Junior High SEL & Wellness

This month, we encourage you and your families to try something new! Learning something new or getting involved in an activity that interests us is great for our well-being. Keeping our brains active is not only good for us physically but it can help you feel you are flourishing as you see yourself making progress with a new skill, or just make you smile as you make a mess and decide to start again. 🙂

A gratitude challenge is a truly magnificent tool, it will shift your mindset so drastically as it will lead your mind to start focusing on the good and letting go of the complain victim mode we all fall trap to. There are many variations of the gratitude challenge. This is also a great conversation starter for the family at the dinner table! Use whichever variation suits your family best, below are some suggestions:

• Make a list of the 10 things you are grateful for in your life, write them down on a piece of paper and place them in a place you will read them every morning.
• Take 5 minutes before you go to bed and write down 3 things you were grateful for that day.
• Take a 21-day gratitude challenge, where each day you write 1 thing you are grateful for. (See below)

Choose whatever options seem more suitable to you right now and notice how you feel afterward. You will, by experience, realize how powerful this exercise is and how it shifts your perception entirely.

With gratitude, we acknowledge the goodness in our lives, we feel more positive, build our resilience, and have happier relationships.

Social media is a great way for staying connected with friends, get news updates, and be entertained. But it can also be a source of stress, especially for teenagers. When they're scrolling through the feeds, they are often comparing themselves to others, even if they don't realize they are doing it. Click on the image to learn more.

As we move into the late fall and winter, it's normal for people to have more unpleasant emotions and feelings (e.g. feeling more stressed, sad, tired, or worried). Although it can be more challenging to do so, focusing on the foundational parts of wellness (i.e., sleeping, exercise, nutrition) and regularly engaging in activities that feel meaningful and positive can help. This is called self-care. Self-care means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day.

TCHATT (Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine) provides telemedicine or telehealth programs to children within Cuero ISD. TCHATT also helps to identify and assess the behavioral health needs of children and adolescents and provide access to mental health services. Cuero ISD is proud to be part of this program that helps students get access to mental health treatment and resources.

Ruby Rodriguez, M.Ed. ~ Director of Special Programs

Courtney Schacherl, M.S., LPC ~ Junior High School Climate Specialist

Kathy F. Scott, LMSW ~ Elementary School Climate Specialist

Lacy Timpone, M.Ed., LPC ~ High School School Climate Specialist

960 East Broadway Street, Cuero, TX, USA

(361)275-1900