Advocacy & Programs → LGBTQ+ → Youth and family program → School programs A lesson in acceptance.

This training will give you the tools to make your school or classroom inclusive of all students. We will review LGBTQ+ terminology and misconceptions, discuss ways to create a welcoming environment, and learn the role of mindfulness in communicating with students. Through kindness and acceptance, you can create a space where students learn best.

Too often, LGBTQ+, transgender and non-binary students are not represented in the classroom. Every educator can create a safe, supportive, and affirming environment for these students. This workshop will help you make the necessary changes in your school or classroom to ensure that every student has a sense of belonging.

This interactive workshop is designed to help attendees put into action what they learned when attending the workshop “Creating a Welcoming Environment for Your LGBTQ+ Students”.  This workshop will bring you into scenarios and ask you to share how you would handle situations that can arise in a school setting. For example, when you call a student by the wrong name and pronoun or when a parent is not supportive of their LGBTQ+ child.

(pre-req: Creating a Welcoming Environment for Your LGBTQ+ Students)

Transgender and non-binary students are often misunderstood, especially at school. Educators are faced with questions like: What pronoun and name should I use? What locker room should my transgender student use? Tony Ferraiolo can answer these questions and more. After his own transition, he has helped countless educators support their transgender students, reminding us that every student deserves a safe and respectful learning environment.

This presentation is designed to teach students about diversity through the language of love and kindness. All students should be honored and respected for who they are, even if they are different from someone else. By helping students understand the power of diversity, we hope to reduce instances of bullying and improve mental health.

When your feelings don’t fit into words, art is there to give them shape. Join Health Care Advocates International’s Youth and Family Program Director and Life Coach Tony Ferraiolo as he presents “Creating Kindness” workshop. This workshop is designed to guide the participants down a path of inner discovery which in turn will open their hearts to express themselves through their drawings. During our workshop, we’ll use art as a window to talk about love and kindness. Participants will be asked to draw answers to questions like, how can you create kindness? Draw what you can do to be kind to yourself. Which in turn will have them leaving this powerful workshop with a feeling of love and kindness in their hearts.

Join Tony Ferraiolo, as he takes you on his personal journey beyond the binary that led him to self-love and acceptance. Ferraiolo will share with students, how he learned to accept himself and being kind to people who might not have understood him helped him heal his own heart. Tony ends this talk by guiding the students through a love and kindness meditation.