REACH club- INTRODUCING SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

"To truly change the world, you must first change the way the world is changed."                       Tomas O'Sullivan 

The day after Tomas died his school community was devastated. Students had so many questions about why and if this could happen to them. The students wanted to know more about depression, anxiety, and what they could do to help themselves and those around them. Our high school curriculum was geared toward academics but our students were desiring to know more about who they were, to complement their academic pursuits.

Ana and Kerri began to research ways to offer the students what they were seeking drawing on their professional and lived experience. The work was also a way to heal and help meet the needs of students. In what ways could we share knowledge and build awareness of social, emotional and well-being skills to empower students? We determined that our students understood how to strengthen their muscles by eating right and getting exercise, so we felt confident they would understand the methodology for "strengthening their well-being muscles." 

To learn how to navigate and ride the waves of life, it is crucial we educate our students not just on academic pursuits but also on how to understand and strengthen their mental, social, and emotional health. “Combining these skills with academic development creates high-quality learning experiences and environments that empower students to be more effective contributors in their classrooms today and in their workplaces and communities tomorrow” (The Future of Education Depends on Social Emotional Learning: Here’s Why, EdSurge, June 4, 2018).

Create awareness of social, emotional, and mental health

Offer skills, tools, and resources on important issues and needs

Navigate the challenges of life and school

Nurture resilience

Ensure equity and inclusivity

Cultivate a culture of caring and well-being

Transform students' opportunities for learning and engagement

Ana and Kerri's research led to creating REACH club as well as multiple programs that work together, thus creating a holistic systems approach, Connect Be Well's systems-based Triad of Support. Parents were desiring information and tools to connect, which led to our letters, and students were desiring similar resources. In wanting to adapt resources to better fit the world and needs of teens, we created a curriculum for REACH club,  based on our research and utilizing standards and recommendations from CASEL, ESSA, Making Caring Common, MBSR-T and current research on teens.

REACH club is a program that can be created by students and for students of all ages, everywhere. It only takes one student at a time to make a difference!