How one teacher equips students to stop trafficking before it starts

When teacher Mona Al-Hayani looks at high school students, she sees possibilities. But after years of social justice work, she’s also keenly aware of unseen dangers to young people.

So when the state of Ohio mandated five years ago that public school staff receive training on human trafficking – without providing any money or much direction – “Ms. Al,” as she’s called, stepped up.

She developed a curriculum for the Toledo district, trained more than 20,000 students and educators in how to identify risk factors, connected the schools to local advocacy groups, and has started offering training for nearby communities. The effort earned her Ohio’s Teacher of the Year award in 2019, and the admiration of advocates for impoverished young people who are most at risk.

As her school prepares to start the year remotely, Ms. Al-Hayani has been helping develop