneously being respectful and courteous to others. This is social-emotional learning, which takes place in curriculum within the Anchorage School District, but which, with Wilson's support, North Star has fully implemented and embraced.
Under Wilson's direction, backed by teachers and other school staff, North Star's students are learning to overcome current and past circumstances. Homelessness, poverty, single-parent homes, family violence, family stress -- any of these things can impact a child's ability to focus and learn.
Before the transition, "one of the worst things we were doing was expecting all of the kids that came through our doors here at school to be ready to receive education without checking in with their needs, to see how they were doing," Wilson explained.
Mounds of research show the intense stress we endure as young people changes our brain architecture and places us at greater risk as adults for poor decision making, addiction, bad relationships and poor health. As children, it causes us to become hyper-vigilant and to shift into survival mode instead of learning mode.
Stressed children may be defiant, act up, shut down, crawl under desks, be disrespectful or walk away from class to find what they perceive as a safe hiding place, Buchanan said.
While research shows how stress negatively impacts the developing brain, it also shows how the influence of just one person during critical early periods in a child's life can help turn things around.
"The single most common factor for children who develop resilience is at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver, or other adult," Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child states on its website.
Children who misbehave at North Star aren't given a free pass. Rather, they are brought back into the fold through community service within the school. They may spend recess picking up trash on the playground or helping the school janitor. But they remain a part of the greater school community.
"Kids know that this is their family and that they need to be contributing to the community in a positive way," Buchanan said.
Last Thursday, at the school's end-of year community luncheon, electricity filled the air. School-business partners, educators from across the district, and parents -- including Principal Wilson's mother, Laverne -- converged to celebrate the students' success and unlimited potential.
"He loves it," Laverne Wilson said of her son's work at the school, after a lunch of ribs and chicken that Wilson had himself grilled at home the night before.
"He's just blessed with the want and the will to help other people," Laverne Wilson said. "The type of children that he loves are the ones who need some (love)."
"We set no limits for any kids. No matter where they come from. The sky's the limit," Principal Wilson told me in an interview earlier that same week. "We really have to focus in on the whole child. What kind of citizens are we releasing into society."
Laverne, a retired nurse and self-described "neighborhood mom," said she always taught her children "You have to be the best you can be for everybody," a lesson her son is now instilling in the students at North Star.
But this story isn't about Wilson. It's about what the future holds for the young minds he's helping shape. And it's those very people, his young students, who stole the show on the day of the community luncheon. The collective voices of the school's choir, confident and inspired, may have best expressed what's happening at North Star through this refrain from "Fight Song" by Rachel Patten: "This is my fight song / Take back my life song / Prove I'm all right song."
Overcoming obstacles. Being good citizens. Learning. Dreaming big. If you've ever doubted your ability to impact a young person's life, don't. Here's proof positive we all have an important role to play.
Jill Burke is a longtime Alaska journalist writing from the center of a busy family life. Her father swore by "Burke's Law No. 1 -- never take no for an answer." Meaning, don't give up in the face of adversity. The lesson stuck. Share your ideas with her at jill@alaskadispatch.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.
The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.