ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Raub Middle School students are unfortunately all too familiar with violence and the traumas that result from it.
That’s what happens when you live in neighborhoods where gang activity, physical fighting and shootings are the norm.
“They see a lot for a young age that many adults have not witnessed in their life before,” said Nadine Ewald, a Raub counselor.
For some students, it causes them to become emotionally withdrawn, she said. For others, they mimic what they see and act out themselves.
Both responses inevitably impact students’ emotional well-being and ability to learn.
To address those negative effects and to decrease student violence overall, the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley has implemented an anti-violence pilot program at Raub, located at 102 South St. Cloud St., over the last two school years.
That’s thanks to a $1.28 million grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
The PCCD Cure Violence Pilot Program was originally slated to end this month, but a no-cost extension has allowed it to continue for another school year with remaining funding from the same grant.
With those funds, the United Way will maintain its partnerships with organizations providing Raub students with therapy, mentoring, mindfulness training and other services.
The program partners include the Shanthi Project, Valley Youth House, Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, St. Luke’s University Health Network and The Justice Collaborative.
“The idea overall is changing [the] norms at the school around violence and conflict resolution to ways that are more healthy,” said Nayda Thompson, United Way’s director of violence prevention and manager of the PCCD grant.
The pilot program uses the Cure Violence model, which relies on a public health approach to violence prevention that includes mediating conflict, building positive relationships and focusing on those most at risk for becoming victims or perpetrators of violence.
Changes already evident
That model has already yielded positive results at Raub, where the student body hovers between 850 and 900 students.
More than 90% of those students come from economically disadvantaged homes throughout Center City and the West End, where Raub is located.
According to data provided by the United Way, police incidents at Raub during the first quarter of the 2024-25 school year decreased by 77.8% compared to the same time period during the previous school year.
There was also a drop in students getting into physical altercations – only nine incidents occurred during the first quarter of 2024-25 compared to 24 incidents during the same timeframe of the 2023-24 school year, representing a 62.5% decrease.
“[Students] are recognizing that there are many different ways to handle conflict, and it doesn’t always have to be through physical means,” the United Way’s Thompson said.
Additionally, there was a decline in both student misconduct incidents and out-of-school suspensions in 2024-25 compared to 2023-2024. Misconduct dropped by 49% and suspensions decreased by 92.5%.
Jason Kalbach, a behavior management specialist at Raub, said the anti-violence program has made a noticeable difference in the climate and culture of the school.
“Before we had all those additional resources and positions, it was almost unmanageable,” he said.
“It’s still extremely busy there, extremely chaotic at times, very much a pressure cooker,” Kalbach added.
“But I feel like those resources are, A, extremely needed and, B, extremely valuable — not only for our students, but for our faculty, staff and administration, as well.”
Mindfulness can promote anti-violence
For the Shanthi Project, its work is focused on helping students become more self-aware, so they can make good decisions that don’t include violence.
Instructors for the Shanthi Project led eight weeks of mindfulness sessions last fall with autistic support, emotional support and gifted classrooms to teach students about gratitude, emotions and breathing practices.
Specifically, the Shanthi Project coached students on diaphragmatic breathing, or belly breathing, which is “breathing in and feeling your belly fill up with air, and then breathing out and releasing all the air,” said Sarah Dennehy, the Shanthi Project’s senior director of programs.
Dennehy said breathing exercises can be particularly helpful for calming intense emotions.
When someone is excited or frustrated, the logical parts of the brain go offline, and the fear center is activated, triggering fight, flight or freeze modes, she said. Slow, deep breaths can help bring the logical parts of the brain back online, so students don’t make rash choices.
“We’re sort of creating a pause,” Dennehy said.
One popular breath that the Shanthi Project teaches is called mountain breathing. It’s when a student uses their pointer finger to trace up and down their fingers on the opposite hand while breathing in and out.
“All we’re doing is training them to come into the present moment."Sarah Dennehy, the Shanthi Project’s senior director of programs
“All we’re doing is training them to come into the present moment,” Dennehy said. “Because when we’re anxious or angry, we’re usually trapped in the future or the past.”
Ma Cherie Jenkins, a rising seventh grader at Raub, said she enjoyed learning about mindfulness with the Shanthi Project.
The 11-year-old used mindful breathing exercises recently when she was taking the writing portion of a state standardized test.
“I would be writing something really good, and then my mind would just go blank for like a good three minutes, and sometimes mindfulness would help with that,” Ma Cherie said.
She used square breathing to help her focus. That consists of breathing in for four seconds, holding the breath for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds and then resting for four seconds all while tracing the shape of a square in the air.
Ma Cherie also said she uses breathing exercises to calm down at home when her mother asks her to do something she may not be so keen on doing, such as cleaning her room.
