Attendees:
- CSN: Lauren Gilman, Shannon Reynolds
- California: Anjelica Montano, Jaclyn Pasco, Tarrah Selland
- Kentucky: Kellsie Sutherland
- Indiana: Sarah Iwinski-Wallace, Sophia Schadewald, Keeley Higley
- Massachusetts: Jane Ayer, Silvia Mendez
- Vermont: Emily Fredette, Julia Sarrasin, Kara Zink
It was great to see so many of you on our Bullying Prevention Topic Call last week! I am very excited to have you share your progress with other teams in our upcoming learning session through your storyboards.
I want to make sure that I was clear about the purpose of the storyboard, and about expectations of what it might look like. First and foremost, we want this to be useful to you! By pulling together your “story” in a visual format, we hope that you will create a coherent narrative that helps you to better define your direction and present your work to leadership, potential partners, etc. Secondarily, we compile and post storyboards from CSLC participants so that others can learn from your experience, make connections, and see lots of different paths for this work. We will ask ~4 states to present their storyboards at the Learning Session in May; these will be chosen based on whether they illustrate a part of the content that we will be presenting.
Here are a few links, as well as the slides from our call (attached), to help guide your development:
Team updates
The California team is finalizing the first draft of a white paper or guidance document which aims to summarize the causes of bullying, describe the landscape in California in the context of national data, and highlight groups that are disproportionally impacted by bullying. After distributing this resource, the team plans to follow up with an evidence-informed program or curriculum to be implemented in schools.
In Indiana, the team will soon be launching the Indiana Youth Upstander Project (IYUP), an initiative funded through their Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant. At an orientation meeting on April 7th, the six Indianapolis-area schools that applied will choose from a “menu” of evidence-based bullying prevention interventions, and will receive support, resources, and technical assistance from this team to implement one of these programs.
The Massachusetts team has been implementing several programs that align with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s universal bullying prevention initiatives, which focus on strengthening upstream social-emotional competencies while aligning with youth violence prevention programs. In addition to continuing the implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in community-based youth-serving organizations, they have been funding arts-based efforts across the state, including a theatre group that helps young people to develop communication and conflict resolution skills.
In Vermont, the team is developing a training session for school nurses on how to recognize, prevent, and respond to bullying incidents.
Kentucky is continuing to support schools in the implementation of the Sources of Strength bullying prevention curriculum. Beginning in May, they will be transitioning to a new grant cycle, and will be offering funding to more local health departments to bring this program into their schools.
Upcoming Events:
- Hybrid Learning Session for May 6 and 7, 2026 - please contact Lauren if you have any questions.
- Next Bullying Prevention Topic Call scheduled for May 12, 2026, from 4pm to 5pm ET