Beyond Differences National Teen Board met in response to the recent deeply tragic gun violence at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. They worked together to discuss the issues they felt were most pressing, to decide what they wanted to center in the conversation, and to best frame the issues that confront fellow youth across the country.

The following day Beyond Differences’ Director of National Youth Programs, Sally Matsuishi incorporated this teen input to facilitate an hour together with educators, creating space where they learned from, and supported each other. Sally also offered resources and practices to support educators and to facilitate challenging conversations with students in coming weeks.

We’ve included Crisis Response Guidelines to help facilitate conversations with your students: