Featured Photo: 1) Student Services Director David Thompson speaks on Dec. 3 about social emotional resilience. 2) Students enjoy each other's company while working on a collaborative LEGO building challenge.
By: Benjamin Rickert
BCS Communications Dept.
‘Social and Emotional Wellness’ was the Dec. 3 STEM Day theme at the Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. Discovery Academy. It was a time to learn how human bodies react to stress and reflect on the importance and strategy of caring for self and others.
Every few weeks, the school sets aside a portion of the day to explore timely STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) topics with input and assistance from students. The high schoolers rotated among 25-minute activities that included discussions of brain science and activities designed to be social, relaxing, and creative. In addition to the more technical content, students exercised and took walks together, created art projects, assembled puzzles, played board games, learned to knit, and more.
BCS staff led the following sessions:
“Your Brain, Body, and Emotional Responses: The Key to Resilience.”
David Thompson, BCS Director of Student Services
“Reconnect: An Owner’s Manual for our Brain and Nervous System.”
Wendy Cuellar, BCS School Counselor
Michelle Smith, BCS Behavior Specialist
“Supporting Others, Being Present, and Social Intelligences.”
Michelle Allison, BCS Social Emotional Learning Coach
Learn about NDA’s STEM Day in October when students hosted professionals from IBM and Four Seasons Hospice, learned to program micro-computers, and brainstormed solutions to recycling challenges.