Teachers Unify Joins Spencer Foundation-Supported Project to Study Teacher Trauma and Recovery After School Shootings

Athens, GA – Teachers Unify To End Gun Violence announced it has been selected to partner with the University of Georgia on a project funded by a prestigious grant from the Spencer Foundation to support critical research through "Places of Learning/Places of Violence: Teaching in the Wake of a School Shooting."

“This groundbreaking study seeks to better understand how educators make sense of trauma, healing, and recovery in the aftermath of violence,” said Abbey Clements, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence. “In partnership with Teachers Unify, researchers will engage teacher survivors through narrative inquiry, community-based site visits, individual interviews, and facilitated workshops to examine both the immediate and long-term impacts of these experiences. I’m so grateful that the Spencer Foundation has funded this project with the University of Georgia that helps give teachers and school staff a seat at the table when they are too often overlooked in the aftermath of gun violence in schools.” 

The study will help build the evidence base around educator-centered approaches to trauma response, inform school leadership and policy, strengthen teacher preparation, and ensure future solutions are shaped by the lived experiences of those most impacted.

“School shootings are a devastating reality in the US. When one happened at a nearby school where several former students and (then) current student teachers work, we quickly realized that there was little research that documents and explores teachers’ experiences with these tragic acts of violence,” said Jim Garrett, Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Georgia. “I’m humbled that we have been awarded a Spencer Foundation grant to collaborate with Teachers Unify to address this and to further amplify the voices of educators.” 

“In the wake of school shootings, teachers are too often taken for granted and left to carry the experience alone,” said Rebecca C. Geller, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Director of Graduate Studies for Social Studies Education at the University of Georgia. “Our research project takes teachers and their experiences seriously and recognizes the importance of bearing witness to their testimonies. I am deeply grateful to the Spencer Foundation for investing in this research and to Teachers Unify for their partnership and commitment.”

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Abbey Clements is the executive director and a Co-Founder of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence. She is a survivor teacher of the Sandy Hook School tragedy in 2012, and was an elementary educator for over 30 years. She was a strategic consultant on gun violence issues for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and a member of the ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence National Advisory Council. Abbey has been featured in various events, publications, and documentaries including the 2024 DNC, Newtown, If I Don’t Make It, I Love You, Bullets Into Bells, AFT Voices, USA Today, AARP, Share My Lesson, The Hill, among others.

Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence envisions a future where every school in the United States is a safe haven and a safe learning environment for every child, and where all citizens live without the fear and trauma of gun violence.