The Building Resilience Project (BRP), a project that was developed in Israel in the wake of terrorism and war, was implemented in Biloxi, Mississippi one year after Hurricane Katrina. The BRP is a teacher-based intervention that focuses on empowering teachers to cope with their own stressors and those of their students in the aftermath of trauma. This article examines the ecological model of the BRP, and offers a description of the teacher workshops while also providing the rationale for implementing a teacherbased intervention in Biloxi. Feedback and follow-up data from participants' selfreports is presented, as well as recommendations for future implementation.Keywords natural disaster, trauma, school-based intervention, teacher workshop, postdisaster intervention, resilience building, disaster mental health, crisis intervention In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast of Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, killing over a thousand people and leaving even more homeless. In Biloxi alone, at least 53 people lost their lives, and 25% of the homes were completely destroyed, while most of the remaining homes were severely damaged. Rhoads, Pearman, and Rick (2007) described residents' poor health and insufficient access to care before and after the hurricane. Many of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina experienced posttraumatic symptoms and those who survived face significant roadblocks on their path to recovery. In Mississippi, many businesses had to be closed, causing wide-scale unemployment and subsequent migration. School communities also suffered, as significant numbers of their student body and faculty left. Rebuilding efforts have been slow and painful and were often hampered by government and insurance company bureaucracies. As a result, most residents along the Gulf Coast have been exposed to trauma and loss, both from the hurricane experience itself and the concomitant long term stress associated with the rebuilding process.For children, exposure to traumatic events such as natural disasters, terrorism, and community violence is often linked to psychological distress, as children lack both the ability to process the trauma and the resources to effectively cope with their experiences. Like adults, children can develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid
