APYDCON Virtual Exhibit Hall

Miss Kendra Programs, The Foundation for Art’s and Trauma’s innovative and transformational trauma program addresses Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) head on before they cause major health problems later in life. Miss Kendra Programs helps students ranging from elementary school to college tackle trauma in their everyday lives. By shifting the conversation from blame and punishment to nurturing and healing, Miss Kendra Program’s school-specialized counselors and drama therapists get to the root of childhood trauma by interacting directly with students in the classroom and encouraging them to open up about their fears.

Miss Kendra Programs offers specialized stress reduction sessions, classroom-wide psychoeducation and school-wide early detection and screening programs where counselors create a healthy and open conversation for students and faculty. Programs range from elementary school workshops where children are taught a child safety “bill of rights” to high school sessions where students undergo stress screenings. Miss Kendra’s List, one of their flagship elementary school programs, which was featured in a 2016 documentary, Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope, incorporates a book reading session where counselors read from The Legend of Miss Kendra, a powerful story that teaches children about resilience.

By approaching ACEs in a hands-on way, students learn to feel safe and open up about their trauma. Because of this, Miss Kendra Programs’ participating school principals have seen tremendous results, including calmer classrooms and fewer office referrals and aggressive incidents. Principals report about the transformative impact Miss Kendra Programs have had on students, faculty and parents.