Student Eliana Boatright is being guided by Saige Jensen, Briana Makin, and Vitoria Morris during an SEL activity.
Helix, Oregon–Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a recently implemented program at Helix High School. There are many perspectives on the program and how SEL affects the education of students.
The SEL program is about being prepared for social interactions in the real world. In the midst of the COVID pandemic and the accompanying emergence of a mental health crisis across the country in 2020, SEL was implemented at Helix High School. Currently, SEL takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays right before the third period for about 20 minutes. There are two programs being used. For the elementary students, the Character Strong curriculum is used, which is titled “Purposeful People.” The high school is using a program called Wayfinder. Social Emotional Learning was started in Chicago in 2012 in the U.S. and has shown promising results.
Previously, the entire school was using the Character Strong program, but a change was made for this school year. Miranda Morris, the Helix School Child Behavior Specialist, believes the Wayfinder program will be more relevant and that the “wording was better.” Morris feels that high schoolers seem to need appropriate wording, but the ideas shared with Character Strong were described as corny by some students. Morris also mentioned that, “High school kids want to talk less about feelings and I say that as a generalization. I don’t think everybody feels that way but you start to get more pushback, I think,” she said.
Despite the change in program, there are still benefits. With the superior wording for older students, Wayfinder still implements the same message. “I do think these skills will help and these students will use them when they leave high school because this is what you need for life. You have got to be able to manage yourself like if you are super stressed out one day and end up blowing up on someone. Being aware of where you are emotionally and being able to take care of yourself so you can go to work,” said Morris.
Although, with the renewed emphasis and implementation of SEL, some students aren’t happy with the program. Student Emily Young believes that the system does not do what it sets out to do, which is set students up for the future with the pillars of SEL being self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision making. “They (teachers) try, but it's boring and not very fun,” said Young. She recalls an activity that did not impress her. “We got to throw trash into a trash can,” she said, referring to an activity called ”Trashketball” that involved team building. She felt that this activity would make no difference within the student body.
Young’s takeaway was described as minimal as she was not aware of the five pillars and that she would rather be doing something else with the SEL time. “I want to go to my other class and do my school work because I don’t want to sit here and talk about skills like Trashketball.” She doubted that she was learning much in SEL. “I feel like we’re getting more of that with our health class,” said Young.
In contrast, Science Teacher Rachel Gavin is supportive of the SEL program. She believes that any time students can get together and share common experiences can help them to learn to socialize. “Through talking about shared experiences, we can talk about different experiences. They can find commonality but also find spaces to be different and be respectful,” said Gavin. “If students are not led they would not have a good model,” she said.
With this support, Gavin has offered some insight as to what can improve. “There are different levels of teacher buy-in,” said Gavin. She proposes an idea of classes moving between teachers for SEL in increments of weeks or months to become familiar with different teachers. Another way to make the program more productive would be by adding a larger SEL activity that does not necessarily have to be a fun event, but something that tackles a more serious issue.
At its core, SEL aims to improve the student body’s mental health to assist in the current and future work environments. Helix School leaders hope that SEL will grow and improve in a way that affects students in a deeper way.
The SEL program is about being prepared for social interactions in the real world. In the midst of the COVID pandemic and the accompanying emergence of a mental health crisis across the country in 2020, SEL was implemented at Helix High School. Currently, SEL takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays right before the third period for about 20 minutes. There are two programs being used. For the elementary students, the Character Strong curriculum is used, which is titled “Purposeful People.” The high school is using a program called Wayfinder. Social Emotional Learning was started in Chicago in 2012 in the U.S. and has shown promising results.
Previously, the entire school was using the Character Strong program, but a change was made for this school year. Miranda Morris, the Helix School Child Behavior Specialist, believes the Wayfinder program will be more relevant and that the “wording was better.” Morris feels that high schoolers seem to need appropriate wording, but the ideas shared with Character Strong were described as corny by some students. Morris also mentioned that, “High school kids want to talk less about feelings and I say that as a generalization. I don’t think everybody feels that way but you start to get more pushback, I think,” she said.
Despite the change in program, there are still benefits. With the superior wording for older students, Wayfinder still implements the same message. “I do think these skills will help and these students will use them when they leave high school because this is what you need for life. You have got to be able to manage yourself like if you are super stressed out one day and end up blowing up on someone. Being aware of where you are emotionally and being able to take care of yourself so you can go to work,” said Morris.
Although, with the renewed emphasis and implementation of SEL, some students aren’t happy with the program. Student Emily Young believes that the system does not do what it sets out to do, which is set students up for the future with the pillars of SEL being self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision making. “They (teachers) try, but it's boring and not very fun,” said Young. She recalls an activity that did not impress her. “We got to throw trash into a trash can,” she said, referring to an activity called ”Trashketball” that involved team building. She felt that this activity would make no difference within the student body.
Young’s takeaway was described as minimal as she was not aware of the five pillars and that she would rather be doing something else with the SEL time. “I want to go to my other class and do my school work because I don’t want to sit here and talk about skills like Trashketball.” She doubted that she was learning much in SEL. “I feel like we’re getting more of that with our health class,” said Young.
In contrast, Science Teacher Rachel Gavin is supportive of the SEL program. She believes that any time students can get together and share common experiences can help them to learn to socialize. “Through talking about shared experiences, we can talk about different experiences. They can find commonality but also find spaces to be different and be respectful,” said Gavin. “If students are not led they would not have a good model,” she said.
With this support, Gavin has offered some insight as to what can improve. “There are different levels of teacher buy-in,” said Gavin. She proposes an idea of classes moving between teachers for SEL in increments of weeks or months to become familiar with different teachers. Another way to make the program more productive would be by adding a larger SEL activity that does not necessarily have to be a fun event, but something that tackles a more serious issue.
At its core, SEL aims to improve the student body’s mental health to assist in the current and future work environments. Helix School leaders hope that SEL will grow and improve in a way that affects students in a deeper way.