CINCINNATI — Tonjarene Bronston is working to build resilience in Cincinnati kids. As principal of DAMPE Community School, Bronston oversees a dance, art, music and physical education experience for kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

“It’s a work,” Bronston said. “It’s definitely a calling.”

The expressive outlets are critical to help kids engage the emotions ACEs — or adverse childhood experiences — can stir up.

“Children go through a lot of emotions,” Bronston said. “And friends are always happy.”

And expression, even to a furry friend, helps kids find resilience.

“They might not want to talk to me because an adult made them angry. But they will talk to a friend,” Bronston said.

Eighth-grade student Teon Harris knows DAMPE can improve his life.

“I don’t like what I’m learning, but I need it. I need the education,” Harris said.

Some in Harris’ family needed a DAMPE experience of their own — one they didn’t get.

“They always wish they’re still in school. Cause most of them, they just grown and they just sell drugs. That’s the only thing they can do,” Harris said.

And Harris’ family reminds him that ACEs effects may be generational.

“And some of them got a lot of kids, and barely can take care of them,” he said.

The danger is that ACEs impacts may be long term. A 2021 National Institutes of Health study shows ACEs linked to substance abuse, lower self-esteem, sexual risk behaviors, violence, suicide and other negative outcomes.

At DAMPE, Rufus Johnson, whose organization, Real Truth, helps teach students practical skills — including how to properly handle firearms they may find — thinks progress in building ACEs resilience could use more “walk” and less “talk.”

“We got all these different programs, all these hundreds of millions of dollars, and millions of dollars going through these programs, but we don’t have no model that’s dealing with safety,” said Johnson.

For Johnson, helping kids combat ACEs needs adults from all walks of life to step up. The Cincinnati consortium joining forces is a point organization to find outlets combating ACEs, but even just the act of being there for kids can make a difference.

“It don’t take $25 or $100 to give these kids 15-20 minutes of your time,” Johnson said.

Bronston lives the “being there” approach through her direct access policy with DAMPE students.

“And my children call me too,” she said. “I give them my phone number in case they need me.”

As it’s been said throughout the series on ACEs: quality relationships with adults build ACEs resilience in kids.

And when the relationships meet with the expression, a school like DAMPE encourages, the laughter can be the stress reliever kids need.