Current Awards

The "Teacher Leader Development Series" is a comprehensive professional development program designed to empower educators in Seminole County Public Schools to become influential leaders within their classrooms and school communities. The series emphasizes the pivotal role teachers play in driving student achievement, with research indicating that teachers have the greatest influence on student learning outcomes. Hattie’s (2009) work shows that teacher quality accounts for approximately 30% of student achievement, highlighting the impact teachers have on student success. Additionally, the Wallace Foundation (2013) emphasizes the importance of teacher leadership in shaping school culture and improving student success. The program integrates the Continuous Improvement Model (Bryk et al., 2015) to foster a culture of ongoing growth and reflection. Teachers will learn leadership strategies to influence school-wide decision-making, enhance student outcomes, and cultivate a collaborative school environment. By equipping teachers with skills to lead professional learning communities (PLCs), mentor peers, and drive school initiatives, the series will help educators lead with confidence and inspire a culture of collective growth. Ultimately, the teacher leader development series aims to retain top talent, reignite passion for the profession, and attract exceptional educators to the district.

 Co-Investigators:  Professor Andrew Olson, Dumarie Rodriguez-Dillard, Professor John Antmann & Dawn Bontz.

The “Pathways to Justice Youth Advocacy Academy” is an empowering, year-long educational pipeline program for high school students that focuses on interactive civic learning and youth advocacy engagement and mentoring, particularly at a time when civic learning and engagement continue to face concerning reductions in secondary education throughout Florida and nationwide. Our research will explore the importance of civic learning to further connect youth to their educational experiences and goals, their communities, their sense of identity and well-being, and their familiarity with local democratic structures as current and future leaders. Initially launched in 2021 as the “Youth Civic Engagement Program”, the Youth Advocacy Academy has completed three successful summers (week-long) programs and is growing in momentum and interest within Florida’s education and advocacy communities. In February 2024, the program was featured in a statewide online webinar hosted by Florida Civic Advance, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to civic excellence and education in Florida through collaboration and civic action. Also, in January 2023, Community Tampa Bay (CTB), a local nonprofit education program that collaborates with local school districts, acknowledged our efforts and reached out to explore partnership opportunities with their esteemed youth program that launched in 2016. We are elated to begin our partnership with CTB in May 2024 to make this a year-long experience and impact.

Young Sound Seekers began in 2020 as a five-year partnership between the National Park Service, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Stetson University. As we approach the end of our original agreement in May 2025, we have been working toward a new phase called "Listen & Learn" aimed at sharing our innovative curriculum more widely. A major component of this work is a set of six lesson plans that cover important concepts about sound in natural settings and outdoor contexts. Our goal is to provide a toolkit for National Park Service rangers and other outdoor educators who want to provide public programming about sound, but may lack expertise to author their own lessons. We are close to publication of six written lesson plans in a free digital download format. This proposal seeks support to supplement those written materials with videos that would teach the teacher how to implement each activity.

Primary Investigator:  Professor Nathan Wolek

In January 2023, my colleague at The Ohio State University, Paul Granello, and I formed a collaborative research consortium that we call the Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) Labs. Our SMART Labs utilize the HeartMath Institute™ curriculum to educate people along a wide spectrum of age ranges about how to understand what stress is, where it comes from, how it affects people, and how to either prevent it or reduce it to develop resilience. In alignment with the Hollis Institutes mission to promote lifelong learning, education, and personal growth, the purpose of the SMART Lab is to educate members of the Stetson and Volusia County community to be more aware and better equipped to address the stressors they have to work through on a routine basis, or, help others (e.g., mental health clients) to be more resilient. Between our two labs, we have successfully conduced over 450 stress management sessions, primarily with undergraduate students (i.e., emerging adults).