“Sometimes I just take a pause for a few seconds, which is good,” Ma Cherie said.
The Shanthi Project also worked with teachers throughout the last two years to teach them about meditation and other relaxation practices that can help them have a safe and calm nervous system.
“In order to have a regulated student body, the classroom teachers themselves have to be able to get themselves to a regulated state,” Dennehy said.
Trauma-responsive classrooms
Alongside the Shanthi Project’s work, Lehigh University counseling psychology professor Chris Liang also worked with Raub teachers on how to lead a trauma-responsive classroom.
Liang’s work is funded by a different grant through the United Way, but it complements the school’s anti-violence goals.
“Trauma are a collection of experiences that a person feels are life-threatening,” Liang said.
Potentially traumatic events include neglect, abuse or household challenges, such as domestic violence, according to the American Psychiatric Association Foundation.
When a student has experienced multiple traumatic events early in life, their brain development is impacted, making it difficult for them to sit still, pay attention, memorize facts and think critically – which are all essential for academic success in the classroom, Liang said.
Trauma dysregulates the brain, he said, meaning students who’ve experienced trauma may also be more sensitive to teachers’ behavior because their brains are searching for potential threats.
Liang said it's essential for teachers to create a trauma-responsive classroom through consistent, clear rules and schedules, as well as through positive relationships with students.
“If [students] feel connected and safe, then they’re less likely to act out,” Liang said.
Therapeutic options
For Raub students who do act out, there are additional supports, such as therapy.
Valley Youth House had two school-based counselors at Raub last school year. Because there’s less grant money available for next school year, the nonprofit organization will only have one counselor stationed at Raub during the 2025-26 academic year.
Additionally, Raub has three school counselors and one social worker of its own.
Since the start of the PCCD grant, 101 students received school-based therapy through Valley Youth House, which offers individual therapy sessions, as well as small group and family sessions. The sessions are free and nothing is billed through insurance.
Ashley Dallas, director of prevention services for Valley Youth House, said it’s beneficial for students to receive therapy at school.
For one, there’s no cost. There’s also no need for families to find transportation for their children to attend therapy. Additionally, counselors are able to observe students at school in a peer setting, which can inform their work with the student.
In order to receive therapy, students must be referred for the service through the school’s student assistance program, which can be done online by a teacher.
Dallas said students often talk with therapists about anxiety, depression, peer issues, family issues and unstable housing situations.
Valley Youth House also offers an intervention for students who’ve had traumatic experiences. That program includes small group and individual therapy sessions to help students process their traumas, learn coping skills and prepare for future stressful events.
All students who are referred to Valley Youth House counselors are screened for risk factors for violence.
Any student who scores within a moderate or high violence potential can participate in a small group program with an anti-violence curriculum.
“Violence and sorts of activities that may be destructive in nature are sometimes driven by peer pressure and the desire to fit in,” Dallas said. “So giving them that level of support in a healthy way can steer them in the right direction, as well.”
Mentors build trust
For students who need a little extra steering, there’s Promise Neighborhoods mentors.
“A lot of these kids trust us,” mentor Christian Lopez said. “We built a relationship with them where they feel comfortable enough to speak about situations.”
That relationship helps the mentors de-escalate students when emotions are high and they’re wanting to act out violently, he said.
Lopez and mentor Damian Melendez-Andriulli have their own classroom at Raub that’s equipped with options for students who need help calming down.
There are bean bag chairs and bouncy ball seats for students who need a comfortable area to talk about their feelings. There are also art supplies and hand-held fidget toys for students who need to keep their hands busy, instead of fighting.
“I’ve learned working here that kids really just need an outlet and sometimes just need a safe place to be at,” Melendez-Andriulli said.
Last school year, the mentors worked with 15 to 20 students who were referred to them through the student assistance program. For those students, the mentors met with them on a regular basis, such as weekly or monthly, to work on their goals.
The mentors also worked with any students who needed someone to talk with – there were between 50 to 85 of those students each month.
A listening ear
Carly Cruz, a recent Raub graduate, came to talk to Melendez-Andriulli in recent months when she was feeling sad or stressed out about things happening in her home life.
“I need to let it out,” the 14-year-old said. “I don’t really have a lot of friends, and I just need somebody to talk to, and I feel really safe here. It’s like a safe place.”
"I just need somebody to talk to, and I feel really safe here. It’s like a safe place."Carly Cruz, a 14-year-old recent Raub graduate
The mentors check in with students in the hallways each school day to see how they’re feeling.
For students who are already struggling with something, the mentors pull them from class to come to the Promise Neighborhoods room at some point later in the day to talk it out.
Other students ask their teachers to come to the Promise Neighborhoods room if they’re experiencing a big emotion during class and need a break.
