Nearly 120 school counsellors and educators from the Independent Schools Association of British Columbia (ISABC) are gathering at St. Michaels University School’s Richmond Road campus on October 24-25 for a two-day Critical Intervention and Response Training conference. While the topic is grave, addressing crises and trauma is a necessary reality for schools, and SMUS is pleased to support this essential preparation.
“It’s our worst nightmare,” acknowledged Carole McMillan, Director of Personal Counselling at SMUS. “We never want anything horrible to happen, but unfortunately tragedies do occur and for us to be well-trained and prepared for when they do happen will alleviate so much stress and things can run that much more smoothly.”
The conference is guided by Sheri Louvre, from Oregon, who started as a behavioural specialist in the 1980s and through her work grew to become a lead trainer in school crisis response teams (Flight teams). Sheri is a published author and has provided on-site responses to a number of tragedies including multiple school shootings and mass casualty events, New York’s 9/11, hurricane disasters among many others.
While prior trainings have happened, this is the first in several years and is really driven by the desire to form regional response, or flight, teams within the ISABC network. These flight teams would come together to support a school in their region should a tragedy occur—a group effort of support.
The opening day of the conference will bring together school counsellors from almost every ISABC school including the Vancouver Island-based schools like Brentwood College, Shawnigan Lake School and St. Margaret’s School. The second day will see school administrators, like heads of school and vice principals, join to talk about the operations side of crisis response.
“Coming together allows us to not only work together but share knowledge and expertise, so we can form these coordinated crisis response teams,” described McMillan. “This also just allows families of our students to feel confidence in their schools to know that we are prepared and their children will be in the best hands possible. When there is a crisis, a large group of professionals will be trained and ready to provide the necessary support to everyone involved.”
This initiative not only enhances the individual preparedness of schools but also fosters stronger inter-school cooperation across the province, ensuring that no community is left unsupported in difficult times.
