What happens when schools move beyond punishment and create meaningful opportunities for accountability, repair, and belonging? On this episode of Restorative Works!, host Dr. Claire de Mézerville López speaks with Erin Chávez, the restorative practices coordinator at Garfield STEM Magnet and Community School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, about building a safer, more connected school community through restorative practices. Erin shares how Garfield STEM has integrated restorative practices across classrooms, families, and student support systems. She also highlights the Circle Keepers, a student leadership group that puts young people at the center of restorative implementation. What began with 12 students has grown to 25–40 students each year who facilitate circles, support school events, teach future educators, and share restorative practices with university and community partners. Through this work, students develop leadership, communication, and conflict-resolution skills while helping shape their school culture. The conversation also explores a common question: Are restorative practices too "soft" to create safe schools? Erin explains how restorative practices can strengthen accountability and safety rather than diminish them. She discusses alternative-to-suspension supports, repair plans, mediation, reentry meetings, and the importance of helping students return to the community after harmful behavior. Erin also shares compelling data from Garfield STEM: over five years, the percentage of staff who reported feeling safe increased from 43% to 83%, while student perceptions of safety rose from 34% to 89%. Erin is a 20-year educator, having worked as a teacher, school administrator, and currently a restorative practices coordinator. She also sponsors the school's Circle Keepers student group, putting students at the forefront of restorative practices. Her students have partnered with the University of New Mexico's DEI Department and the College of Education and Human Sciences to highlight the role of restorative practices in building safe, connected, and thriving school communities. Erin has experience training all levels of educators, from early childhood educators to university faculty. She is also the owner of The Restoring and Rising Collaborative, providing restorative practices implementation support to youth-serving institutions. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education and master's degree in educational thought and sociocultural studies from the University of New Mexico. Tune in for a practical look at restorative practices in schools, student leadership, school safety, accountability, reintegration, and sustainable implementation.
What does it take to build a workplace culture where people feel safe, valued, heard, and able to do their best work? In this collaborative episode of Restorative Works! and The Behaviorist, Dr. Claire de Mézerville López is joined by IIRP Instructor and Implementation Coach Jennifer Hiestand and Founding Partner at Work Wisdom, LLC, Sarah Colantonio, for a roundtable conversation about trust as one of the most essential elements of healthy relationships. Drawing on restorative practices and positive organizational behavior, the conversation explores why trust serves as a foundation for strong workplaces, teams, communities, and relationships. Sarah describes trust as a "comfortable relationship with the unknown," while Jen connects the concept directly to restorative practices' focus on building, sustaining, and repairing relationships. Together, they explore how trust can be cultivated intentionally rather than treated as something abstract or automatic. The conversation introduces three key drivers of trust: authenticity, logic and reasoning, and empathy. The guests discuss how each contributes to people's willingness to trust one another, and how recognizing where trust breaks down can help leaders and teams address challenges more constructively. Sarah Colantonio has served as a professor of communication at both Millersville University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University since 2003. Sarah has studied mindfulness since 2004 and participated in training and certifications with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She is also certified in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Influence Style Indicator (ISI) through Multi-Health Systems, completed training in Equity-Informed Mediation (EIM) through Resolutions Northwest in July 2020, and holds a Master of Science in Communication and a bachelor's degree in psychology. Sarah co-hosts The Behaviorist podcast with Work Wisdom Founder Kedren Crosby, where they share helpful, concrete practices for elevating leaders, teams, and companies to become the best versions of themselves. Tune in for a thoughtful conversation about workplace trust, restorative practices, positive organizational culture, relational leadership, and the everyday actions that help people build stronger communities.
