Westbury Middle School Celebrates the #Community

Westbury Union Free School District recently held its 2nd annual Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Day celebration. Faculty and staff dedicated all activities throughout the day to celebrating SEL, which has been the platform for creating school programs, administering behavioral services and providing scholars and staff with support for their mental health and wellness. The celebration at Westbury Middle School, the anchor school for this year’s event, included a pep rally filled with musical performances. The scholars and staff wore matching t-shirts with each month’s theme to reflect the district’s commitment to being “One Westbury.”

The middle school’s SEL theme was #COMMUNITY to recognize the contributions made by volunteers throughout the Westbury community after the fire closed the school for several weeks. Middle school scholars sat on the field and cheered on their classmates as they gave exceptional dance, cheer, marching band and orchestra performances. Scholars also participated in a spoken word segment, reading poems about the meaning of community.

“Following the fire, the work that our community did for the middle school truly exemplifies what we mean by ‘One Westbury,’” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tahira DuPree Chase. “They showed our scholars what it means to be a part of a community. Everything we did here today was an expression of gratitude for the hard-working volunteers who supported our scholars during a tough time.”

Through SEL, Westbury Schools teaches scholars how to tackle everyday challenges to be well-rounded individuals. The five pillars of SEL taught daily through classroom instruction are self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills and social awareness.

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