Safe and Sound- Nick Chernoff's P3

Nick Chernoff’s work in schools began in the Safe Schools Department as a Safe School Liaison, where he spent five years of his career in the Surrey School District in British Columbia. He also worked as an outreach worker for youth at-risk of gang involvement with the Surrey WRAP program. For over five years, Nick has been a member of the Canadian Forces in the Infantry Regiment and works closely with various Military Intelligence Units. As a member of the Safer Schools Together team, Nick specializes in Social Media Awareness and Digital Data Collection. He’s a lead threat assessment analyst, collecting social media data that is used to assist schools both in Canada and the United States in addressing worrisome and threat-related online behaviours. As a speaker, he provides presentations and workshops to students, staff and parents on social media awareness and online personal and public safety.

Nick and I met at the National Conference on Innovative Teaching Strategies in Georgia. I was presenting on Building Outside the Blocks, and Nick was representing Safer Schools Together. On the last night, we were walking to the Atlanta Braves game, an optional conference activity, and got to talking about his work. I had never heard of the idea of monitoring student social media accounts for detrimental behaviour, and it was interesting to learn about the proactive aspects of the work.

Nick found choosing the songs for his P3 to be a struggle. “Trying to narrow down three songs was tough.” Nick sent some a few song options, and then went back to what he was feeling in his heart to choose the songs for his guest appearance on the Personal Playlist Podcast.

Nick’s nostalgic song is one that he grew up listening to in his parent’s house. It spoke to him for a reason, and he wanted to share this Canadian band who was often playing in the background at home. He grew up in a busy household, his parents loving to host, share laughs and stories. Blue Rodeo became part of Nick’s upbringing. “It’s amazing how songs can... bring back awesome memories.” Out of all of their work, here is the song that Nick chose. This is song about simple gestures. Here is Five Days in May:

Nick’s identity song could also have been his nostalgic choice. “I was always the kid in high school who would carry around a boom box… and have everyone around me experience the CD I was playing.” Nick told a story about an interaction with his gym teacher who was surprised that he was into classic rock. Nick added that people and artists will create a song, and many other artists with recognize it by playing their own version, adding their unique spin to create a distinct experience with it. Listening to his identity song playing, Nick, “...got a flashback of me at probably 16 years old carrying my skateboard around the school with my boom box in one hand and my long skater hair, and it was weird to feel all of the emotions that were coming back.” Considering that Nick’s work is about safeguarding, this song written by Bob Dylan and, in many ways, owned by Jimi Hendrix, is an incredible collaboration between songwriter and artist that reflects a part of who Nick is. Here is All Along the Watchtower:

Nick’s motivational song was a difficult choice for him. He is big on health and tries to get to the gym every day, keeping active and always finding time to keep his “brain going and heart pumping”. He often needs that one song to motivate him. “Speaking in front of a crowds of 1500-200 people, as good of a public speaker I try to be, you almost need that right song to pump you up.” This song and band is relatively new to Nick. This past summer, he was going through some personal challenges and remembered taking a long drive and playing some music. He heard this song, and it really lifted him up, bringing a spark to him that he really needed. This band stuck with him. “This was a hard song to pick because there are many songs that motivate me...but this song felt right for me.” Here is a group from Sydney Australia, Rufus Del Sol, with You Were Right:

Nick works with schools, boards, districts all across North America. He is part of a team at Safer Schools Together (SST) which has “a proven record of helping schools throughout North America in violence and bullying behaviour prevention and intervention strategies.” Nick is constantly travelling to present to teachers, parents and students. He has even begun to infuse some of the transitional times with music before he presents to students, which he believes helps them get in the right zone and lifts them up before he begins. Safer School Together has offices in Vancouver, Washington State and California. Nick says they are “Trying to build capacity up and down the coast and moving it across North America.” They even have people on call 24 hours a day to support issues that arise in schools. “It’s all about working together in this overwhelming field of technology.” Here is a list of some training dates and upcoming events. You can also follow him on Twitter.