SEWAC (Social Emotional Wellness Committee)

Background

The Somers Central School District is invested in supporting the social and emotional wellness of all students throughout our schools. As educators and parents, we understand that our students’ academic and personal success is strongly linked to the strength of their social and emotional skills. We also recognize the changing societal structures and challenges that our students face. Subsequently, we believe our schools must be responsive by offering direct instruction and intervention to help our students learn strategies and skills to better attend to and maintain mental health. This approach is consistent with our district’s vision to support social, emotional, and physical wellness as much as academic achievement.

Mission for SEW Advisory Committee

The district desires to establish a Social and Emotional Wellness Advisory Committee to be a resource and a springboard to aid the district in better fulfilling the district’s mission. The SEW Advisory Committee will provide input and direction to SCSD on how best to support all Somers students’ social and emotional wellness.

Vision for SEW Committee

• To work in concert with families, school professionals, and community partners.
• To provide a place for children's voices to be elevated.
• To provide a place for learning for all about SEW.
• To ensure alignment between parent and school district goals for supporting students’ SEW.

Collective Commitments of Community Committee Members

• Engage in understanding the impact of SEW on the whole child.
• Engage in learning current practices on how to support SEW in SCSD 
• Offer perspective and input on relevant data related to SEW in SCSD.
• Help to steer decision making on next steps for supporting our children’s SEW.

Membership and Meeting Schedule

The Social Emotional Wellness Advisory Committee will meet four times a year for approximately ninety minutes on a quarterly basis in the 2022-2023 school year. The desire is to have faculty, student, parent and administrative representation from each level. It is requested that prospective members be able to make at least a two-year commitment to participate in the group.

Defining Social and Emotional Wellness

When referring to social and emotional wellness, we are considering students’ skill levels in developing and maintaining healthy social relationships, caring for oneself and persisting towards goals, being able to manage negative emotions, and positively engage in daily living.

This follows the CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) definition of Social and Emotional Wellness (Learning): We define SEL as an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. 

If you are interested in joining the district’s SEW Advisory Committee, please send an email to ncorrado@somersschools.org.

In addition to your expression of interest, please respond to the following questions:

1. Why would you like to participate on the SEW Advisory Committee?
2. What experience or perspective do you believe you would bring to support the SEW Committee’s mission, vision, and commitments? 

Thank you for supporting our students.