Jill Kostynick is a first grade teacher for the Stillwater School District in Minnesota. Jill’s career began twenty-five-plus years ago in St. Paul, Minnesota, as a special education teacher at a school for children who experience trauma, mental illness, and abuse. While working to create a learning community, Jill found the book Teaching Children to Care: Management in the Responsive Classroom, by Ruth Sidney Charney. The mindset Jill gained from this book helped her succeed in a level 7 EBD residential school and continues to inspire her love of teaching daily. Jill has written and implemented several grants designed to build upon student creativity, empathy, choice, social interaction, and the use of trauma-responsive teaching. She welcomes anyone into her classroom to observe and experience the community her students have created through Responsive Classroom practices. Jill is excited to share what she has learned and continues to learn from children and educators.