PED Behavioral Health Coordinator Leslie Kelly
NMPED News:
SANTA FE — The Public Education Department (PED) has launched an online portal to give parents, students and educators free access to resources to better understand, teach and support social-emotional learning in order to build positive school cultures and happy, successful students.
The department partnered with 7 Mindsets, a national leader in online social emotional learning solutions, to create and maintain the New Mexico Cares portal. The portal provides access to the company’s courses, curricula, leadership training and teacher professional development on social-emotional learning, known in academic circles by the acronym SEL.
“The goal is to teach students how to manage their emotions, express empathy for others and develop meaningful relationships as they navigate their school years,” Public Education Secretary Designate Kurt Steinhaus said. “We all — families and educators — have a responsibility to help kids master those skills. This portal is a great place to find the resources needed to start.”
The portal went live Tuesday, but the official kickoff will be Sept. 28, when the department will host a 3:30 p.m. webinar introducing the tool and implementation strategies for schools and districts. Registration, which is required, is available here.
During the webinar, participants will build a foundational knowledge of social-emotional learning while reflecting, connecting with others and exploring instructional practices and strategies in order to connect personally to these seven mindsets, which are the foundation of the program:
- Everything is possible.
- Passion first.
- Attitude of gratitude.
- We are connected.
- 100 percent accountable.
- Live to give.
- The time is now.
“The need for social and emotional learning and behavioral health supports in schools is greater than ever. We know how hard everyone is working and all the challenges educators, students, families and communities have faced and are still facing. We are excited to be able to provide this portal and the seven mindsets as free resources to schools to support SEL in their classrooms, buildings and districts,” Leslie Kelly said, the Public Education Department’s behavioral health coordinator.
Social- emotional learning is the process through which young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitude to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals. SEL teaches empathy for others, how to establish and maintain supportive relationships, and how to make responsible and caring decisions.
The goal of SEL is to help students develop the emotions and thought structures to find happiness, success, meaning and purpose in life.
The Public Education Department launched New Mexico’s first Social Emotional Learning Framework in January, calling it “a stake in the ground that New Mexico’s schools will fully engage in the critical and conscientious work of meeting the needs of the whole child.”
