David
A. Levine teacher, author, facilitator, and musician, has been working
with students, teachers, and parents across the United States and abroad
since 1984. He is the founder and director of In Care of Students, a training,
development and research group which is devoted to creating Schools of
Belonging. The emphasis is on musical expression, social skills development,
leadership training, community building initiatives, and curriculum design
and implementation. He was the chief trainer for the Northeast Regional
Center's Safe and Drug Free Schools Program for the U.S. Department of
Education, was an elementary and middle school teacher, and has offered
training sessions, workshops, and keynote speeches for hundreds of school
districts, state agencies, and other educational organizations across
the country. Since returning from a vision quest in the canyons of the
Utah desert in October 1998, Levine has sought to incorporate much of
what he discovered from that sacred experience into his interactions with
young people and the adults who work with them.
Education
Q-metrics EQ Mapping Certification Program, San Francisco, CA
April, 2000
Lesley University Graduate School, Cambridge, MA M. ED. Creative Arts
in Learning, 1984
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
B. A. Political Science, 1981
Professional Experiences
Independent consultant, classroom teacher, trainer, workshop facilitator,
and leadership coach in the areas of social skills development, hu man
relationships, bully prevention, conflict resolution, classroom management,
teaching techniques, school safety, facilitation skills, alcohol and other
drug prevention, peer programming, and stress management; 1985-present.
Director of Staff and Student Training and Development, In Care of Students
(ICS). ICS is an educational consulting firm devoted to creating Schools
of Belonging or places where all students feel emotionally and physically
safe in order to thrive socially and academically. 2001-present.
Director of Program Development, The Institute for Community Change. A
not for profit training and development organization dedicated to facilitating
programs for positive change in schools, communities and public service
agencies. 1999-present.
Director in charge of training and design for US Department of Education
Personnel Training Grant for the Onteora Central School District, Boiceville,
NY. Responsibilities included assessing needs in the district, designing
workshop offerings, hiring staff and directing training experiences for
school personnel. Additionally, this role involved working with students
k-12 throughout the school district as part of follow-up workshops. Issues
focus was on risk and protective factors, asset building, social skills
development, social responsibility, peer mediation, group dynamics and
teacher effectiveness; March,1993-July,1996.
Chief trainer, classroom specialist, prevention specialist, and peer leadership
trainer, for the United States Department of Education’s Northeast
Regional Training Center for Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities.
Responsibilities included designing and directing residential training
workshops for teachers, administrators, students, and community members,
training teachers on prevention education, cooperative learning, character
education and facilitating school/community planning teams; 1988-1992.Other
Relevant Experiences
Consulting in-service provider Department of Instructional Services, Dutchess
County BOCES. Anti-bullying initiatives, abduction prevention (personal
safety), conflict management, mediation facilitation, and character education
planning and implementation. 1998-present.
Consulting facilitator, Ulster County BOCES (Board of cooperative educational
services). Innovative leadership initiative for administrators throughout
Ulster County. Also teach a facilitation class to members of site-based
teams throughout New York State focusing on how to work together more
efficiently and effectively; 1994-present.
Consulting trainer, Sullivan County BOCES. Train elementary, middle and
high School students to be peer mediators in their schools. 1996-present
.
Advisor/director: Anytown New Jersey: a bias-awareness anti-prejudice
summer leadership program for high school students from around the state
of New Jersey. Acted as advisor, trainer, song leader, and director; 1997-1999.
Consulting educator, Wappingers Falls Central School District: Department
of Education Personnel Training Grants. Worked with over 2,000 staff members
on a variety of issues including: mentoring, peer leadership, classroom
management, cooperative learning, peer mediation, risk and protective
factors, and safe settings in schools; 1987-1998.
Life skills trainer, Camden Housing Authority. Developer and teacher of
life skills training component for welfare to work programs in Camden,
New Jersey. 2000-present.
Selected Publications and Materials
Building Classroom Communities: Social Skills and a Culture of Caring,
2002, National Educational Service.
Teaching With Sacred Intention, Spring 2002, Reclaiming Children and Youth:
Journal of Strength-based Interventions.
Teaching Empathy: A Social Skills Resource, 2000, Blue Heron Press.
Songs Build Empathy and Social Responsibility, Winter 1998, School Safety
Journal.
Dance of a Child’s Dreams Songbook for School and Home, 1998, Mel
Bay Publishing.
Someday That Might Be Me, October 1997, Educational Leadership.
Through the Eyes of Howard Gray: audio/video program, 1996, Blue Heron
Press.
The Peer Partners Handbook (with Jerry Kreitzer), 1995, Station Hill Press.
Dance of a Child’s Dreams (original recorded music), (Parents’
Choice Award Winner), 1995, Angel Records
.
In Care of Students
Blue Heron Press