Presented by David J. Schonfeld, MD, Director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Sponsored by Brookes Publishing

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The vast majority of children experience the death of a close family member or friend by the time they complete high school. Whether involving a personal loss or one that affects the entire school or community, bereavement can have a profound and long-term impact on children’s psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and personal development. School professionals can play a vital role in helping students learn coping strategies that accelerate their adjustment and minimize their distress, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and behavioral difficulties. Yet most educators and other school professionals have had limited to no professional training on how to support grieving students.

Presented by David J. Schonfeld, MD, a nationally renowned expert on childhood bereavement and school crisis, this edWebinar provides the essential information you need to provide sensitive, appropriate support to grieving students of all ages. Learn how to:

• Initiate conversations with children and their families related to deaths of family members and friends
• Support students when feelings of guilt affect adjustment to a loss
• Provide practical advice on issues such as funeral attendance of children
• Appreciate the importance of long-term follow-up after a significant loss

In addition to providing practical information on supporting grieving students, Dr. Schonfeld also highlights a free, practitioner-oriented website, www.grievingstudents.org. Dr. Schonfeld introduces the site’s comprehensive materials on bereavement, developed for educators and other school professionals by the Coalition to Support Grieving Students.

Pre-K through high school teachers, librarians, school and district leaders, and other school professionals interested in learning more about how to provide appropriate support to grieving students will benefit from watching this recorded edWebinar.

About the Presenter
David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP established and directs the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, located at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in the University of Southern California. For over 30 years, he has provided consultation and training to schools on supporting students and staff at times of crisis and loss in the aftermath of numerous school crisis events and disasters within the United States and abroad, including school and community shootings and stabbings in Parkland, FL, Newtown, CT, Benton, KY, Las Vegas, NC, Spokane, WA, Marysville, WA, Osaka, Japan, Corning, CA, Aurora, CO, Platte Canyon, CO, Chardon, Oh, and Townville, SC; flooding from Hurricanes Maria in San Juan, Sandy in NYC and NJ, Katrina in New Orleans and Ike in Galveston; tornadoes in Joplin, MO and Alabama; wildfires in Sonoma County, CA and in the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, TN; and the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China. Dr. Schonfeld is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council and the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB)/National Preparedness and Response Science Board (NPRSB). He served as a Commissioner for both the National Commission on Children and Disasters and the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission in CT.

If you view the recording and would like a CE certificate, join the Teaching All Students: Practical Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms community and go to the edWebinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz. As a member of the community, you’ll be able to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view past edWebinars to earn CE certificates.

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