First Faces: Restorative Practices for Support Staff

Developed in partnership between WhyRJ and Jenny Winkler and Cuetz Rodriguez of San Diego, California. If you’re committed to creating a campus where every person feels valued the moment they walk through the door, this training is for you.

Grounded in restorative practices, Indigenous relational wisdom, trauma-informed principles, and contemporary neuroscience, these trainings provide practical tools to empower every adult who contributes to a positive school culture:

• front office teams
• cafeteria staff
• custodial professionals
• library staff
• paraprofessionals
• campus supervisors
• other support professionals whose daily interactions often have the greatest impact on students' sense of safety and belonging.

The 3-module First Faces: Restorative Practices for Support Staff training is available in multiple formats to meet your individual, group, or community-wide needs:

1) Take this training ONLINE and ON-YOUR-OWN TIME including check-ins with a WhyRJ Facilitator after each module.

2) Contact Us to explore our LIVE VIRTUAL and IN-PERSON training for 10 to 25 participants. More participants will incur an additional fee and more WhyRJ Facilitators. We will come to you, virtually or in-person, with our materials and engaging training activities.

Training Costs
For Individuals: $450
For Groups: Contact us to tailor our training to your number of participants.

In-Depth Module Descriptions
1. Welcoming Practices: Belonging From the First Hello

How we welcome students and adults onto campus shapes everything that follows, their sense of safety, their readiness to learn, and their belief that they matter in our community. As Maya Angelou reminds us, “people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The Welcoming Practices session explores how small, intentional relational moves can transform the culture of a school. Grounded in Indigenous relational traditions and restorative values, this training helps us understand why the first moments of contact are so powerful, and how we can use body language, tone, consistency, and attunement to communicate dignity and belonging.

2. Enhancing Communication & Empathy: Strengthening Connection Through Attuned Practice

What does it mean to truly listen?

In Chinese, the character for 聽 (tīng), to listen, is made up of the symbols for ear, eyes, undivided attention, and heart. It’s a reminder that real listening is a full‑body, full‑presence experience.

Our Enhancing Communication & Empathy training explores how we can move beyond hearing words to understanding the feelings and needs beneath them. Grounded in Indigenous relational teachings and the science of connection, this session helps us slow down, attune, and communicate in ways that honor dignity and humanity.

Because communication isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence, curiosity, and repair.
Every interaction is a chance to say: You matter. I’m listening.

3. Regulation in Trauma‑Informed Education Spaces: Supporting Safety, Connection & Calm

What if regulation wasn’t something we expected from students, but something we cultivated together?

Our Trauma‑Informed Regulation training explores how stress, overwhelm, and past experiences shape the way students and adults show up, and how we can respond with presence rather than urgency.

Grounded in Indigenous relational teachings and contemporary neuroscience, this session helps us understand the Resilient Zone, the Hand‑Brain Model, and the power of co‑regulation. Participants will learn how nervous systems communicate, how calm spreads, and how grounding, self‑soothing, and noticing practices support safety and connection.

Every moment of dysregulation is an opportunity to say: You are safe. I’m here.

Contact Us to register and get started.