Customized PD, consulting, and 1:1 support for educators and schools
Being an educator is hard right now. Let’s make it a little easier.
“Are we the only school dealing with this?”
(No - you’re not. And yes, things feel harder than they used to.)
I work with a lot of schools, and I hear the same things again and again:
You’re working 24/7 during the school year. Polarizing events like COVID and the election cast a long shadow, and there are more demands than ever.
You’re still committed to education.
But morale is low. Overwhelm is high. And navigating relationships and the behaviors of others can be hard.
It’s a deluge.
If you’re like a lot of educators I’ve spoken with, you’re burned out about talking about burnout.
…But you’re also just burned out!
And that can make it hard to talk about the sense of overwhelm that’s there.
So how can you support your faculty without overwhelming them further (or getting a giant eye roll)?
How can you truly help them feel nurtured, not depleted?
And how can you foster a culture of community care along the way?
That’s where I come in.
He's an independent school graduate and has been a faculty member and administrator, so his ability to relate to what educators are going through, what the students are going through, is high. He's very relatable, and he's very accessible. He's so well researched, and he's so smart, but he’s also very down to earth. And he's funny: if something comes up that's unexpected, he's able to riff on that in a way that's really approachable. He has a warmth to him.”
As seen and heard on…
Impact Your World: "Pandemic mindfulness classes for kids' mental health"
Impact Your World: "Pandemic mindfulness classes for kids' mental health"
Best Practices Series: "Mindfulness in K-12 Schools"
Best Practices Series: "Mindfulness in K-12 Schools"
"Best Practices for Bringing Mindfulness into Schools"
"Best Practices for Bringing Mindfulness into Schools"
Hi, I’m Alan.
In both public and private boarding and day schools. As a teacher, administrator, and board member. You name it, I’ve been there.
So when you tell me about the unique challenges you, your faculty, or your school are facing, you can trust that I really do understand what it feels like.
In each role I’ve held, I’ve worked hard to help build safe and inclusive school environments, especially for LGBTQ+ students and educators.
At the same time, I’ve done a lot of work outside the education system to understand practices like mindfulness and positive psychology - and how they can benefit school dynamics and culture.
And because my work exists at the intersection of these worlds, I can translate the nervous system stuff to school environments in a way that’s relevant (and helpful) for you and your faculty.
Because you deserve the tools you need to help your faculty - and your school - experience greater support, connection, and ease.
Manage overwhelm, strengthen faculty dynamics, and cultivate resilience - in a way that’s authentic to you and your school.
Because people - and schools - are dynamic, and no two are alike. Which means the solutions for your unique challenges shouldn’t be, either.
Consulting
Get help cultivating a school culture of support + resilience or building a new advisory or mindfulness program.
PD
Bring practical, easy-to-adopt tools for managing overwhelm to your faculty during your next staff meeting or PD day.
1:1 Support
Overcome group + individual challenges and build resilience practices through personalized 1:1 sessions.
Here’s a little peek at what we can focus on together.
My most-requested workshops and faculty support focus areas
Centering educator wellbeing
working with overwhelm and burnout; cultivating mental health protective factors; reconnecting to your sense of meaning and purpose; creating a culture of community care
Cultivating relationships
developing skills for supportive listening and presence; practicing mindful communication for navigating conflict
Overcoming conflict & strengthening team dynamics
setting team norms, agreements, and needs; developing tools for skillful disagreement and generative conflict; creating supportive structures for busy teams
Strengthening programs
developing advisory, community life, and mindfulness programs; moving through moments of community crisis; reestablishing a sense of safety and connection after a challenging or traumatic event
Supporting students & parents
working with stress and anxiety in young people; teaching attention in an age of distraction; navigating transitions like the college process
And more
I also offer workshops on skillful teaching; a mindfulness-based approach to DEIB work; and sessions specific to administrators, students, and parents.
"In any organization where there are high expectations, it can feel like a pressure cooker. And Alan really helped so many of us reset under that pressure, and not feel as much pressure - not have to go into work feeling like it was so much. Alan really delivered in that area for us.”
