Elizabethtown townlively.com
MAY 24, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXIV • NO 15
To build hope New Clinic for Special Children breaks ground BY ANN MEAD ASH
people involved to see how to support them and alleviate any harm they experienced. Restorative justice, she noted, seeks to shift the focus from blame and punishment to prevention through community building and nurturing relationships. In a nutshell, restorative practices are about creating conversations to reach solutions, rather than relying solely on punishment, Rittenhouse stated. According to statistics supplied by Advoz, schools that participate in restorative justice programs have an 87% reduction in the number of suspensions of students, with expulsions being entirely eliminated on some campuses. Additionally, 64% of teachers who use
On April 4, the sun shone brightly over the tent set up at the site along Hatville Road in Intercourse where the new Clinic for Special Children (CSC) will be built. Herman Bontrager, board chair of CSC and chair of the Keeping the Promise: Building Hope Capital Campaign, welcomed the gathering, noting, “We have a perfect day.” The groundbreaking and tree planting that occurred on the site not only celebrated the new building, but also commemorated the founding of CSC by Dr. Holmes Morton and his wife, Caroline, 34 years ago. “They had the vision and courage to establish a clinic to serve children with genetically transmitted diseases here in Lancaster County,” said Bontrager, who noted that the new building will help more families, allow for the innovation of new therapies, and be a place of comfort and hope for generations to come. He stated that more than 1,700 donors have contributed to the $8.8 million raised toward the $12.5 million goal of the campaign. Adam Heaps, CSC executive director, pointed out that the need had outgrown the current facility in Strasburg. “We endeavored to design a (new) building that offers refuge to families with rare disease. Every detail of the building was designed for the benefit of patient families,” he said.
See Peace pg 3
See Hope pg 4
People participate in Advoz Circle Process training, a facilitation style often used in restorative schools.
Partnering for peace in schools dvoz, a Lancaster city-based organization, works to reduce conflict through mediation, restorative practices and education. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, the organization has been partnering with Elizabethtown Area School District to promote restorative practices in the district’s middle and high schools. Krista Rittenhouse, director of restorative practices for Advoz, explained that the Elizabethtown programming began before the school year started this past fall. Listening sessions, consultations and trainings have provided a
as well as participate in creating solutions,” Rittenhouse stated. “It also invites teachers to have a collaborative atmosphere that engages and empowers their students.” Peer mediation and leadership positions are offered to students, fostering an environment of accountability. “If someone does something that causes harm or disruption to either another specific individual or another group of people, the restorative practitioner would talk to that person and invite them to consider what’s behind their actions, what they were thinking or feeling and what the motivation was for their behavior,” Rittenhouse explained. The restorative practitioner would also talk to the other
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framework for the program in the schools. “We’ve been doing training for both administrators and teachers, and we have a part-time trained facilitator, someone who is embedded in the school a few hours a week, to be able to provide additional support for restorative processes in the school,” Rittenhouse said. As she explained, restorative practices focus on empowering student voices, so that decisions are made with the people in a situation, rather than for those people. “It doesn’t mean that there’s chaos and students don’t have responsibility, but instead it means they are invited to imagine what’s best for them and advocate for their needs,
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