b'BERRY STREETDr Tom Brunzell presents on the Berry Street Education Model. Photo: Jacinta Keefe PhotographyA decade ago, Dr Tom Brunzell was new to Victoria,Its been a big decade. From that fledgling idea, the BSEMpushing a big idea.has now expanded from two Victorian pilot schools to all He had emigrated from New York because he wasstates and territories. This growth in Berry Streets reach inspired by work the Australian charity, Berry Street,meets the increasing needs of schools to provide far had been doing in developing an evidence base chartingmore than learning how to read. Teachers must attend to the neurobiological impacts of childhood stress andwellbeing needs, cultural needs, and relational needs in childhood trauma on childrens growth and schoolthe classroom each day. engagement.The model has reached more than 80,000 teachers, This tied in strongly with Toms own ideas about howacross all states and territories of Australia, as well as childhood stress and adverse experiences affect a youngspreading to New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland persons educational pathways, and so he was lookingand Hong Kong. So far. And Newsboys has been there, to create the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM),every step of the way, he said.developing training and strategies for teachers to betterThe model is certainly about trauma-informed education, support children impacted by trauma and communitybut it is actually strength-based education, Tom said. stressors. We are there for the educational engagement of children The Newsboys Foundation gave me my very first grant forand young people. We see ourselves as a teaching and our work at Berry Street, Tom recalled.learning pedagogy where, if teachers use our strategies, Sandy Shaw (Newsboys CEO) and her board took a bigembed our work and reconceptualise the rhythms of the leap and said, well, this educator from New York mustschool day within the rhythms of community, thats when have some promising ideas, and were going to see wherewe see the levers of change happen within instruction those ideas go and what we were trying to do. The Berryand instructional practice.Street Education Model has just celebrated its tenthWe know that 72 per cent of our Australian children have anniversary, and I attribute the success to Berry Streetexperienced at least one adverse childhood experience in and also to our significant community partners liketheir families, and almost 30 per cent are reporting high Newsboys.6NEWSBOYS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2024'