(6/24) Fairfield Area School District administrators want to help students develop resiliency and improve their mental health.
Aaron Taylor, assistant to the superintendent for curriculum, special education, and student services, told the board of education in June that the district would begin looking out for struggling students and better prepare them to reach out for help when life gets challenging. The district will also begin looking more closely for signs that indicate a student may be struggling, such as poor attendance. Taylor is meeting with Adams County district justices to discuss truancy, he said.
The new initiatives accompany other programs, such as a staff training held in June that focused on mental health resources.
"Students don’t typically walk in the door and tell us that they need help," he said. "They tell us through some type of behavior."
The district also wants to implement a growth mindset curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade students. The program will focus on the importance of positive relationships, social skills, developing and reaching goals, developing and maintaining positive relationships with peers, dealing with failure, responsibility, citizenship, and character resilience.
Taylor said teachers will be trained to administer the lessons, which will be taught, on average, bimonthly. They will be given the flexibility to add it into their schedules as they deem appropriate, he said.
"Conservations should be surrounding it every day," he said.
Taylor said research shows proactive character development lessons help students in the long run. The lessons are also expected to improve student behavior and, in turn, lead to fewer interruptions in the classroom. The program’s $8,488.48 cost will be covered through a Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant.
Taylor acknowledged that the lessons may contradict what a parent teaches their child at home. School administrators will share the lessons’ content with parents so they know what is being taught. He also hopes to host a parent information session so school administrators can explain why they believe the lessons are important to a child’s future.
"Failure isn’t always a bad thing," he said. "It’s OK to fail, you can learn a lot from doing that."
Taylor also said it is important for students to know what resources are available if they are struggling. Early intervention at the elementary level could prevent teenage suicide, he said.
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