Since 2019, Farm to School lead coach Sheila Humphreys has been offering workshops on Trauma-Informed Approaches to Farm to School to schools in WSESU and at regional and national Farm to School events. During the 2024-2025 school year, these workshops have expanded to other schools and districts around Vermont. These workshops are built around the central question, “How do we raise awareness about food and trauma and how do we understand how our actions impact others so that we aren’t unintentionally creating stress for our students?” and they invite participants to be vulnerable, share food stories with each other, learn how to support their most vulnerable students, and unpack their implicit biases around food.

In November, 10 para-educators from WSESU attended the training on their professional development day. In January, 16 school wellness leaders in WNESU attended the training and 24 school wellness leaders in Springfield School District received the training. In March, 15 teachers at Central Elementary School in Bellows Falls and 6 school staff members from Northfield Schools in CVSU received the training. All in all, this training has touched the lives of 5,525 students in 4 different school districts in Vermont.

One of the participants from Northfield reached out to Sheila after the training with these words, “I have to say, your workshop was very well organized, thought out, heartfelt, and honestly one of the best FTS workshops I have attended in a very long time! Thank you!” Overall, the training has been very well-received by educators throughout the state, who are seeing an increase in trauma in their students and looking for ways to address it. “It is a privilege to share this work with educators around the state, and to know that the information is having a positive impact on Vermont youth,” says Sheila.

If you are interested in bringing this training to your school community, please contact Farm to School Program Director Kris Nelson, kris@foodconnects.org.