Author Katie Pagnotta joins us to talk about: "Brain and Body-Aligned Responsive Systems of Excellence.”

Katie Pagnotta is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, functional success educational consultant, parent coach, and author. She is also the creator of the Brain- and Body-Aligned Responsive Systems (BBARS) of Excellence framework. She guides educators, administrators, and school staff in strengths-based approaches that leverage the human design and empower the development of the necessary mindsets and habits that lead to re-envisioned success, success balanced with wellness and goal attainment. 

Katie’s recently published book, Empowered by the Human Design: Utilizing the BBARS of Excellence Framework to Foster Student and Educator Success, includes interview segments from 18 experts within the fields of education, psychology, and neuroscience. The book is a work of collective wisdom grounded in Polyvagal Theory and synthesized in a user-friendly way to facilitate practical application for educators. Its reviewers have called it, “a powerful and practical new model for regulation and resilience”, “required reading for all educators”, “a gift to the field”, and “a game-changer”. Throughout the book, Katie combines the wisdom of her interviewees with her own research as well as her years of experience as a former K-12 NH public school counselor. 

During her time as a school counselor, Katie was witness to a pattern in which educators were working passionately, and students were doing the best they could with the skills and support they had. And yet, the educator attrition rate, as well as the youth mental health crisis, were continuing to be on the rise. Knowing that when educators and school systems as a whole are given the right tools, they can provide fertile soil to nurture the environments, relationships, and supports necessary for students to thrive, Katie left her role as a school counselor to become an educational consultant who provides these tools through the BBARS of Excellence framework.

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