We Can Help You Carry It: Trauma-informed Schools in the Lehigh Valley  Nominated for Mid-Atlantic Emmy®

United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and ASR Media Productions’ video collaboration, We Can Help You Carry It: Trauma-Informed Schools in the Lehigh Valley, has been nominated for a 2020 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award. The virtual nomination ceremony was broadcast August 5, 2020 on Facebook Live. This is the first project from the organization’s numerous collaborative efforts to be nominated. Laura McHugh, Associate Vice President, Marketing & Communications at United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley served as Associate Producer for the piece and Beth Tomlinson, Senior Director of Education at United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and Co-Founder of Resilient Lehigh Valley, was a Coordinating Producer.

The emotional and hard-hitting video was nominated under the Education/Schools – Program/Feature Segment category and will compete for the Emmy® with three other entries from NBC10, Philadelphia; WQED, Pittsburgh; and Red Clay Consolidated School District, Wilmington, DE. The piece highlights Resilient Lehigh Valley’s work with the Bethlehem Area School District to create district-wide trauma-informed practices that benefit both students and staff. 

“This video really demonstrates the transformative impact trauma-informed practices have on our schools and ultimately our students. United Way’s long-standing relationship with ASR Media has created many important pieces over the years, and this collaboration is particularly meaningful to us. We are so proud that it has been recognized for the ground-breaking work that Resilient Lehigh Valley is doing in our community,” stated McHugh.

Founded in 2018, Resilient Lehigh Valley is a cross-sector, collective-impact effort dedicated to addressing trauma and creating resiliency through education. A trauma-informed education system acknowledges students’ trauma and enacts practices to help alleviate the emotional effects, resulting in increased student performance, engagement, and attendance. 

“At United Way, our goal is to help our students succeed. Resilient Lehigh Valley’s work to promote trauma-informed schools is critical to that mission, especially in today’s world,” commented Tomilson on Resilient Lehigh Valley’s success thus far. “The video was a gift for our team and the recognition reinforces the vital importance of building resilience in our community, in our students and in our educators.” 

The 2020 NATAS Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards will be held on September 19, 2020.