A Back to School Like No Other

This year, back to school is anything but “back to normal.” As we return to our classrooms in the wake of the pandemic, many are wondering if school will ever be the same again. But when it comes to social and emotional learning (SEL), that’s actually a good thing. 

Trauma is an effective teacher. It taught us what matters most: connection before curriculum; emotions over assessments; well-being over workload. These aren’t new lessons, but the global pandemic reminded us what research has long shown: SEL is inextricably tied to academic success. 

When many schools reopened to in-person or hybrid learning during the last school year, it was clear to educators that mental health had to be addressed before anything else. That hasn’t changed. 

“Students can’t learn when they’re stressed,” says NEA President Becky Pringle. “School mental health professionals and all educators have to listen to them, talk to them, and understand how they are experiencing this world in this moment, which is different from our experiences. Educators have to work together to address stress and trauma before we can get to a place to learn.”

With school counselors facing overwhelming caseloads and a skyrocketing number of students in need, some schools are recognizing the power of SEL and providing mental health supports far beyond the counselor’s office.

NEA Today spoke with educators at Lakeside Middle School in Millville, N.J., who have embraced this holistic approach. Here they share their tips for smoothing students’ return to school this fall.

A’yonna Costin, a rising ninth grader at the school, had a hard time with hybrid learning. “It was challenging for every-one, even our teachers,” she says. “Going back full-time will be a great opportunity for everyone because we will be more focused on schooling and how we were before COVID-19.”

Still, she wonders, “How are we going to maintain social distance with everyone in the school building together? If cases start to rise again, are we going to have to go back to virtual? Will I catch COVID?”

A’yonna also admits that she wasn’t as focused as she should have been during the last school year, and she missed a lot of assignments. She started feeling pressured to the point of thinking about dropping out.

“But I won’t do that,” she says. “I’ve learned to focus on one subject at a time and not let it all pile up on myself.” 

For help, A’yonna turned to paraprofessional Ashanti Rankin, who works with Lakeside students on behavioral and emotional skills. Rankin has always taken a holistic approach to working with students by meeting them where they are; checking in on their emotions; and helping them manage difficult feelings. Over time, he says, the students begin to trust that you do want to build a relationship, and they feel more comfortable working on solutions to deal with problems. 

“These are kids, humans,” he says, adding that the most important thing for humans is connection. “Executive skills and empathy go hand in hand.”

There have always been students at Lakeside who are dealing with trauma, but during the pandemic, the district recognized these stressors in new ways. Schools gave students more leniency for assignments and other classwork if they were struggling with traumas related to COVID-19. And students were encouraged to talk about their trauma so they didn’t have to carry the burden alone.

“The empathy that’s been shown and the grace in allowing the students to bring their trauma—to simply talk about it—has made a huge difference. If trauma is the problem, empathy is the cure,” Rankin says. 

This year, Rankin expects that the biggest emotional issue facing students will be grief. 

“There’s grief not just for their family members dealing with COVID [and] the traumas of the racial reckoning, but also grief about the expectations of what students wanted to do in their yesterdays,” he says. “They feel like they’ve been robbed of these memories of what should have been, and we need to acknowledge it, let them express it, and show some more grace.”

Jaclyn Eppright, a counseling social worker at Lakeside, says many students have requested to meet with her more often. And those are the students she knows about. She suspects there are more who have yet to ask for help. During virtual learning, some students experienced trauma at home, such as abuse, domestic violence, and the impacts of poverty. 

“It will be imperative for schools to take the time to really look at ways to support students,” she says. “That means SEL incorporated within the classrooms, less academic pressure, and more counseling support. I know the foundation of a school is to provide education, but we have to remember that academics take a back seat to safety. When our students feel safe they’re able to learn.”

At a recent conference, she took to heart the words of a speaker who suggested using the term “physical distance” rather than social distance, because, more than ever, we need to stay connected socially. 

“I think we need to really consider the social-emotional aspect of this pandemic for all ages,” Eppright says. “For younger students, this way of school is all they know, and for high schoolers, they’ve missed out on major events that support them socially, like sports and prom. We have to recognize and empathize that this is a loss for our students on so many levels, not just academically.”

Rankin has seen grief and anxiety affecting his own children, too. He could tell his stepson Isayah was stressed when he started sleeping more, and stopped talking with his friends or even playing with the family dog.

“When he’s stressed, he’s silent,” Rankin says.

Isayah, who is entering his senior year, says he felt emotionally drained. During the last school year, he wanted to keep up, but there was so much work, and his teachers didn’t always respond to his needs. 

“First semester all of my teachers would text me back and have some kind of relationship with me, but second semester, some didn’t really talk to me,” he says. “In some classes, they pushed out so much work because we needed to get to all the topics for the exams, and I didn’t really understand all of it. I’m worried about the upcoming year, because I was barely understanding some of the earlier material.” 

It’s likely that Isayah’s teachers were as emotionally drained as he was. Burnout is at an all-time high, and just as we are asking educators to give grace to their students, “we need to give grace to [the educators], too,” Eppright says.

“The profession is challenging enough and now the demands put on us are unbelievable,” she says. “Just like kids, if we don’t feel safe in the environment we work in, we’ll be in fight or flight mode and won’t produce our best work.”  

Many educators say tending to their self-care is like following instructions for airplane oxygen masks. Put on your own mask first before helping others, because if you run out of oxygen, you won’t be able to help anyone.

Likewise, if you’re stressed you won’t be able to ease the stress of your students, says Lakeside social studies teacher Hannah Varner. And this year, there will definitely be a lot of stress.

“There will continue to be uncertainty among our students, especially for those living in poverty. They worry, will we still receive free meals, have access to technology, and be kept safe from COVID? They’ll need extra reassurance and resources to help them cope,” Varner says. “They’ll need a caring adult to explain things to them and be a calming presence; to let them know that change can be OK and show them how to deal with it.”

If one of her students is having a stressful day, Varner tries to sit and talk with the student for a few minutes. Sometimes just being able to process things is enough to help students move past that block and get their focus back, she says. 

“Sometimes, the only positive interaction a student has during the day is with a staff member at school,” Varner explains. “Showing that student that you care and know that they can succeed can completely change the way the student reacts to you, others, and even themselves.”