In April, as the pandemic spread and states went into lockdown, Kimalee Dickerson was thinking about teachers.
Dickerson, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Virginia's Equity Center and Youth-Nex, the Center to Promote Effective Youth Development at UVA's Curry School of Education and Human Development, was in frequent conversation with educators as part of both centers' commitment to local partnership.
No one knew what the summer, much less the fall, would look like - but they knew it would be challenging. Someone suggested a professional development opportunity focused on mental health and equity. "Not just focused on the academic content, but more the social and emotional context and supporting students through a challenging time that we were all adjusting to," Dickerson said.
She saw an opportunity where UVA could help.
"In a space where it feels like there are so many big challenges, this was a smaller thing we could do to support the community - and to give them something they were asking for," she said.
