A Sea Of White

As the first week of school comes to an end, here is something interesting to think about.
In the past, I have usually worked in school districts in low-income communities. The school I worked at in the state where I'm from had probably 75% of their students on free breakfasts and lunches. I've also had a lot of experience working with children who have been through trauma. So, when I first got hired, I asked the principal if the school had many children who were dealing with trauma.

The principal shook his head. He told me, "On the first day of school, what you will see is a sea of white. We are a very high income community."

I silently noted that I had not asked about race or income, but I didn't ask any more questions

Now that I've started getting familiar with the children on my caseload, I've heard about...

Three siblings who come to school dirty, tired and hungry each day and are often too listless to participate in class.
A student who comes to school tired because his family lost their home and he's been sleeping on the floor of his parents' friend's living room.
Two separate students who have witnessed domestic violence in their families.
Several students who are either in foster care or living with relatives because of a parent's drug addiction.
Several students who were adopted and experienced significant trauma as young children before their adoption.

The lesson I've seen here is that it may be easy to look into a "sea of white" and assume that every child there comes from a privileged background. But we really have no idea what any kid experiences once the school day ended, or what they went through before they came to us. One of my goals is to learn more about trauma sensitive teaching, so that I can be prepared to help any of my students who may have gone through these types of things.

What do you do in your classroom to help students who've experienced poverty, abuse, or other trauma?