Business of the Year - Education: CORE Methods

For Dr. Bethany Bilodeau, founder of CORE Methods, a classroom theft 28 years ago and her own son’s behavioral challenges provided the sparks for understanding misunderstood behaviors in children and young adults and developing strategies to help them.

Shortly after finishing college, Bilodeau was teaching biology and earth science in Guam to school kids when all the equipment was stolen from her classroom. “At that point I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve got to get these things back and figure out how to connect with my students to find out what’s going on with them.’” Many of them, she says, had significant trauma histories and had never been successful at school. So, she started teaching them outside of the classroom and taking them to a coral reef and a nearby forest, which she says helped.

Following her own son’s “aggressive behavior” as a toddler years ago, Bilodeau found a sensory school in Maine where he excelled. She realized that some of the school’s teachings could be valuable to help parents, teachers, and students who are in pain. CORE (Connecting Our Resources Educationally), based in Gilford and founded in 2006, works with school districts to serve kids with behavioral challenges.

Bilodeau went on to receive a an MBA and a PhD in leadership with a dissertation focused on behavior. Identifying the root causes of maladaptive behaviors—such as young children running away from teachers, biting, kicking, or a detached teenager—involves paying close attention to behavior, observing body language, and understanding the person’s home life. Finding solutions for these issues is at the heart of CORE.

CORE, which has 13 employees, contracts with school districts throughout NH, including the Gilford School District, working with students who have disruptive behaviors and trauma histories, and students who need other professional supports.

CORE also dedicates more than 10 hours per week to pro bono work, offering counseling and support to struggling parents and educators. CORE has cultivated just under 20,000 followers on Facebook where it shares insights into behavioral issues with its audience.

CORE provides professional development for teachers in classrooms and online through the Behavioral Bootcamp, Bilodeau says, adding that CORE conducted 100 trainings in 2023. Identifying how a student is feeling and regulating their behavior so they can be reintegrated in a classroom—which is CORE’s biggest measure of success—requires that teachers understand their student’s behavior, Bilodeau says.