By: Rich Smith, SEL Coordinator & Assistant Principal
At school, restorative practice processes enhance everyone’s sense of belonging. They develop participants’ confidence in their own ability to reach mutual understanding and develop creative solutions. They build confidence in the community’s ability to handle conflicts constructively, mitigating the effects of unwanted behavior and negotiating restitution for serious harm. We know learning is contingent on relationships. With Restorative ND we have worked diligently to frame a systematic process that directly compliments the district's guardrails. It is found that in a school environment, restorative practices promote self-regulation, develop work and career-ready attitudes, minimize disruption, distraction, and bullying, improve relationships among all stakeholders, and help students succeed according to our essential academic and social skills.
Mrs. Kelli Adams and Restorative Practice are no strangers to Dickinson Public Schools. Both she and Joel Friesz, now Executive Director of the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice, have been coming to the district for seven years. This past year, Otto Bremer bank extended a grant opportunity for all schools at DPS to partake in this training. Nearly all schools have participated in intensive training to do the work we have in common across the district and community. That is, success for all! Randy Cranston, Assistant Principal at Dickinson High School, shared, "The Restorative Practice Training was a great training for DPS and DHS, it helps us look at other ways other than issuing consequences to work with students who are not meeting expectations or made a mistake with another student. We continue to find ways to work on the development of well-rounded students for their future success. Working with others you have a conflict with is a life lesson that we all can learn from."
Starting in October, Mrs. Adams came to the district to introduce how all students and staff can benefit from restorative practices. There have been coaching calls and extended training to support multi-tiers of students' success. Jefferson Elementary Counselor Amanda Fisher stated that "What I like best about Restorative Practices is that it allows students and staff to work through problems and rebuild and repair relationships. It also shifts us from relying on punitive discipline to a focus on accountability and building positive relationships." Quite frankly, when we foster personalized learning, our students take pride in Dickinson, for Dickinson.