Newtown Middle School educator Ron Chivinski told The Newtown Bee this week that he was happy to see how quickly some recommendations tendered in his role serving on Governor Dannel Malloy’s Sandy Hook Advisory Commission (SHAC) got traction at the federal level.

On April 13, to provide teachers powerful tools and training to support students’ social and emotional learning. The bill is named in honor of Jesse Lewis, who at 6 years old was among the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy.US Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced The Jesse Lewis Empowering Educators Act

US Senator Chris Murphy is also among the bill’s co-sponsors. Specifically, the bill would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) so that existing professional development funding could be used to train teachers in concepts related to social and emotional learning.

Mr Chivinski said that for the first time in recent memory, there appears to be bipartisan support for the renewal of the ESEA in Washington, and he hopes funding for the “social and emotional” component is built into the ESEA reauthorization.

“I say this as a parent and an educator — nothing will ever replace good parenting” when it comes to supporting social and emotional well-being, he said. But having taught in three states, Mr Chivinski observed that one of, if not the most important, aspect of his work involves identifying and supporting children with emotional difficulties, while teaching them how to respond to those stresses in an ultimately healthy way.

“When someone asks me what I teach, I don’t tell them I teach math or history, I tell them I teach children,” he said. “I don’t see anything more important than being deliberate in our approach to supporting our students’ social and emotional needs.”

He said while there tends to be a lopsided focus on academics, he believes addressing social and emotional crises facing students would result in better overall academic performance.

“If a kid doesn’t eat breakfast, he’s not going to do well in school — and if a kid is up all night agonizing over an emotional crisis, he’s not going to do well in school,” Mr Chivinski said. “Our commission said that [addressing] social and emotional needs are part of what school should be.”

‘A Bold National Statement’

The local educator said if the funding under the Jesse Lewis initiative becomes part of the ESEA, it would make a “bold national statement” about the importance of addressing these nonacademic concerns among students.

“I hope and pray there is bipartisan support for this whether it’s part of ESEA or outside of it,” he said. “When you look at the SHAC’s work, particularly at how we were influenced by the State Child Advocate’s report, you see that it’s possible mistakes may have been made by focusing too much on academics.

“Looking through an educator’s lens, kids have many more needs, and their lives are much more complicated, so their social and emotional [well-being] has a direct correlation to whether they can be successful,” he said.

In a separate conversation several weeks earlier, Mr Chivinski also reflected on his many months of service to the SHAC, and the horrifying incidents that brought him into that service. He remembered getting the call to come serve from the governor’s office on the day of slain Principal Dawn Hochsprung’s wake.

“Way back in 2011, it was Dawn who nominated me to serve on a district strategic planning committee,” Mr Chivinski recalled. “I called her a friend and was privileged to get to see her in action for several years.”

At first, the educator said he was unsure whether he was the right fit for the commission. While he was being encouraged to participate by colleagues at the state teacher’s union, his desire was to be a positive representative for local teachers.

Raised A Hunter

Mr Chivinski said he was initially conflicted because he was raised in a family surrounded by firearms and a hunting culture in rural Pennsylvania.

“I was raised a hunter, so I was asking myself, ‘Are you sure you’re the right person for this commission?’ But at the time of the shooting, my kids were in kindergarten and second grade, so I said yes,” he recalled. “How could I say no? There was a reason why I was called to be part of this.”

Noting that there were no educators on a committee assembled following the Columbine massacre, he said he took on the SHAC post wearing the hat of a parent, as well as a colleague and teacher.

“Given my upbringing, I had to come to grips with the fact that things had to change,” he said. “My dad was a Vietnam vet with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. I had 20 guns around my house as a kid. But after I agreed to serve, the first call I got was from my dad who said to me that nobody should ever have that kind of firepower.”

Ultimately, Mr Chivinski said he supported trying to work side-by-side with gun owners “working toward a common good” in trying to craft common sense firearms legislation

Among the subjects Mr Chivinski said he lobbied hard for on the SHAC was ensuring all classrooms have interior door locks and that every educator in charge of a classroom is furnished with a key.

“My message seemed to resonate in the end,” he said. “It’s common sense, and I was glad to see it came forward in the final report.”

At the same time, Mr Chivinski said he was frustrated because there was little or no talk about reinforcing classroom security at the local Board of Education level.

“It seemed like our superintendent at the time, Janet Robinson, was trying to keep it quiet,” he said.

Ultimately, Mr Chivinski said he was proud and honored to serve on the SHAC.

“Not every member was on board 100 percent with every recommendation, but for my part, I tried to be fair and reasonable,” he said. “Our best chance as a nation [to achieve practical firearms legislation] is to work together — to include all groups. We need to turn these gun laws around.”