Colin Bauer is currently the Student and Staff Wellbeing and Behavior Coordinator for Spartanburg School District Seven.  Prior to this position, Che worked as a District Social Worker and McKinney-Vento Liaison coordinating services with students and families living in homelessness. After graduating from Ithaca College with a Bachelors of Music in Oboe and English Horn Performance, Colin joined the Peace Corps in 2002 and worked in Grenada, West Indies where he provided training to Grenadian Scout Leaders in developing scouting curriculum and the coordination of national programs, which was the basis of his pursuit of becoming a social worker.  After returning to SC, he obtained his Masters of Social Work from USC-Columbia and found his passion in Macro Social Work which primarily focuses on using systems development. Currently, he is collaborating with community stakeholders, district-level teams, and school personnel to promote positive discipline outcomes, support emotional wellness of students and staff through the implementation of restorative and trauma-sensitive school approaches. 

 

Dr. Martin Eaton has over 25 years’ experience working with children and families, Dr. Eaton has long held a vision of increasing access to mental health screening tools and reducing the 8 to 10-year lag between presenting symptoms and treatment. Serving on the local Mental Health Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, he recognized the need for a comprehensive screening tool that was thorough, yet quick and easy to access. The Heads Up Checkup® mental health and behavioral risk screening system captures this vision. 

Dr. Eaton is also the founder and owner of Well Family® by Well Street Psychological Group, Inc., a psychological and educational services provider in Orange County, California since 2003. Well Family specializes in working with families with children and adolescents. As the owner of Well Street, Martin has created and maintained numerous partnerships with schools and healthcare providers. He is a well-known and sought-after speaker on the topic of behavioral health disorders and treatment and often provides in-service training on these topics for teachers, primary care physicians, and hospitals.

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A former graduate professor in Learning and Memory at University of Southern California, Dr. Eaton has a BA in Social Ecology from University of California, Irvine; an MA in Intercultural Studies from Biola University; and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Educational Psychology from University of Southern California. He lives in Orange County, California with his wife and 4 children. Martin is an avid cycler and has participated in the 3003-mile Race Across America for charity twice.

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Ruth Schoonover, is the Coordinator, Parenting Programs & Social Work for Spartanburg School District Three where she has worked for 40 years. Her duties include working with students and families undergoing homelessness, coordinating attendance interventions, crisis and social work interventions with students and families, and coordinating parent educators in the elementary schools.  Ruth is the President of the SC Association of School Social Workers, and has served on over 17 organizations and task forces, including the child & adolescent behavioral health task force for Spartanburg County.  Ruth earned her Bachelor’s Degree focused in Social Work and Psychology from Columbia College (SC) and a Masters in Social Work from University of South Carolina.  She is certified through the SC State Department of Education as a school social worker, a  Clinical School Social Worker through NASW, is a Darkness to Light certified facilitator, and has a Parents as Teachers Supervisor Certification.

 

All Fireside Chats are hosted by Robyn Hussa Farrell, MFA, E-RYT

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Fireside Chats fulfill training requirements for SC Foster Parent Association certification.  To qualify, foster parents should attend the live or recorded session, then email Robyn Hussa Farrell at rfarrell@sharpenminds.com to obtain a printable certificate. 

 

Robyn Hussa Farrell is co-founder and CEO of Sharpen, and has spent the past 15 years collaborating with state agencies, educational systems, public health and psychology researchers to build and deliver evidence-based programs to K-12 schools and communities.  Robyn is responsible for building collaborative partnerships and developing programs that deliver powerful prevention content into communities across the U.S. 

 

As part of her work in population health and prevention, Robyn built mindfulness, stress reduction and yoga-based programs for patients struggling with a variety of mental illnesses. Her work has been published in peer reviewed medical journals and in other publications. Robyn’s experience working in treatment settings and with researchers in schools led her to scale her community-based programs by adapting them into video-based modules and a series of documentaries on mental health and educational initiatives. Many of Robyn’s programs have been implemented through the award-winning non-profit, MentalFitness, which Hussa founded in 2006 to deliver evidence-based content and resources to communities.

 

A leader in the mental health and wellness provider community, Robyn is certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through the University of Massachusetts Medical School model, as well as a certified trainer for NAMI NH CONNECT Suicide Postvention program. Hussa has proudly served as Spartanburg county youth suicide prevention coordinator for the Behavioral Health Task Force for United Way of the Piedmont, is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Johnson College of Business and has served as a mentor for the StartME Spartanburg entrepreneurship program. Robyn served as the Resilient Schools mindfulness trainer in Spartanburg, Cherokee, Richland and Lexington County Resilient Schools initiatives, is a Founding Member of the Eating Disorder Recovery on Campus in Boston, an advisory committee member for Way to Wellville/Rethink Health Community Engagement and Listening Campaign, and has been a Keynote and Invited Presenter in over 50 medical and educational conferences.

 

About Sharpen

Sharpen works with national researchers and practitioners to deliver evidence-based mental health programs that improve behavioral health outcomes for communities. Sharpen Fireside Chats are a free resource for communities and aspire to bring the latest best practices to more individuals, communities and families.