Innovation Network Begins with a Design Team & a Prioritized Workstream

As part of our transition from a traditional board/staff governance model to a more design-focused Innovation Network model, Southern Oregon Success has formed its first design team and chosen a dual generation approach to Kindergarten Readiness as the Network’s first prioritized workstream.

The Innovation Network model comes to our region courtesy of CoCreative, a national consulting firm that specializes in effective collaboration. With support from the Gordon Elwood Foundation and the Ford Family Foundation, CoCreative has been working with Southern Oregon Success over the last several months to make the change to a more flexible, hands-on, design-centered way of working together.

The shift changes our collaboration to a network model where a small design team reviews data and existing work in the region, brainstorms on new strategies and goals, engages in interviews with systems leaders as well as “voices of experience”— local people facing the challenges we’re trying to address—and brings information, ideas and proposals to the greater Network, made up of people from all of our partner organizations and communities throughout Jackson and Josephine counties.

The Network then brainstorms and designs strategies, pilots and prototypes to make progress towards shared specific, ambitious and timebound goals, meeting twice a year to measure that progress and build on the work together.

“There has been such great foundational work over a number of years in building the relationships that make up our collaboration,” states Program Manager Peter Buckley. “There’s been great momentum built up as well by our work with ACEs and resilience in the region. The Innovation Network model now gives us a way to deepen and accelerate our work for better outcomes for children, families and communities.”

As part of the transition, the first Design Team for the Southern Oregon Success Innovation Network has been chosen. The team members are Todd Bloomquist from the Grants Pass School District, Rene Brandon from Southern Oregon Early Learning Services (SOELS), Kathy Bryon from the Gordon Elwood Foundation, John King from Southern Oregon University, Belle Shepherd from the Oregon Health Authority, and Buckley, representing the collaboration’s backbone operation with the Southern Oregon Education Service District.

The Design Team has worked with CoCreative and the current Southern Oregon Success Steering Committee to review current workstreams, and to decide on our first prioritized workstream to engage with the full network process. Given all that has been learned from our previous work, including our strategy map effort in 2018-19, the discussion quickly centered on the need to work upstream as much as possible, and to make sure we are taking a dual generation approach that will not only have positive  impacts on current children and families, but future families as well.

With SOELS taking lead on efforts focused on preconception to age 5 to increase Kindergarten Readiness, Southern Oregon Success is now working to not only support and partner in SOELS’ work, but to also share the goal of Kindergarten Readiness as we take lead on efforts focused on the next generation of parents.

“There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm with this transition,” Buckley reports. “We’re excited to be able to align our work with the Community Health Improvement Plan for our region as well as the introduction and expansion of programs included in the Student Success Act for early childhood and K12 education. We have great partner organizations to work with to make sure the next generation of parents have the skills, information and support they need for all of our families to thrive.”

Strengthening Families Trainings and Workshops in Self-regulation and Resilience to Highlight “Resilience Awareness Month” in November

 Trainings in the evidenced based “Strengthening Families” curriculum as well as open trainings in Understanding ACEs (the Adverse Childhood Experiences study) and workshops in Self-Regulation & Resilience will take place in both Jackson and Josephine counties as part of the third annual “Resilience Awareness Month” in November.

In addition, Rogue Community Health’s annual luncheon, Rogue Way to Health, will also be featured on the Resilience Awareness Month schedule, taking place on Wednesday, November 6 at the Inn at the Commons in Medford. Early reservations are recommended.

The full schedule of events will be announced in early October. If you would like us to include events your organization is hosting in November that focus on resilience for children, families or communities, please email information to peter_buckley@southernoregonsuccess.org.

Building Resilient Families Classes Offered by the Family Connection and Southern Oregon Success

RSVP: www.tinyurl.com/TFCCPE

dbennington@socfc.org * 541-734-5150

October 22 till December 17
Meets once per week for 2 hours – Tuesdays 6-8pm

At Central Point Elementary
450 S. 4th Street, Central Point, OR

*Dinner is served, childcare offered for ages 3-10. Completion certificate for 18 parenting education hours available. 

“Now What?” Answered for K12 School Districts

In the three and a half years that Southern Oregon Success and the Southern Oregon ACEs Training Team have been doing presentations on ACEs & Resilience, we’ve reached just under 13,000 people in Jackson and Josephine counties. Almost half of the participants in the training sessions have been educators, and a very common response to the information presented is “Now what?” The information in the training sessions changes how child development is understood and calls into question many longtime educational practices.

Educators also report an increasing number of students struggling with social and emotional skills that are foundational to learning, and are seeking proven ways to help teach those skills.

Change is often challenging, but after being immersed in these issues for years now, we can point to four specific programs/curriculums that answer the question of “Now what?” Each of the programs/curriculums are trauma-informed and compliment and align with each other, and each of the programs/curriculums have solid data to show significant growth and positive outcomes for students:

For Kindergarten into the early elementary school years: the PAX Good Behavior Game.

For all Kindergarten through elementary school classrooms: Positive Discipline.

For all grade levels, but particularly middle schools and high schools: Restorative Justice and the Discovery Program.

No program or curriculum can address every issue and solve every problem, and every program and curriculum requires training and a commitment to implementing it with fidelity. But these four programs/curriculums have proven track records. With new resources coming to school districts next year through the Student Success Act, more of our local schools can, if they choose, introduce or expand efforts to teach social and emotional learning.

It’s exciting to be able to offer a very clear response to “Now what?”

To schedule an ACEs training session or workshop in Self-Regulation & Resilience for any group, or for more information, contact peter_buckley@southernoregonsuccess.org.