POWERS FOR EDUCATORS
In October of 2021, three leading medical associations (AAP, AACAP, and CHA) declared the state of child and adolescent mental health a national emergency. They said it was “inextricably tied to the stress brought on by Covid-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial justice.” These mental health challenges continue even after schools have reopened. Teachers are our modern superheroes. Together with parents, educators are on our frontlines, tasked with fostering growth - academically, behaviorally, socially, and emotionally - in our children. The world relies on our educators to be the ever-flexible, creative, and patient shepherds for our greatest hope for the future, the next generation.
Bringing POWERS to schools emPOWERS teachers and students to actively engage in a curriculum that teaches social awareness, emotional intelligence and executive functioning throughout the day in school.
The POWERS curriculum provides an emotionally and socially supportive environment in which children and adolescents can engage in safely reflecting on the important role social awareness plays in their lives, as well as an immersion in exercises and vocabulary to grow their social emotional and executive functioning skills.
“Schools need to be about more than reading, writing, and arithmetic.”
The POWERS curriculum was first implemented in a school setting in 2019-2020. Together with Columbia University, a research study was conducted in six middle-school classrooms that showed the effectiveness of POWERS . This study was published in Journal of School Health, July 2021. Read the full study. In one post-op interview the principal of a public school shared that during the time that POWERS was implemented in his school he never had so few disciplinary problems.
From this pilot program POWERS for Educators was developed. POWERS for educators emPOWERS teachers and students K-12 to actively engage in a curriculum that fosters emotional and social intelligence and executive functioning. Because the prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain to develop, it is normal for students to struggle with executive functioning skills. The name POWERS is a color-coded acronym to help remember the 6 core skills - Prioritize, Organize, Work, Exercise, Regulate, and Social Awareness
Educators will learn the methodology of POWERS and a new language of skills to use in the classroom that will help their students feel empowered and equipped to develop emotional and social intelligence as well as executive functioning skills throughout the day. Educators will learn how to use the POWERS skills to grow their student's awareness and improve their self-regulation in the classroom. Educators will also learn to utilize exercise to help students regulate their emotions, attention, and fatigue. Email us to schedule.
The POWERS curriculum was piloted and studied together with Columbia University in six middle-school classrooms and was tremendously successful. It was shown to be an engaging and effective tool and received high accolades from administrators, teachers and students.
The POWERS curriculum is a complete program that includes:
