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Wilder School Lunch and Learn "Preparing for School Safety: Virginia as a National Model"
How can schools more effectively respond to mass shootings and firearm violence? What does it take to successfully plan and implement programs to prepare and train teachers, administrators and students? Join Donna Michaelis for a discussion on best practices to plan for and respond to emergencies in Commonwealth schools. She’ll share her expertise and demonstrate a Virginia-based public safety model that can be adopted nationwide.
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About the speaker:
Donna Michaelis is the Director of the Division of Public Safety Training and the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety at the Virginia Department of Criminal Justices Services. She has worked in the area of school safety since 1985 when she began her career with the Chesterfield County Police Department as the county’s first Child Safety Coordinator. In 1998, she joined the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as a Youth Safety Specialist in charge of school resource officer training. Mrs. Michaelis assumed the responsibility of the newly legislated Center at DCJS when it was established in 2000 as a result of the Columbine School tragedy. In her role, she provides training, resources, and technical assistance to all schools, colleges and universities, and law enforcement agencies across the Commonwealth on issues related to school and campus safety and specialized law enforcement. Mrs. Michaelis is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.
About the moderator:
Hayley Cleary, M.P.P., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Virginia and a Master of Public Policy and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Georgetown University. Cleary's research interests lie at the intersection of social science, law and policy. Her work examines adolescent behavior and decision-making in justice system contexts, including youths’ contact with law enforcement, courts and corrections. The cornerstone of her research program involves police interrogation of juvenile suspects. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Cleary’s work has been featured in national media outlets, including the New York Times and New Yorker magazine, and she was named the 2018 Louise Kidder Early Career Award winner for contributions to social issues research by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Cleary has been invited on numerous occasions to share her work with academic, law enforcement, and attorney audiences, including the FBI National Academy, the Virginia state legislature, and attorney organizations in several states.