Wellness Center
Welcome and Overview
Welcome to the Wellness Center!
Hi everyone! Jenine Stocke and I (Jon Talebreza-May) are back this year as your Wellness Center Social Emotional Learning Team. In collaboration with our Principal, Michelle Texley and all Ridgeline staff and teachers, Jenine and I will be building on Ridgeline's strong foundation of social and emotional wellness throughout the school year. This monthly newsletter will give you updates about what your child has been learning in SEL classes as well as what's happening in regard to social and emotional wellness throughout the school.
The purpose of the Wellness Center is to support staff and students in creating an environment that fosters academic, social, and emotional learning through deepening the community’s awareness of their mental, emotional and physical health and well-being. In practice this looks like supporting students and staff in enhancing their ability to feel well-being internally and externally. We do that through Social Emotional Learning (SEL) classes once per week, working with students individually and in small groups to build their SEL skills, and by working with teachers to support students in their classrooms. As a Montessori School, Ridgeline brings the concept of the "whole child as an active member of a community" into all aspects of student life. This sense of community helps to foster a safe learning environment for all students and staff. We know that, in order to do well academically, students need to feel safe. We build on that this year by focusing on the 3 R's: Regulate, Relate, and Reason. More on this in the second part of the newsletter!
In the newsletters, we will also include helpful links on various topics as well as local and national help/crisis lines.
We welcome your feedback: questions, comments and suggestions. Please feel free to reach out to us. Our contact information is below.
Comments, questions, suggestions, praise? Please use our virtual comment’s box in "About Us" below.
If this is an urgent matter regarding student safety, please contact SafeOregon by call or text at 844-472-3367
Links to some of the K-6 SEL curriculums we use:
Kelso’s choice docs: Parent Page
Second step: Information for Families
Regulate, Relate, and Reason
Regulate, Relate, and Reason was created by the neuroscientist, Dr. Bruce Perry. He states, that in order to use the thinking mind (Reason), we must first feel safe and calm in the parts of the mind that developed earlier in our development. To do this, we need to first Regulate and Relate. This can happen in many ways, of which I will highlight in classes with students as well as upcoming newsletters. Examples of these two are below:
Regulate: The big muscle groups need activated: hugs, wall pushes, weighted blankets, yoga, stretching, and rhythmic and repetitive activities like playing catch, rocking, drumming. While you're doing these things, saying something like, "you're not in trouble" or "you're safe" will also help create a sense of safety to a child who is feeling out of sorts.
Relate: Using empathy to show you are trying to understand what they are feeling. This is called relating because it is about being seen. We all need to feel seen and understood. Doing so helps us to feel like we are a part of the community, which in turn creates a sense of safety and belonging.
So, if you are noticing your someone in your community (this doesn't only apply to children!) is having a hard time thinking through something, listening, or using words, it may be that the first two R's need work before reasoning can happen. At Ridgeline this year, we will use this as our baseline understanding of what it takes for students to be engaged in classroom activities. Our teachers already use many of these approaches throughout the day. We will support each other in continuing and expanding on these.