Students deserve social and emotional support at school now more than ever | Opinion

As educators, it’s easy to say that relationships are a top priority for our schools. It’s a lot more difficult to actually build those positive relationships.

The reason it is challenging is that it requires vulnerability on the part of everyone involved. To maintain and build positive relationships, one must be vulnerable. Let’s be honest, being vulnerable is often low on the priority list for teachers and students, especially during these trying times in our education system.

It can be tough to be vulnerable when you haven’t done so before, and it does take the time that many educators don’t have in their busy days. But it’s so worth it because our young people need teachers who will build communities of acceptance with them. Students need to know that they matter and that their voice is just as important as the kids sitting next to them.

Opinion: How JCPS' student mental health crisis is Louisville's 'unseen epidemic'

At Royal Spring Middle School in Kentucky, we show our vulnerability and empower students through mentoring. Every student has a trusted adult that they can connect with on a regular basis and express their thoughts and feelings in a safe way. We know how important this is: in a recent Gradient Learning Poll of educators nationwide, 95% of teachers believe that every student can benefit from a mentor, and 82% believe that mentoring time results in positive changes in a student’s academic performance.

But to me, mentoring goes beyond data and academic results. I’ve seen firsthand how mentoring is able to address the social-emotional needs of our students. Each child comes to school every day with a backpack full of emotions and hardships that we all face in life. For far too long, though, there was a belief that kids will be fine no matter what.

The past two years have shown us that that’s not always the case, and I believe that students need social and emotional support now more than ever. I’ve heard it said that the 2020-21 school year was “the hardest” for educators in recent memory. I’d argue that the 2021-22 school year has been even harder because we are seeing the pandemic fallout from students while still very much living with the uncertainty of the ongoing crisis.

Through these ups and downs, mentors are providing consistency for our students. Mentors are steady ships in rough waters, who bring out the best in their mentees. Our mentor teachers are the ones who show up for meetings with parents and help us all stay connected. They are the ones who know the most about each child and provide us with the necessary information and valuable insight to make our community stronger.

We’ve also created a dedicated time for mentoring and social-emotional support in the middle of each school day. It is known as our “WIN” time (which stands for “What I Need”) and it allows opportunities for students to focus on whatever they may need—academically or in life—to get through the day. This is in addition to the dedicated one-on-one time students have with their mentors each week through our robust mentoring program with Summit Learning. The biggest impact we can have on students is through relationships, and without this mentoring piece, everything else lacks. Mentoring ties everything together.

More: Kentucky lawmakers file dozens of education bills each year. Ones to watch in 2022

When I think back to where we were pre-pandemic and where we are now, I don’t want to turn back the clock. As tough as these past few years have been, it has also forced us to think outside the box for our students. It has forced administrators to really put an emphasis on relationships, mentoring and the social-emotional component of education that too often gets placed on the back burner.

We must continue to push the envelope, question and recalibrate our methods—all while building positive relationships with our students. None of this is possible without vulnerability.

We were not prepared for the unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic, but we must carry on and build school environments where students and teachers feel safe enough to be vulnerable and take chances.

We must keep making the best possible decisions that we can for our students, teachers and families. Sometimes, the next best decision is all we can do.

Interested in submitting an op-ed or guest column?

Read tips here: How to submit a guest opinion column or op-ed to The Courier Journal

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Students deserve social, emotional support more than ever | Opinion