Educating the public and providing practical resources to address stress is timely for many reasons. For the last 10 years, The Volusia County Health Department has published a Community Health Needs Assessment. For almost 10 consecutive years, mental health has ranked as the top public health need cutting across all age groups, from youth to retirees in the county. This closely matches the national trends, where anxiety, depression, and suicide risk remain as record levels across multiple age groups. In 2023, in a historic move, the Surgeon General of the United States issued the first Health Advisory that named the top public health problem to be one of mental health. In that advisory, called “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” the Surgeon General noted that the stress inducing effects of isolation is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Primary Investigator:  Professor Jesse Fox

Where Stories Count is a project designed to support elementary teachers’ integration of culturally responsive mathematical picture books into standards-aligned mathematics instruction. Grounded in national survey data on teachers’ knowledge and practices, the project will develop instructional guides and a professional development (PD) program that equips teachers to intentionally select and use culturally responsive math picture books before, during, and after core curriculum instruction. The project will produce practical tools including book selection frameworks, lesson planning guides, and curriculum alignment resources, and provide blended PD through workshops, collaborative planning, and instructional coaching. Teachers will implement book-based mathematics lessons and participate in reflective learning communities to refine instructional practices. A mixed-methods evaluation will examine changes in teacher knowledge, instructional practices, and student perceptions of identity, belonging, and engagement in mathematics. Ultimately, Where Stories Count aims to support sustainable, standards-aligned, culturally responsive mathematics instruction that connects mathematical learning with students’ cultural identities and lived experiences.

Fatherhood Reimagined: A Research-Driven Initiative to Advance Daughters' Educational Outcomes is a collaborative research and family engagement initiative between Stetson University's College of Education and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS). The project seeks to examine how targeted, research-informed professional learning experiences can strengthen fathers' understanding of their role in supporting their daughters' academic achievement, attendance, self-efficacy, and social-emotional development. Research consistently demonstrates that positive father involvement is associated with improved educational and developmental outcomes for daughters. However, few school-based interventions intentionally translate this body of research into structured learning opportunities for fathers. To address this gap, the project will engage 20 fathers of daughters enrolled in OCPS in a series of three full-day workshops. Distinctively, the workshops will be designed and facilitated through the perspectives of women educators, researchers, community leaders, and lived-experience experts who will share evidence-based insights regarding the influence of father engagement on girls' educational success and well-being. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study will collect participant feedback through surveys, structured reflections, and qualitative responses following each workshop. These data will be used to document fathers' learning, identify emerging themes related to paternal engagement, and inform the iterative development of subsequent workshop content. Findings will contribute to the growing body of research on father involvement while generating practical recommendations for schools seeking to strengthen family engagement efforts. Aligned with the mission of the Nina B. Hollis Institute, the project addresses family-level factors that influence educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment. By positioning father engagement as an educational variable worthy of intentional intervention and study, Fatherhood Reimagined aims to develop an evidence-based, scalable model for father-focused professional learning that can be replicated across school districts and supported through future external funding. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to strengthen the relationships between fathers and daughters in ways that support academic success, resilience, and long-term educational opportunity.

Trauma Responsive Educating is an innovative professional learning initiative designed to equip educators and school leaders with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to create trauma-responsive learning environments that promote student success and well-being. The project seeks to develop a sustainable, revenue-generating portfolio of online, non-credit professional development courses and downloadable instructional resources that can be offered to schools, districts, and educators while supporting the long-term mission of the Nina B. Hollis Institute (NBHI) and Stetson University. Research demonstrates that trauma can significantly affect students' cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development, impacting their ability to learn, regulate emotions, and engage successfully in school. Educators and administrators often encounter students whose behaviors are rooted in traumatic experiences; however, many professionals receive limited formal training in responding to these challenges. Trauma Responsive Educating addresses this gap by developing at least two evidence-based online learning pathways: one focused on school and district leadership and another centered on classroom teachers and instructional personnel. These courses will provide participants with practical, school-ready strategies for recognizing the effects of trauma, implementing supportive interventions, creating safe and inclusive learning environments, and fostering resilience among students and staff. Aligned with the mission of the Nina B. Hollis Institute to advance educational opportunities and outcomes for all learners, particularly those affected by social, economic, and familial barriers, this initiative positions trauma-informed education as a critical framework for promoting equity, improving school climate, and supporting student achievement. In addition to online coursework, the project will develop downloadable implementation tools, templates, and classroom resources that educators can immediately apply in practice. Opportunities to partner with Continuing Education programs for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or professional learning recognition will also be explored. By combining research-based content, practical application, and a sustainable funding model, Trauma Responsive Educating will establish a scalable professional development program that strengthens educators' capacity to meet the needs of trauma-affected students while generating ongoing revenue to support future innovation, research, and educational outreach initiatives. Ultimately, the project aims to build more responsive schools, improve outcomes for vulnerable learners, and create lasting impact across K-12 educational settings.