'Social Emotional Learning Day': Pandemic puts focus on young students' mental health
WESTBURY, Long Island (WABC) -- Believing in yourself was the theme at Dryden Street Elementary in Westbury, and the students marked "Social Emotional Learning Day," otherwise known as "S.E.L."
It is actually a pivotal part of curriculums all year long in districts across the state, with the importance of mental health in schools crystalized during the COVID-19 pandemic -- especially for the youngest of students.
"They were sequestered away from their friends at their most crucial time," S.E.L. District Consultant Dr. Teresa Taylor-Williams said. "When social/emotional learning is so important to their development."
Pre-K and kindergarten is when kids start to learn life skills like sharing and interactive play, but that was all cut off last year.
"I couldn't go anywhere," 6-year-old Amir McCallum said. "I couldn't even go to football."
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It's about what's going on inside their heads.
"I'm feeling pretty good now," McCallum said.
"Just yesterday, we found out that our district will receive an additional $250,000 just to develop and create sensory rooms throughout the school district," Dr. Taylor-Williams said.
That's because some challenges won't disappear overnight.
The principal said that last year, kindergarten enrollment dropped 20%, when the kids were doing hybrid learning because working families in this district found it hard to sustain.
This year, they've regained half of that -- but more importantly, the kids have regained confidence in themselves.
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