This session invites educators into a deeply reflective journey that blends personal story with professional responsibility.
Drawing from her lived experience with childhood bullying, Kelli Stenhouse shares how early experiences of exclusion, silence, and self-doubt influenced her decision to become a teacher, committed to being the adult she once needed.
Yet, as her career progressed, she encountered a painful realization: the dynamics she experienced as a student reappeared in a different form through workplace bullying, professional trauma, and toxic adult culture within educational environments. Through candid storytelling and thoughtful reflection, Kelli explores the connection between what we endure as children, what we normalize as adults, and what we unknowingly perpetuate in schools. She challenges educators to examine how unresolved experiences shape classroom climates, leadership behaviors, staff relationships, and the systems students learn from every day.
Grounded in the conference theme,
Using the Past to Create the Future, this keynote encourages teachers to:
- Reflect on how personal history influences teaching, leadership, and response to conflict
- Understand the long-term effects of bullying, from hallways to staff rooms
- Interrupt harmful patterns by modeling empathy, courage, and accountability
- Build school environments where psychological safety and belonging are intentional, visible, and protected
This is not a session rooted in blame, but in awareness, healing, and choice. Educators leave empowered to use their past not as a burden, but as insight, leveraging experience to create healthier cultures and safer spaces for the next generation.
Related Courses:Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I (19151-I/9062)
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