President’s Perspective

Happy New Year with SEL Focus

Dr. Stephanie Nehus, AAEA Board President

Happy New Year! May 2022 be the best year yet in your professional career! Second semester of the 2021-2022 school year is upon us. As we all know, the spring semester comes and goes so quickly. Our state accountability assessment will dominate our thoughts as we educate our students. We are all, also, deep in the planning for the 2022-2023 school year. The life of an educational leader is not for the faint of heart!

Social-emotional learning (SEL) must always be on the forefront. While we returned to our schools after a two week break in January, unfortunately some of our students did not have an amazing, relaxing break. In the Hot Springs School District, we proudly utilize Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH) as the foundation of the work we do to build relationships. “If you have a child’s heart…you have a child’s mind” - Flip Flippen, Flippen Group.

I am blessed to have two schools identified as Capturing Kids’ Hearts National Showcase Schools. Whether you use CKH or something else, SEL work is critical. CKH emphasizes how to “EXCEL” at meetings, which can also be used successfully in the classroom. I will share in the hope that it provides some insight for some of you.

Engage - Greet and share good things to begin.

X-plore - Identify the needs of the group.

Communicate - Meet the needs you can and clearly communicate expectations.

Empower - Make sure to identify who’s going to do what, by when.

Launch - End with reflections and affirmations.

G.U.I.D.E. for Life is another great tool to help our students find personal success.

Growth - Manage yourself.

Understanding - Know yourself.

Interaction - Build relationships.

Decisions - Make responsible choices.

Empathy - Be aware of others.

As we begin 2022, I wish each of you success. Please let AAEA know if you have any needs. You are all AMAZING and the state of Arkansas is blessed to have you leading our schools and students.