Community collaboration launches conversation about resiliency in children

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - A community collaboration is bringing a nationally known author to Evansville for a conversation about how to help children be resilient.

It may seem like a mystery why some kids thrive, and others need a little help to do so.

Dr. Michele Borba has spent her entire career trying to explain why.

“What we do know,” says Dr. Borba, “is that communities make an extraordinary difference. So do teachers and educators and parents. All of us together can really help the pandemic generation thrive.”

Dr. Borba is a educational psychologist based in California.

On March 1, she will be in Evansville.

It is all thanks to a partnership with Resilient Evansville to understand how we can help our children be resilient.

In other words, how to help them bounce back from life’s challenges.

Emily Reidford is the co-chair of Resilient Evansville.

“Our ability to handle stress,” says Reidford, “handle crisis as they come, and really use those challenges to help us build competence in our ability to master those and move forward.”

On March 1, Reidford and the rest of the Resilient Evansville team will welcome in Dr. Borba to share tips from her years of experience.

She says this conversation is even more important during the Coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s going to be a very uncertain world anyway,” says Dr. Borba. “So we need to really reboot our thinking patterns and help our kids learn the skills that will help them in school as well as in life. That is what I’m hoping to do.”

Tuesday night’s session is designed for parents, grandparents and babysitters. It’s free, and full of simple techniques you can put into action that night.

“Simple things you can do from little ones to bigger ones, from toddler to teen,” says Dr. Borba. “Your job, as the parent, is to take a moment, listen to it all, maybe take one index card and say, ‘I can do this and this.’”

Wednesday’s session is an all-day event for community professionals, like teachers. Dr. Borba says she hopes those who come will take one tip from her lesson and pass it on.

“To grandma, to the teacher, to your parenting partner,” says Dr. Borba, “because the more we pass on and reinforce these same things, we are going to optimize our results, and it’s going to be so much easier for us all.”

To sign up for either event, visit the Resilient Evansville website here.

Dr. Borba says if you can’t make it to the event, you can learn more tips on childhood resiliency in her book, “Thrivers”.

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