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Triad Alternative School Staff
While the majority of my work with MindSet is in leading train-the-trainer workshops, I also have the opportunity to provide immersive behavior coaching in the classroom. Over the past two years, I had the privilege of offering consultative services to Triad Alternative School in Sarasota, Florida. Working toward the goal of building capacity and enhancing the effectiveness of behavior management interventions, I collaborated with Triad in examining systems connected to academic growth, empowering staff and students, and enacting MindSet practices in the classroom.
Before setting foot on campus, I communicated extensively with the Triad principal, Melanie Ritter, and the student support team. I feel it is essential as a consultant to pair preparedness with flexibility and a willingness to change course as needed. Triad referred to overarching goals as “large buckets” and day-to-day coaching as “small buckets,” and we balanced daily needs with overall goals. Active listening, engagement, and trust building sat at the core of this collaboration.
Principal Ritter was incredibly welcoming, pairing a warm personal greeting with a flashing digital sign reading, “Welcome Jackie Holland from MindSet!” Rather than analyzing Triad’s systems and practices, I partnered with the school in immersive coaching of MindSet Foundations approaches. This included debriefing with all stakeholders, such as behavior technicians, teachers, and administrators. During my sessions in the classroom, I collected detailed data that enabled me to share trends and feedback with the stakeholders. Such data promotes reflection and enables development of intentional next steps.
Over the course of two years, I spent a total of five weeks in the school and witnessed an evolution of practices and approaches. It has been a joy and an honor to see the staff at Triad embody MindSet principles and shift the cultures of their classrooms and of the school. Triad teachers approach their students and one another with a calm, respectful demeanor. Impressively, they have completely eliminated power struggles. They understand that students sent to Triad have demonstrated challenging behaviors, and therefore they expect that students will sometimes have heightened emotions and undesirable behaviors. When this occurs, they rely on their systems, protocols, and on one another, and they don’t view student behavior as a professional failure. Life is a continuous learning journey, and I feel privileged in sharing this learning process with the professionals at Triad who effectively support children in meeting their potential.
"My experience at Triad Alternative School has been shaped by a culture of Outrageous Love, where students are met with compassion, consistency, and a deep belief in who they can become. The unwavering dedication of our staff, paired with the energy and enthusiasm of our Assistant Principal and Behavior Specialist, creates a climate that balances support with accountability. This work is sustained by the deep‑rooted commitment of our Support Team, whose presence reinforces stability and trust for both students and staff. Additionally, our outside resources—particularly our partnership with MindSet—have elevated our practice, strengthening our ability to support students holistically and take Triad's work to the next level." - Melanie Ritter, Principal at Triad Alternative School |
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| Alicia Webb is assistant principal at Ringgold Elementary School in Catoosa County Public Schools in Georgia. She wrote this poem while attending MindSet training in March 2026.
The Anatomy of a Choice
In the classroom where Jackie Holland leads the way,
Rachael and Vick have much to say.
Jill joins the circle of thought,
While three APs weigh in on what they’ve been taught.
With Rebecca stepping in to join the shared view:
How do we stop the storm before it breaks through?
We look at the Individual, the spark in the chest,
Where hunger and sleeplessness put peace to the test.
Without their meds, or with trauma’s deep scar,
The distance to “calm” feels incredibly far.
Learning gaps, social media, the weight of a debt,
Shame and embarrassment—the strongest traps set.
With addictions and heartbreaks, the spirit is thinned,
And we remember: no one is born with the mind’s “wind.”
Executive Function isn’t a gift at our birth;
It’s a skill to be built while we walk on this earth.
Then we look at the Staff, the mirrors we hold,
Where personal burdens make us bitter or cold.
Burnout and ego, the “I’ve seen it all,”
Complacency waiting for someone to fall.
With pride and poor management, or a lack of the “know,”
Our own attitudes make the empathy slow.
Financial weights follow us into the hall,
And morale starts to crumble when we feel we are small.
Then the Environment whispers its toxic refrain,
Where “code-breaking” rules cause a systemic pain.
In a hierarchy system where the climate is hot,
Where time is a luxury that nobody’s got.
Culture shock, feeling slighted, or just undervalued,
While the “toxic” 24/7 is loud and unhallowed.
For if your whole world feels like poison and fear,
There is no “safe harbor” when the crisis is near.
So the question remains, through the brainstorm and stress,
In this landscape of barriers and human distress:
What can you control? Not the hunger or heat,
Not the “toxic” that follows them home from the street.
But your own response; you are the one hand
That can choose not to push, but to try and understand.
In the gap ‘tween the trigger and the act of the soul,
Your presence, your peace—that is your control.
Alicia Webb |
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