Kaleb Vazquez, a rising seventh grader, usually ate lunch with the mentors last school year, and sometimes he came to their room during class when he needed “to take a quick little break,” he said.
The 12-year-old also worked with the mentors on how to stop negative behaviors, such as running in the halls and arguing with his teachers.
Kaleb said he enjoyed working with the mentors.
“They’re funny,” he said. “They [try] to get to the bottom of whatever is happening. They [talk] to you when you’re having a bad day, and they’ll turn your bad day into a good day.”
Chaileina Thomas, a rising eighth grader, talked with Melendez-Andriulli whenever she was struggling with her anger and wanted to start a physical fight. The mentor would help talk her down.
Chaileina said the mentors didn’t make her “feel stupid” when she shared her feelings.
“When you [talk] to people, they act like they care, but they don’t,” the 13-year-old said. “They hear you, but they don’t listen to you, and [the mentors] do both – they listen and they hear.”
De-escalating student conflicts
The Promise Neighborhoods mentors also run healing circles to help students who are having a conflict with each other — whether that’s friends having a disagreement, or students who got into a physical fight.
In a healing circle, each student gets a chance to talk while the mentors mediate the conversation.
Together, the group works to find a resolution and discusses possible future consequences if negative behaviors continue. At the end, the students shake hands on an agreement for how to move forward.
Zariah Medley, a rising eighth grader, said a healing circle helped her make up with a friend last school year. She also had healing circles with other students when she had conflicts with them.
She said having the mentors guide the conversation was essential.
“I like that they don’t listen to one person,” Zariah said. “They listen to each of the sides, and they understand where people are coming from.
“There’s always two sides to a story, so I like that they understand both sides. They don’t just listen to one and take it.”
The Justice Collaborative, another partner in the anti-violence program, evaluated the impact of the mentorship program from March to November of 2024 through student surveys.
They found students reported less bullying and more confidence in their ability to reduce school violence.
The Justice Collaborative also found that the sense of safety at school increased. Students who believed most of their peers felt safe from violence increased from 13% to 25%.
“That’s when you know the mindset is changing,” said Raub Principal José Delgado. “That change in mindset is what’s going to have a ripple effect all the way through the community.”
Safe Pathways
As part of the anti-violence pilot program, Promise Neighborhoods also takes its work to the streets through its Safe Pathways program.
That’s because some students don’t feel safe walking home, Mentor Melendez-Andriulli said.
“This is mostly a walking district, and most of these kids do have stories about seeing people get jumped and being jumped themselves,” he said.
Melendez-Andriulli said some students find themselves having issues with gang members that result in the gangs waiting for them after school. Some students are gang members themselves.
That’s where the Safe Pathways team comes in. Promise Neighborhoods staff members will walk with students after school and monitor the local streets to make sure students don’t get hurt.
They also focus their attention on West Park, where the gangs are said to hang out and recruit students.
Melendez-Andriulli said students join gangs to feel safe and to be a part of a group. That’s why it’s essential students are offered alternatives.
“I think these kids forget that they’re kids and how dangerous the world really is, and that’s why we’re here,” he said.
Part of the Safe Pathways program also includes inviting community businesses along Hamilton and Walnut streets to look out for students.
Participating businesses have a sticker in the window letting students know they can come in if they need help in a potentially violent situation, said Jeani Garcia, interim executive director of Promise Neighborhoods.
Garcia said the businesses will shut and lock their doors if a student comes in needing assistance. They’ll then call Raub or the police if necessary to help the student make a plan to get home safe.
“The goal is to keep our youth safe and secure to and from school,” Garcia said. “It’s also to let folks know that we’re here.”
Healthy Alternatives
Another way to keep Raub students out of trouble after school is through the 25 clubs and activities offered by St. Luke’s, such as jewelry-making, cooking and Lego clubs.
“We don’t want them on the streets,” said Olga Jaeger, St. Luke’s community school coordinator.
“We want them to stay at school," she added. "For some of them, it's a really beneficial thing, and for some of the parents, the extra hour they stay in school and out of trouble just makes a world of difference.”
There are 790 students who participated in at least one after-school club at Raub last academic year.
Jaeger said after-school clubs are a “powerful tool” for getting students engaged, making sure they attend school and encouraging positive behavior.
For Khloe Wuchter, a recent Raub graduate, after-school extracurriculars helped her turn around her behavior, she said.
Khloe went from skipping class and getting into fights to singing in the choir and learning how to talk about her feelings.
Over the last two years, Khloe has transformed alongside her school.
“I want people to know me for something more than what I used to be,” the 15-year-old said.
And in the same way, Khloe wants people to know that while Raub has its problems, it’s on the upswing.
“We’re trying,” she said.
“We’re doing all these things to show people we aren’t really as bad as they think we are,” she said. “There’s good – you just really got to find it.”
