Center for Catholic Education at UD

By Rhonda Mercs, Director of ECHO

Mary Vicario served as a Catholic school teacher many years ago. A sign stating, “This is a safe place” was always displayed in her classroom. Her students knew that Mary lived by this statement. In the beginning, Mary did not understand how impactful the statement was to many of the students she served, but she came to realize just how important her safe classroom was to her students. As the years ticked by, she decided to change her career to a clinical counselor and became a certified trauma specialist. Mary is now the director for Finding Hope Consulting and shares her knowledge about trauma by doing presentations throughout Ohio.

On Friday, February 15^th ECHO (Empowering Children with Hope and Opportunity) sponsored a workshop titled, “Facilitating Healing, Resilience and Hope: Trauma Informed Care for Vulnerable Populations” which was facilitated by Mary Vicario. Many teachers from the schools ECHO serves attended, such as Holy Angels in Sidney, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Anthony, St. Patrick, and Chaminade Julienne High School. During the day-long interactive training, participants learned how trauma affects children’s learning and the development of their social and emotional skills. Teachers learned strategies and interventions that will be beneficial for use with students in their classrooms and came away with a wealth of information.

Trauma impacts the way our brain develops. Can we help children who have been traumatized? Mary Vicario taught us we can make a difference in the lives of these children. Building a positive relationship and providing a safe environment are ways to start assisting these children. We need to ask “what happened to you?” and “what did you do to survive?” instead of “what’s wrong with you?”.  Many of the teachers attending the workshop learned to understand and handle behaviors caused by trauma. There is no doubt their classrooms will become a “SAFE PLACE”.

ECHO would like to thank all who attended. Special thanks to Cyndi Cathcart for allowing the workshop to be held in the St. Patrick Parish Center and all the hospitality.