“Alan specializes in working with teenagers, in schools, and in developing models that aren't cookie-cutter. He helped me develop a mindfulness program that felt authentic to our school - something that aligned with our school culture and way of life.”
Have you ever sat through a PD session so awful, you couldn’t wait for it to end? 👋
(I have. And good news: this is nothing like that!)
Not just another PD day session - but practices that actually work
You don’t have time for another “beat the burnout” talk, and you absolutely don’t have time for one that doesn’t deliver. We’ll use evidence-based strategies for managing overwhelm, cultivating a connected and supportive faculty culture, and fostering joy that actually work.
Not just practices that work for schools - practices that work for your school
Your faculty doesn’t need the exact same workshop that every other school gets - because your school isn’t like every other school. We’ll incorporate accessible practices that address your faculty’s unique challenges.
Add a sense of relief - not just “one more thing” to your faculty’s plate
You don’t want to ask one more thing of your faculty, and I don’t want that for you, either. That’s why I’ll show you how to embed these practices into your existing structures and routines so they become part of your school’s culture. Because when the entire system feels supported, the individuals inside it can, too.
"Particularly post-COVID, I think many administrators are really sensitive to: Is this one more thing I'm asking of my teachers? Will they see this as an additional task that they have to do without being compensated? And where do we fit this into this schedule? But Alan is really clear that this doesn't have to be additional work. This can be work that you do in your classrooms, in advisory, or wherever it naturally exists.”
"Alan’s delivery is incredible. Everything is well referenced and cited. He's also just really funny, and he uses his own humanity and his own life to help talk through some of the strategies. While his workshop was academically enriching, there was also space to connect with him on a human level. There were about 60 of us in the room, and I still felt like he was speaking directly to me. He's just incredibly personable.”
Go from “just push through it” to “We can actually do this.”
We’ll talk about what your school needs
Let’s start with a brief chat so you can tell me more about your challenge(s).
I’ll send you a customized proposal
Your school isn’t like every other school, so your path forward shouldn’t be, either.
We’ll start with listening sessions
So that you and your faculty get solutions specifically crafted to meet your needs.
“I am now able to understand how I respond to stressors and what that looks like physiologically. If I don't check it, it will lead to burnout. But if I’m aware I'm doing it, I can mitigate the burnout with enjoyable things, or rest, or some other kind of recovery. So it's almost like elite training for athletes. If you are involved in athletics or anything like that, you have to recover and find rest while you're still working.”
You can’t afford to waste time on tools that don’t work.
Time is precious, and the stakes feel high. You don’t have time for:
You need more. And I want more for you. You deserve to:
I wasn't expecting that we'd be working with Alan as long-term as we have been. At first, we were just looking for a speaker. But Alan has helped us understand our team dynamics so well, and I know that we wouldn't have been able to figure things out without his guidance.”
"Alan is both an inspirational speaker and the kind of practical, hands-on, let's-think-about-this partner you need. He helps you think about things in a way that maybe you haven't before. It's all one package for him. And I think that’s part of the reason he is so approachable.”
"Happy teachers make for happy kids. So when you give the adults who are instructing children more tools and an experience where they feel better, then it's going to trickle down to student learning. When Alan provides that experience for faculty, I feel like it's a breath of fresh air.”
When it comes to creating cultures of support and wellbeing, we can’t model for our students what we don’t embody ourselves.
To teach our students how to manage overwhelm and navigate the on-fire state of today’s world, we must first understand how to do those things for ourselves.
Ready to talk about a customized program for your faculty?
Still have questions?
I have your back.
My minimum engagement for in-person school visits is generally one full day of programming or multiple half days. For virtual programming, shorter stand-alone workshops may be an option. All programs are custom designed based on your school’s needs and are priced accordingly.
I typically book 1:1 and team support sessions as packages of 6 sessions at a time. I offer a limited number of coaching packages at a sliding scale to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators and organizers.
Absolutely! That’s why I start every school partnership with listening sessions: so I can get a better feel for where your team is and craft a customized plan that will best support you. Get in touch and let’s talk more about it!