Spotlight :
Difference-makers
Carolynn Macallister helped launch effort to build resiliency in children
She also worked to get “ Erin ’ s Law ” passed in Oklahoma to implement a child sexual abuse prevention curriculum in pubic schools and provide training for school staff in spotting and reporting abuse . arolynn Macallister has always had a heart for the young that has shown through in how she lives her life and what she does with her time . She first came to Stillwater after graduating from veterinary school at Texas A & M because Oklahoma State University was one of the few places she could do a residency in pediatric veterinary medicine .
After establishing herself in her veterinary and academic career at OSU and raising her family , Macallister got involved in the community , joining the board of what was then called the Child Advocacy Center .
She was part of the team that helped the organization – which does forensic interviews for children when abuse is suspected and provides services and counseling for those children – grow into the Saville Center the community is familiar with .
She also worked to get “ Erin ’ s Law ” passed in Oklahoma to implement a child sexual abuse prevention curriculum in pubic schools and provide training for school staff of spotting and reporting abuse .
Helping the children after they had already been hurt was important work , but didn ’ t feel like enough , she said .
Then she heard about “ Resilience : The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope ,” a documentary exploring the concept of ACES – Adverse Childhood Experiences . The impact of trauma someone experiences when they ’ re young continues throughout their life , putting them at greater risk for any number of negative outcomes , from physical to educational and economic to emotional and psychological . It also puts their own children at greater risk of suffering their own trauma .
The cumulative impact of all that trauma ripples through communities and society as a whole .
But research has also shown that communities and schools can build systems that support resilience and help offset some of those negatives .
Macallister says it took a team that included too many people for her to list them all . So many people from different sectors got involved and contributed to the effort that made Resilient Payne County a leader in the resilience movement .
Macallister said two key people who helped get the effort going are former United Way Executive Director Sheri Carter , who became the coorganizer as well as OSU researcher , psychologist and professor Jennifer Hayes-Grudo , who brought science to the problem and got OSU involved .
Resilient Payne County ’ s subcommittees tackled the problems from different angles – education , law enforcement , health and especially important : public policy . The policy group has been able to mobilize support to get bills passed through the Oklahoma legislature that help children and families , increasing resilience in communities across the state by addressing whole systems .
There ’ s still a lot of work to be done , but Macallister is inspired by
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 8