25 Weeks of Gratitude: Creating calm, connection and care when students need it most

When Hannah Gorman stepped into her role as a K–2 school counselor at eStem Public Charter Schools in 2020, classrooms were already anything but typical.

Students were navigating pandemic disruptions. Families were in survival mode. And the youngest learners who were still developing the skills to name their emotions, often showed their stress through behavior.

Hannah saw it immediately.

Children overwhelmed by small moments. Big reactions to simple redirection. Students struggling to regulate emotions they didn’t yet understand. And teachers doing everything they could to respond, often without the tools to fully connect behavior to what was happening beneath the surface.

That’s where the Arkansas Trauma Resource Initiative for Schools (TRIS) made a lasting difference.

Supported by the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas, TRIS equips educators with training and resources to recognize and respond to the impact of trauma on students, helping schools support both emotional and academic needs.

For Hannah, the training helped turn instinct into action.

“It really helped teachers become more aware,” she said. “They started asking, ‘Is this a trauma-based response, or is this a day-to-day behavior?’”

At a Title I school like eStem, that shift matters. And for newer teachers, especially, it fills a gap many didn’t encounter in college.

The change has been clear.

Teachers pause before reacting. They take a breath. They seek support sooner. Most importantly, they begin to see behavior not as defiance, but as communication.

In one kindergarten class, that shift made a difference for a student who would become so upset he would cry until he got physically sick. After the training, his teacher changed her approach, staying calm, giving him space and creating a quiet place where he could reset.

With support from Hannah and the counseling team, those moments became less frequent.

“That doesn’t mean it stops,” Hannah said. “But growth and improvement, that’s what matters.”

That mindset reflects the core of trauma-informed care. TRIS emphasizes practical strategies educators can use every day, helping students feel safe, supported and ready to learn.

It also reinforces a powerful truth: a supportive adult can change a child’s trajectory.

At eStem, teachers embraced that role, becoming steady, trusted adults for students who may need one most.

The impact extends beyond the classroom.

Hannah said those same approaches help staff better support families, too, by responding with calm and clarity rather than escalation, even in difficult moments.

“It’s impacted our overall culture,” she said.

In five years, that kind of work has scaled statewide.

According to TRIS Director Nicola “Nikki” Edge, PhD, the program has trained more than 14,000 educators and supported 209 schools through difficult events.

TRIS focuses on two key areas: training educators and supporting schools during times of crisis, while also helping them prepare in advance.

“We help in moments of crisis,” Edge said, “but we’re also helping schools build systems so they’re ready – so they’ve already had those conversations.”

That includes practical tools like crisis checklists and communication templates that help schools respond quickly and thoughtfully without creating additional stress.

“It’s about making it easier to respond in a way that’s respectful, transparent and avoids adding more trauma,” she said.

TRIS is also deepening its impact through intensive training cohorts, where educators build advanced skills to support students affected by trauma.

That progress has been made possible through sustained support.

“We’ve had such a strong partnership with the Blue & You Foundation,” Edge said. “That kind of long-term investment has allowed us to learn, grow and really meet schools where they are.”

At eStem, that investment is evident every day.

Hannah continues to embed trauma-informed practices across the school – from staff reminders to simple, schoolwide strategies that help students regulate emotions and resolve conflict.

After reviewing student data, her team identified emotional regulation as a top need and introduced tools students can use independently: take a breath, count backward or step away to regroup.

The goal is empowerment.

“We give the kids the tools,” Hannah said, “but we want them to learn how to use them on their own.”

And while she supports students and teachers, Hannah also models something just as important: care for the caregiver. Her office is calm, comfortable and steady. It reflects the space she hopes every child can experience.

Because when schools lead with understanding, everyone benefits.

As the Blue & You Foundation celebrates 25 years, stories like Hannah’s show how one investment can ripple outward – from a training room to a classroom, from a teacher to a student, from a moment of overwhelm to one of connection.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Blue & You Foundation, 25 Weeks of Gratitude spotlights 25 stories of Arkansans whose lives have been impacted by Foundation-funded work.

The Blue & You Foundation was established in 2001 through an initial gift from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Since its inception, the Foundation’s financial base has grown through wise and prudent investment strategies. This has enabled the foundation to support its mission by making grants funded by the interest earned on those investments.