Healthy staff and teachers are our most valuable resource for creating safe and supportive learning environments. The Way to Well-being workshop series explores why resiliency is a challenging and necessary skill for educators. Participants will be introduced to an integrated set of online tools which are no-cost, evidence-informed, and designed to build safe and supportive school climates with emphasis on the needs of staff. We will use these tools as a guide to explore resources and tips to strengthen staff well-being at the individual, collective and policy level.

Jill Patnode, MSW, and Brittany Baldwin Jill Patnode has been the Thriving Schools Director for Kaiser Permanente of Washington since 2018 where she has supported efforts to increase resiliency in school environments and access to healthy foods and physical activity in schools. Prior to this she worked at the Puget Sound Educational Service District in various roles supporting students with Tier 2 & 3 behaviors. She achieved a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington. During her 27 years working with at-risk youth her roles have spanned the continuum of direct service to systems change and include: parole counselor, prevention intervention specialist, middle school intervention coordinator, program manager and director. Jill currently participates on several statewide planning teams School Safety & Student Well-Being Advisory Committee, WA State Children’s Mental Health Workgroup-School Subcommittee and WA State Healthy Students Promising Futures Team. Brittany Baldwin is a Senior Workforce Health Associate with Kaiser Permanente of Washington. In this role, she supports the Workforce Health team's consultative services for employers in creating a culture of wellbeing in the workplace. Her background resides in business development, including marketing and community outreach work within hospice and palliative care settings. Brittany holds a BS in Care, Health and Society from the University of Arizona and a Master's Degree in Health Administration from the University of Washington.