TESTIMONIALS & RESOURCES
What's being said and where to learn more
Dr. Harriet MacLean
District Administrator: Equity, Community Schools and Restorative Practices, San Rafael City Schools
I have worked closely with Karen Junker for nine years now. She is a treasure! Through our work together, I have gained enormous insight into human nature and the importance of creating a culture of caring, inclusion, justice, and equity. Karen Junker has a wide range of training and expertise in numerous restorative practices, and I have seen her use them all in a variety of settings.
Without fail, the outcomes of these interventions have been exemplary in terms of serving the best interests of all members of the community so as to avoid exclusion or ostracism and, instead, ensure that each community member feels cared for, honored, and respected. Creating a culture of trusting relationships is my top priority as a leader, and Karen Junker has proven to be the perfect person to do this work with me.
Matt Huxley
Executive Director
The Academy of Alameda
Karen Junker has been working with our middle school staff for the past two years to support our practices around using restorative language and community circles as a means of creating an effective classroom culture and restoring it if there are challenges.
I have a great deal of respect for her on both a personal and professional basis. She is funny, engaging and very good at what she does. It is rare for a person to come in from the outside and to quickly garner so much respect from a staff and immediately affect their practice. Karen has been able to do that because it is instantly apparent that she is very good at what she does. She is knowledgeable, witty, brings in real experiences as a practitioner, and most important, listens to our staff empathetically.
Our staff has high expectations around professional development and those who implement it, and has Karen has certainly met those expectations. I have high regards for Karen Junker and do not hesitate to strongly recommend her to school leaders who either are in the early stages of implementing restorative practices, need further development, or require a refresher. Please feel free to contact me with questions.
Lisa Angell Murphy Oates
Equity and Disproportionality Administrator, Mount Diablo Unified School District
Karen Junker and her personalized invitation to learning and thinking outside of the “traditional instruct box” using Restorative Practices has totally revitalized our classroom experiences in Mt. Diablo. Increased relationship building, increased class time and decreased office referrals are only a few of the benefits we’ve seen in implanting these practices.
Elementary and Secondary teachers are gladly joining the RP bandwagon, implementing the practices and find Karen not only to be an awesome trainer, but a supportive guide to assist us as we continue our restorative journey. Well done, Karen
Dr. Mary A. Mason
Executive Director, Elementary Education, Glendale USD
"I highly recommend Karen Junker to any school or school district interested in Restorative Practices. I have worked with Karen for two years while serving as a middle school principal. Karen did small group workshops - both full day and half day - for interested staff members. She brought a wealth of direct classroom experiences into her training, which made her immediately credible. She has presented shorter presentations at faculty meetings, so that all staff understood Restorative Practices. This was very well received.
In my current position as Director of Teaching & Learning, we have utilized Karen for small group problem solving circles a school sites and 2-day trainings with school teams. Karen will be conducting parent workshops this year as well. Karen is easily accessible and has "skyped" or participated in phone conferences with teachers and principals to discuss Restorative Practices.
I cannot speak highly enough about how engaging Karen is as a presenter, but more than that, she built capacity in others to use Restorative Practices in classrooms and schools. What a valuable benefit to our school cultures if everyone built solid school communities based on Restorative Practices! Please feel free to email me at mmason@gusd.net if I can answer any further questions you may have.
Ayesha Brooks
Director, Multi-tiered System of Supports, Fontana USD
"Karen Junker is a vibrant, knowledgeable, and experienced trainer who engages all participants with personalized stories and a great sense of humor. Her trainings incorporate communication and collaboration within the group in a way that is so successful that lasting friendships have been forged throughout school districts. Here in Fontana, we’ve grown to prefer Karen as a trainer because she always understands and successfully delivers exactly what is needed in a particular situation.
Karen is an experienced classroom teacher who understands the dynamics between teachers and students and provides actual, useful tools for educators to take away with them to their own classrooms, enabling them to facilitate community building circles with confidence and understanding. Restorative practice is a relatively new idea, and at this stage it is vital that practitioners receive the highest-level training to ensure against the principles and methods becoming slipshod or misinterpreted.
Karen can be trusted to provide the most thorough, careful training in a way that makes participants feel confident and motivated, and she imparts it with a warmth and energy that is all her own.
David Vannasdall
Superintendent
Arcadia Unified School District
"In my twenty-four years in education from a teacher to superintendent, I have never experienced a professional training that significantly affected the personal and professional lives of each and every participant until now. Karen Junker's Restorative Practices training shifted the way people view relationships, community and their behaviors. In a time where I am personally accountable for every dollar spent, I can confidently look each taxpayer in the eye and describe the profound impact this training had on the culture of our school family.
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"After years of searching for a Restorative Practices trainer we found Karen! She is incredibly engaging and provides step by step instructions about how to implement each Restorative Practice that you need every day in schools. Her experience as a middle and high school teacher brings credibility for teachers and helps open people's hearts and minds. Without Karen our school district would not be implementing Restorative Justice as effectively or as deeply today."
Laura Mooiman, LCSW, Project Director Wellness Program, Positive Behavior
Interventions & Supports (PBIS)
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Working with Karen has been a pleasure and an honor. She has that rare combination of content expertise and skillful presentation delivery. I could go on and on about Karen’s effectiveness and value for staff, but the real proof is in the teachers who continually ask me when the next Karen Junker training will be. The proof is when I step into a classroom and see Karen’s tools and strategies being implemented by teachers. If that’s not an endorsement of her work and value, I don’t know what is!
Michele Lew, Assistant Principal l Arcadia High School
Karen provided exceptional professional development to our Middle School staff to support students with engagement and connectedness during remote learning. Her training was purposeful and it allowed our staff the opportunity for collaboration, advancing ongoing growth in the areas of engagement and connectedness during remote learning. Karen’s ability to understand students and deliver strategies to support, engage and motivate students, makes any time with her a valuable experience.
Celestina Pakel | K -8 Administrator, Cupertino USD
"I have worked with Ms. Junker for the past 2 years, first as a participant in her varied training sessions, and then as a collaborator to deliver staff development to our teachers. She captivates and inspires her audiences. Thanks to her teachings and guidance, our school has successfully implemented restorative practices such as community building circles, problem solving protocols, and social emotional learning lesson plans."
Roxanne Ouweleen - Assistant Principal, Franklin Magnet School, Glendale Unified School District