Life Tools grant to help youth in local schools

Today’s children and youth must navigate a complex, academically competitive and ever changing world. Overwhelming evidence demands that the emphasis on academics should be complented with the expansion of social and emotional skills, and competencies, that are equally important for students to succeed in school and in life.

To address these demands, Marshfield Clinic Health System Center for Community Health Advancement, is supporting the implementation of its Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Life Tools program curriculum in 31 school and afterschool programs across Wisconsin. Districts included in the grant support, are those of Cornell and Lake Holcombe.

Marshfield Clinic Health System child psychologists Dr. Michael Schulein and Dr. Kelsie-Marie Offenwanger developed the SEL curriculum, which is built from the foundation of therapeutic techniques and focuses on developing social emotional tools that youth can use to thrive in their day-today lives.

The curriculum includes the Life Tools program, which is an eight-week course, consisting of weekly one-hour group sessions, conducted during after-school hours facilitated by a school counselor, school social worker or a credentialed professional counselor, for identified youth ages seven to 14, experiencing social emotional and/or mental health difficulties.

The Life Tools program starts with an intentional time for standalone social and emotional learning. Facilitators can then start to look for ways to authentically weave the tools into their day-to-day interactions at school, while students look for ways to integrate the tools across settings.

Children and youth notice when teachers, school leaders and family members have positive relationships with one another. This implicitly models the Life Tools for them and positively reinforces the tools used.