Social and emotional learning classes fill gap on Fridays

Wahkiakum Community Network, supported by Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services and Washington State Health Care Authority, will begin offering social and emotional learning classes for 7 to 9 year-olds every Friday beginning mid-September.

Kid’s Connection was launched by the Network in response to the school district’s shift from a traditional school week to a 4-day school week. With students not in school on Fridays, many local groups and organizations have been considering how to respond to the extra day out of school.

“I think the network was really excited to step up and fill a need so quicky,” Suzanne Mackey stated. Mackey serves on the Network, is a Healthy Community Specialist for Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services, and the facilitator of Kid’s Connection.

“When I took the training,” Mackey commented, “that’s when I got really excited. It’s about positive messages for younger kids… about themselves. It’s really about building self-esteem, leading them to make good decisions.”

Part of Mackey’s focus at Health & Human Services is youth prevention. She promotes a variety of youth-directed campaigns and helps facilitate a program that builds family connections while focusing on healthy development and reducing risky behaviors in the teen years. “The research shows,” Mackey stated, “that building self-esteem and a positive mindset helps protect youth from so many things, from anxiety, to depression, even substance use.”

“We had a list of options for great, evidence-based programs, and we chose this to fit the needs of the community,” Mackey continued. “Kid’s Connection covers a lot of topics related to social and emotional learning, like expressing emotions appropriately, managing anger, making healthy choices, resisting peer pressure, and maintaining friendships.”

The program will run every Friday for 10 weeks, from September 13 through November 22 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The first round, Mackey explained, will focus on 7 to 9 year-olds, but the Network has plans to offer the program to other age groups in the spring. Sessions will be held at the Hope Center, and lunch will be provided every week.

“We want to make this really easy and accessible to parents,” Mackey stated. “If you have barriers to your child attending, we’d like to see if we can help.”

Parents interested in signing up can contact Suzanne Mackey at 360-795-8630, 360-849-9619 or suzannem@co.wahkiakum.wa.us. Registration is open until September 6th.