What if reading could do more than build literacy skills? What if books could help us regulate stress, strengthen empathy, foster connection, and support our overall well-being? In this episode of Restorative Works!, host Dr. Claire de Mézerville López speaks with literacy and teacher educator Stephanie Affinito about the connection between literacy, wellness, relationships, and restorative practices Stephanie invites us to explore what happens when educators expand their understanding of literacy beyond academic skills. She discusses how books and stories can help children and adults explore identity, develop empathy, and see experiences through different perspectives. When educators make reading social and invite students to share their reading lives, books can become a pathway to stronger relationships and a greater sense of community. The conversation also considers how this approach can support teacher wellness, particularly at a time when educators face significant stress and burnout. Rather than treating reading as another obligation, they discuss the importance of rediscovering reading as a source of pleasure, wellness, inspiration, and connection. Stephanie is a book-loving, notebook-hoarding literacy educator on a mission to change lives one book and one notebook at a time. She podcasts weekly on books and reading, writing, notebooks, and everything in between on Restorative Reading & Writing for Wellness. She also chats with a new children's literature author every week on her KidLit Love podcast. Tune in to discover how reading can become part of a restorative practices culture in schools and communities, not just something we teach, but something we live.
From personal and communal grief to creating a workplace that works for everybody. In this episode of Restorative Works!, host Claire de Mezerville López welcomes Assistant Commissioner for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Dr. Iyana Titus, to explore how restorative practices can transform workplace culture and strengthen communities in the largest municipal park system in the nation. Dr. Titus shares the deeply personal story that led her to restorative practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. While grieving the loss of her father and supporting employees through unprecedented challenges, she experienced her first restorative circle. That moment helped her process grief, reconnect with others, and discover the power of authentic dialogue. Listen to discover how restorative circles became an essential tool for supporting employees across the Parks Department, from Parks Enforcement Patrol Officers responding to overdose emergencies to supervisors navigating the pressures of seasonal operations. Dr. Titus explains how circles created opportunities for staff to share personal experiences, process difficult emotions, and build stronger relationships across every level of the organization. As interest grew, the department expanded its efforts by training a cohort of circle keepers, embedding restorative practices into leadership development, team retreats, and employee support initiatives. In her role, Dr. Titus is responsible for creating and implementing the agency's diversity and inclusion strategies, policies, and practices, conducting EEO investigations, and ensuring that the agency complies with all federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. As an assistant commissioner, she has also been instrumental in facilitating difficult conversations on race relations, religion, international issues, mental health, and a host of other topics. She has created and implemented her agency's first alternative dispute resolution program, which includes mediating employment-related disputes. Recently, she wrote an article entitled "Using Restorative Practices to Create Restorative Park Systems," which was published in the Parks & Recreation Magazine of the National Recreation and Parks Association.
What does it take to move restorative practices from an idea into sustainable, meaningful change? In this episode of Restorative Works!, host Dr. Claire de Mézerville López welcomes back IIRP Associate Professor Dr. Doug Judge for a conversation about the structural, cultural, and emotional dimensions of implementing restorative practices in schools and other organizations, as outlined in his recent Presidential Paper Addressing the challenges of change through evidence-based implementation and chapter of the same title in Restorative Practices in Education: Research and Applications. Dr. Judge joins us to explore why knowing what works is only the beginning. He introduces key insights from implementation science, including the importance of understanding what works, where it works, and under what conditions. Rather than assuming that evidence-based practices will automatically translate into effective change, he emphasizes the relationships, readiness, culture, and conditions that help initiatives take root and thrive. The conversation examines how restorative practices can strengthen change management, reviewing how fair process, including engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity creates agency and builds trust among the people affected by change. Dr. Judge explores the value of proactive, relationship-centered support and explains why organizations should invest heavily in prevention, community building, and relationship development rather than relying primarily on responsive approaches. Dr. Judge has more than 25 years of experience in education, administration, large-scale implementation in schools, social work, and youth services. His career has focused on addressing systemic inequities in influential public institutions. He served as a special education teacher in a variety of public and institutional school settings, and as a school administrator at a large public alternative high school in Seattle, focused on providing restorative and healing-centered wraparound supports. As the Director of Social and Emotional Learning for Highline Public Schools, Doug led the districtwide implementation of restorative practices, positive behavior supports, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).