WEST ORANGE, NJ – West Orange Schools held a Social-Emotional (SEL) Learning Day on March 10 to provide K-12 students with the tools to grow in the areas of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making.

According to the SEL website, "On Friday, March 10, thousands of educators, students, community organizers, and individuals celebrated the fourth annual International SEL Day—Uplifting Hearts, Connecting Minds—by showcasing, promoting, advocating, and supporting SEL around the globe. YOUR efforts helped #SELday reach several important milestones:

• Over 10 million views from over 5,000 mentions and 40,000 interactions with #SELday across social media
• #SELday trended on Twitter for several hours
• Nine #SELday state proclamations
• A letter recognizing #SELday from President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden
• A bipartisan resolution for National SEL Week introduced in the U.S. Senate
• Over #SELday 4,100 participants representing 88 countries and all 50 U.S. states
• More than 2,500 schools, districts, and youth-serving organizations represented
• Participants committed to over 11,000 actions to showcase, promote, advocate, and support #SELday

At Kelly Elementary School, several different activities and programs for K-5 students were organized by School Counselor Florence Chirichiello in collaboration with Kelly's staff and teachers, themed to the movie “Inside Out.”

Classroom lessons and hands-on activities included:

• Yoga
• Relaxation techniques
• Painting “Kindness Rocks”
• Taking a focus walk
• Classroom discussions and role play
• Lessons about recognizing different emotions and how to manage them
• Art projects
• A social awareness project that collected canned soup for the local West Orange food pantry

The rocks will be weatherized and be placed outdoors in the shape of “Kelly" to commemorate the day.

See all the photos from Kelly Elementary School's SEL Day HERE.