As a student, I never met my biological father. I lived in a very abusive household, where I witnessed my mother being abused by my stepfather. I went through physical and sexual abuse. I also buried both of my best friends who were murdered. My neighborhood was very violent and I dealt with daily trauma. I had a lot of emotional issues growing up due to my circumstances. I was educated by teachers who didn't understand how to work with students like myself who were experiencing daily trauma. They didn’t understand how to equip me with what I needed to be successful. As an educator over the past 20 years, I have successfully helped 1000s of students with trauma navigate through and beyond the school system. My on-the-job training began at Arlington High School, one of the most challenging schools in Indianapolis. There I saw first-hand how trauma affected an overwhelming number of students’ quality of life and their learning capabilities. It was there I began to develop my own personal approach to reaching and teaching students. As a result, I have a large number of former students who have graduated and gone on to lead productive lives. As a consultant, I have improved upon that approach by studying and applying research, including but not limited to the Restorative Justice Approach, combined with open conversations with school age students and educators though out the country. What I have learned is that no matter the location, the effect of trauma is the same; it hinders the education process and the only way to change the narrative is to face it head on. This is what I have done in school districts nationally and Canada over the past 15 years.