D67 SEL Spotlight
Social Emotional Wellness Newsletter
D67 SEL Supports Throughout the Pandemic
The approaching one year mark of COVID may be a time of reflection. There have been challenges beyond what many could have imagined, but also silver linings such as finding new ways to connect with loved ones and others in the community, developing new hobbies and chances to think outside of the box with family time. In order to see these silver linings and to take on the seemingly layers upon layers of challenges our social emotional skills have had to be relied upon day in and day out. Some of us have managed to tap into these skills more easily while for others; staff, students and parents alike have needed anything from a gentle reminder of a strategy to try to more comprehensive support of learning how to truly care for ourselves and others in order to better manage the stress over the last year and beyond.
District 67 has been cognizant of this need well before the current school year began and brought together the D67 COVID SEL Taskforce to provide social emotional resources and ideas for not only our students, but also our staff and family community that have been included in our district MAP. Throughout this year, the district has also worked to create a schedule where SEL instruction could explicitly occur PreK through 8th grade. The historical work that has been done in the district to align our SEL instruction with CASEL's (Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning) recognized standards laid the foundation for this year's targeted SEL instruction. Further, the district work to incorporate a Social Emotional Behavioral screener became a reality this school year through the use of the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS assessments available through Fastbridge.
Our first round of benchmarking in the area of SEL let us know that overall we have healthy systems and students are able to successfully utilize their social emotional learning strategies to successfully interact with peers, organize themselves for academic learning and cope with stress and sadness. The information has been able to be organized to determine any district or building level needs. While our overall systems are healthy according to the available data, buildings have discussed and determined if there are relative areas of growth to target our instruction around. This will be ongoing work at both the district and building level as we want to continue to ensure that we maintain these overall healthy systems over time and I am happy, within this new role, to support these SEL efforts across the district as we do so.
Be kind and be well!
Stacey Weber
District 67 Behavior Coach
SEL RESOURCES FOR PARENTS
Families and caregivers are every school's most important partners in fostering a child's learning and encouragement of competency of Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Research indicated the benefits when learning at home is an extension of the SEL skills students are taught at school. However, while we have the best intentions as parents it might be difficult to ensure we are guiding this learning in the best possible way. Here are six expert designed resources and materials that parents can explore to support these efforts at home throughout the day compiled by Panorama Education.
Exciting Learning Opportunities for Parents and Staff brought to you by The Spirit of 67
#Win@Social at DPM
This year, thanks to the Spirit of 67, Deer Path Middle School started a social-emotional learning program, #WinAtSocial. This program, created by The Social Institute, helps to guide our middle school students through challenges related to navigating social-emotional health, social media, and technology. To learn more about how we implement #WinAtSocial at DPM as well as some helpful resources that can be used by families click here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
FAN Series Event- What Matters Now: Emotional Balance and Core Needs in the Post-Pandemic Era
The results of the American Psychological Association’s 2020 survey on stress led the organization to sound a devastating alarm: “We are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.” Mental health professionals have a front row seat to this crisis. They have the privilege and the challenge of having profound conversations within which themes of helplessness, loss, isolation, uncertainty, and polarization are pervasive. Less expected and often generative are the “what matters now?” conversations that our unprecedented and chronic circumstances have pushed into the fore. The changes that we have been pressed to make have had unanticipated consequences; people are reevaluating their priorities.
Nancy Burgoyne, Ph.D. and Maru Torres-Gregory, J.D., Ph.D., LMFT from The Family Institute at Northwestern University (TFI), both clinicians and educators with decades of experience, will share their experience and expertise. Their perspectives are deeply informed by their work on the “emotional frontlines” of the pandemic. They will reflect on the substantial mental health challenges we face, the themes woven in this crisis, and the opportunities to access meaning and increase resilience.
Register here with the Zoom link registration.
This event suitable for youth 12+.
Monday, Mar 1, 2021, 07:00 PM
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FAN SERIES EVENT-Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life
In her latest book, Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life, longtime Wall Street Journal career columnist Joann S. Lublin compares two generations of women—boomers and GenXers—to examine how each navigates the emotional and professional challenges involved in juggling their managerial careers and families.
In Power Moms, Ms. Lublin shares her own experiences combining work and motherhood alongside those of 86 executive mothers from the first trailblazing generation—typically in their sixties—and their younger counterparts, who are under forty-five. The first generation bravely paved the path for the second as they radically reshaped the U.S. business landscape. But they often were lone rangers – without female role models, involved husbands, or supportive employers. Thanks to greater societal acceptance and other factors, second-wave mothers pursue ambitious career goals that were uncommon only a few decades ago. They also manage conflicts between work and life with far more aplomb than the previous generation, such as by embracing work-life sway over the elusive work-life balance. But, like their forebears, GenXers still lead stressful lives filled with working mother guilt—a strong sign of how far American society still must go.
Ms. Lublin will be interviewed by Suzanne Muchin, co-founder of Bonfire, a new talent development accelerator for the rising generation of women in the workplace.
Register here with the Zoom link registration.
This event suitable for youth 12+.
Monday, Mar 8, 2021, 07:00 PM
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Stacey Weber, Ed.S.
Email: staceyweber@lfschools.net
Website: https://www.lakeforestschools.org/district-departments/curriculum/district-67-curriculum/sel