October is a historically busy month for Team Selma. The highlights include Bullying Prevention Month and National Principals Month. Each of these lend themselves to a continued focus on self-care and wellness through enhancing supportive relationships and celebrating excellence.
Preventing bullying during our remote learning space is dependent upon developing and nurturing supportive relationships. Due to virtual learning, there has been a rise to access to social media which has increased opportunities for cyber bullying. When we engage our scholars daily and ensure that they know that we care and that they can count on the adults in their lives to keep them safe, we give them the support and courage needed to persevere.
No child (or adult) deserves to be targeted through cyber bullying. Typically, when a child is being bullied, someone knows. This is usually the bystander who may even be a friend. Team Selma encourages bystanders to be a true friend and ally by talking to a trusted adult. We can prevent bullying. Doing so will certainly enhance our wellness efforts while showing our scholars their value. This will go a long way to also improve self-care and wellness for young people and their families.
As we move through this month, we must take time to celebrate Team Selma’s amazing school principals. National Principals Month is a time for schools and districts to recognize the important role that instructional leaders play in educating our scholars. An effective principal is second only to an effective teacher as it relates to improving academic outcomes and establishing a positive school culture.
We are blessed to have a cadre of dedicated school leaders who are visionaries and servant leaders. They bring a skillset like no other which has allowed our district to move from a traditional school district to 100% remote and virtual learning. To do this during a pandemic was only possible with strong, humble, selfless and bold leaders. Please take some time to thank a principal during National Principals Month and beyond.
To keep up and participate in our efforts, please check out our social media to learn more about our self-care and wellness focus for our scholars as well as our employees. Our Social-emotional Learning (SEL) Team has been intentional in planning. I look forward to knowing that our scholars will be assessed to determine SEL needs so that supports may be personalized and individualized.
Our employees will be encouraged to celebrate excellence, practice mindfulness and even learn about the benefits of meditation. Yes, self-care is a must and it is beneficial for everyone.
In closing, please continue to monitor our website and social media outlets as we make announcements about our plans for Phase II of our Return to Excellence Reopening Plan. This means in the coming weeks, we will begin offering an option for in-person instruction. Families must complete a commitment form this week to indicate whether they will continue with virtual learning for the remainder of the year or participate in in-person learning. Stay tuned for more details.
For
more information, email me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org
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