A December survey of students at Middleburgh Central School was a real eye-opener for staff and administration:
Like their counterparts across the country, one-third of them aren’t optimistic about their day-to-day lives or their future.
According to the National Institute of Health, the United States leads much of the world in teen anxiety and stress in numbers that have been increasing steadily since the 1940s.
MCS is already taking steps to help its students deal through a partnership with the PEAR Institute—Partnerships in Education and Resilience—a nonprofit organization based in Boston that according to its website, works with schools to promote academic achievement and life success.
PEAR’s Caitlyn McCormick Small rolled out their program Wednesday, observing classes and meeting with teams of teachers and parents, fielding “really interesting questions” and sensing “really good, positive energy,” she told the school board at the end of the long day.
PEAR works with schools to help identify students in crisis and then provide them with a safety net, Ms. McCormick Small said.
PEAR also helps schools find ways to provide “proactive support and prevention” with an emphasis of making students strong on: assertiveness, belonging, active engagement, and reflection.
“We want to make students happy to come to school,” said Junior/High School Principal Matt Sloane, who said he sees PEAR as going far beyond just hiring another social worker or guidance counselor.
Superintendent Brian Dunn said PEAR’s work is data-driven; what teachers know intuitively about what motivates students and what they’re struggling with in both their school and personal lives, they’ll now have the data to back up.
“How?” asked school board member Ernest Kuehl. “How does this work in a classroom?”
By knowing every student and engaging learners, Ms. McCormick Small said.
For example, she said, by knowing how individual students learn—some are focused mostly on grades, while others could care less but are curious about their world; some tend to take over group projects while others let them—schools can create a classroom mix that works well together and lets everyone learn.
School board members also said they see PEAR as helping create a stronger foundation for students; once that’s built, it will be easier for students to learn.
PEAR is affiliated with the Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital.
As Ms. McCormick Small’s work continues at MCS, they’ll continue to survey students, Mr. Sloane said with a second survey planned for the end of May and another in the fall.