‘Community’ has replaced ‘Choose Love’ in ARC this fall; what prompted the change?
Last year the school implemented the SEL (Social Emotional Learning) program called ‘Choose Love’, adopted by all Hudson Public Schools. The Choose Love Movement is an organization created by Scarlett Lewis to create a safe and loving environment for students worldwide. ‘Choose Love’ activities and lessons were built into 20 minutes of ARC time on Tuesdays at the High School, shortening classes for that day.
While the intent of the program was strong, students and staff found it to fall short in practice, stating that ‘Choose Love’ was geared towards younger audiences and that it wasn’t an ideal match for the upperclassmen.
Director of Counseling Lauren Pupecki said, “After surveying HHS students and staff last year, the results indicated students and staff were not feeling ready to engage in the CL curriculum. The results from the Equity Audit also indicated that students may not yet feel comfortable in their groups.”
For the 2023-2024 school year, the 10 administrators decided that there needed to be a change in the community.
“The hope is that HHS as a whole will figure out the best way to create a stronger sense of community throughout the building,” says Pupecki.
Community block is a time for students and teachers to build deeper connections. It gives everyone a space in HHS to feel a sense of belonging.
School Adjustment Counselor Jamie Gravelle said “Many students report that they may have their own friend groups, but don’t feel like they know people outside of their group. It’s also a way to build school-wide culture.”
Community block has 5 main goals to try to help the students and staff come together. The goals include: increasing acceptance and belonging, student ownership, student leadership, providing character education, and emotional learning.
The community block committee is looking forward to seeing the students and staff thrive with this new program. The program can help students interact with peers and teachers. They want students to feel less isolated, be able to talk in class discussions, and hopefully ease their stress levels.
So far, half the student body has taken part in a schoolwide scavenger hunt with their ARC mentor group. The second half of the school will complete their scavenger hunt next week.
Pupecki said, “Feedback from students is so very important and was really considered from last year, which is why we shifted to Community Block.”
