This Month's SEL Conversation / March 2024

This month’s SEL artwork comes from students at the Global Indian International School Dubai

Dear Carolina,

This year’s National SEL Week (March 4-8, 2024) generated enough momentum for the whole year! The celebration, which culminated with International SEL Day, included voices of young people, parents, educators, leaders, and SEL champions around the world. Your support demonstrated the power of our commitment to every child’s social, emotional, and academic learning. Thank you for being a part of this vital movement!  

As we move forward in 2024, let’s ask ourselves:

How has National SEL Week and International SEL Day energized you for the work ahead?

It’s hard to quantify the full impact of this week, but we want to share a quick roundup of what we saw, heard, experienced, and felt. Here’s National SEL Week by the numbers:

Celebrating SEL Changemakers

Leaders across the aisle shared their support for SEL: Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bi-partisan resolution for SEL Week, co-sponsored by eight U.S. Senators. Additionally, governors in 10 states issued SEL Day proclamations, and President Biden commemorated the week with a letter of support. In D.C., parents, educators, and SEL champions joined CASEL as we visited the Capitol to share stories and evidence of SEL’s impact. Over two days, we visited 27 congressional offices on both sides of the aisle representing all parts of the country. 

Celebrating SEL Storytellers  

Stories have a powerful way of connecting people to the impact of SEL. So to celebrate SEL Week, CASEL launched the “Share Your SEL Story” Contest. Out of many great submissions, we narrowed it down to 10 finalists. More than 1,400 of you voted, and chose Lori Lidofsky’s blog, “Creating a School Where Students Soar,” as the most impactful story. As Lori shared, her elementary school is “a living and breathing example of all the good that can come from SEL.” Read her story and learn about the positive impact for her students and school.

Celebrating SEL Champions 

Since launching last year, we’ve seen SEL Week grow into a nationwide celebration of the power of SEL that builds upon the global movement for International SEL Day. Our SEL community made our voices heard across organizations and schools, in local media, and on social media, where #SELday was trending on X/Twitter for more than five hours! These numbers point to the stories we hear all year long: Educators, students, families, and communities feel the positive impacts of SEL! 

Community Spotlight

Check out SEL in this Texas school

Share With Your Network

• Education Week: What Teachers Can Learn From Students

• New York University: Social-Emotional Growth Linked to Higher Math and English Scores

• April 24 - 26: School Climate Conference 2024

• November 12 - 14: Mark your calendar! The SEL Exchange returns to Chicago. Registration opens this Spring

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