WHAT WE'VEÂ DONE
A brief history of NuYu
MIDDLE SCHOOL
October 2015
During a PRISM class in study hall, Dr. MC (the gifted & talented instructor and our advisor), put this question on the board:
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What is one thing you would like to tell your teachers?
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She told us it could be anything - even something we wouldn't normally say.
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The responses were anonymous, immediate, and worrying. Many students wrote about the overwhelming stress of school and lack of resources to take care of mental health issues. A survey we sent out soon after confirmed these responses—more than 80% of peers were stressed some to all of the time, and many didn't use healthy coping strategies to deal with their stress. Thus, NuYu was born.
November 2015
To investigate the stress levels of our peers, we sent out a survey to students in our middle school. The responses were revealing - more than 80% of students felt stressed some of the time to all of the time. Many used unhealthy coping strategies to deal with their stress. Some didn't have access to healthy coping methods at school. In a second survey to teacher, we discovered that more than 70% had not been trained in social-emotional learning. Armed with this data, we met with school administration to discuss potential solutions to these issues.
February 2016
After months of faculty meeting presentations, student events, and research about the adolescent brain, we hosted our 1st Annual Wellness Fair! More than 180 parents, students, teachers, and administrators from our community joined us to learn about student wellness. In addition to our own presentations, we invited local organizations such as Attitudes in Reverse to discuss mental health in the classroom and host a therapy dog session.