Porter Traditional School held their first social and emotional wellness event for students and families. Twenty different stations provided information and strategies on a variety of coping skills students can use. Some of the activities exhibited include Zones of Regulation check-ins, interaction with therapy dogs, coping skills bingo, mindful coloring, and drum beating in small groups.

Parent volunteers managed stations and joined staff in demonstrating a range of coping skills for students. The night sparked in-depth conversations parents could use with children at home.

“The goal of our night was for students to explore different coping strategies and practice using them,” shared Laura Meres, director of school counseling at Porter Traditional. “Students were able to pick and choose which stations to attend based on their interests. We teach students about the Zones of Regulation in our classroom counseling lessons, and it was so exciting to see students identifying what coping skills to use when they are in each zone.”

Kenzie, a fourth-grade student at Porter, enjoyed her participation at the event. “I got to visit the sensory bottle station, and I use my sensory bottle at home to look at when I'm feeling sad. It helps me feel calm,” shared Kenzie. “The therapy dogs were very relaxing, and I painted a kindness rock and added different faces to it. I placed my kindness rock in our school's kindness rock garden out front.”

Porter is already looking forward to expanding and hosting the event again next year.

Read more on how PWCS is implementing wellness initiatives.