135: Student-Led Restorative Practices with AJ Crabill

What happens when we give students the tools to restore relationships rather than simply punishing behavior? 

In this week's episode, AJ Crabill, Senior Coach at Student Led Restorative Practices, shares with us how community circles build belonging, mediation circles resolve conflicts, and restorative circles address harm. 

Tune in to learn why these approaches better serve student success and how you can implement them in your own spaces.

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with AJ on LinkedIn
• Visit www.StudentLedRP.org to learn more about student-led restorative practices
• Get your copy of AJ’s latest book: Our Tools They Deserve: Why Adults Choose Retribution, How Students Can Practice Restoration
• Want to open your dream school with the freedom you deserve and the support you need?Visit https://openmyschool.my.canva.site/rebelkaipod to learn more about our partnership with KaiPod Learning and get help opening your dream school!
• Learn more about the Rebel Project Literacy Curriculum, a fully integrated literacy and project based learning curriculum, at  projectup.us or inkwire.co/rplc 
• Get your copy of Rebel Educator: Create Classrooms Where Impact and Imagination Meet
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, and check out our project library.
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment.
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here.

GUEST BIO:

Airick Journey "AJ" Crabill is the Senior Coach at Student Led Restorative Practices and serves as the Director of Governance for the Council of the Great City Schools where he leads school board supports for the nation’s largest urban school systems. Improving student outcomes is his relentless focus. His passion to improve student outcomes is rooted in his past: bounced in and out of foster care, he attended eleven different schools as a child. Guided by the idea that student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change and drawing on his intimate familiarity with the triumphs and terrors of America’s safety nets for children, he has devoted much of his adult life to advocating for the well-being of the United States' most vulnerable youth.

He recently served as the Conservator at DeSoto (TX) Independent School District. During his guidance, DeSoto made double digit literacy gains and improved from having F ratings in areas of academics, finance, and governance to the district earning B ratings. He served as Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency and he spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City (MO) Public Schools that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate and, eventually, led KCPS