The Husky Huddle
This is the 'Husky Huddle,' the podcast that brings you closer to the heart of Olean City School education. Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or a proud member of our community, this podcast is dedicated to providing insightful conversations, expert advice, and a closer look at what makes our district truly exceptional.
The Husky Huddle
Shaping Young Minds with Compassion: A Conversation with Washington West's Principal Lauren Stuff
As the halls of Washington West echo with the sounds of laughter and learning, we're reminded that the heart of education beats not just through textbooks, but through the compassionate connections we foster. On today's Husky Huddle, we're joined by Lauren Stuff, the inspirational principal from Washington West, whose journey from a spirited teacher at IJN to a visionary educational leader has reshaped the landscape of social emotional learning in our schools.
Lauren unveils the transformative measures embraced by her school to cultivate an environment where every student is seen and heard. From the emotionally intelligent "check-in" system inspired by the film "Inside Out," to the deeply empathetic "pack time" discussions encouraging students to share their inner worlds, these initiatives are changing the narrative of education. As you listen to Lauren's stories and strategies, you'll discover the profound impact that nurturing not just academic prowess but emotional well-being can have on our children's future. Join us for this illuminating conversation that's sure to inspire educators, parents, and anyone who believes in the power of kindness in shaping young minds.
Thank you so much for joining us on our newest episode of the Husky Huddle, and I am so excited to have with me today our newest Husky Huddle participant, lauren Stuff, our esteemed principal from Washington West. Thank you, lauren, for joining me, and so, lauren, you're the next one in the hot sea. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone. My name is Lauren Stuff and I have been with the only in-city school district now for 11 years. I started out as a teacher at IJN Shout out to all my IJN peeps out there so that was in 2007 and I went to see a bosey's after a short period of time and now I'm back with the only in-city school district and I've been back at Washington West now for six years as the elementary principal.
Speaker 1:Awesome and is that a fun building. So I'm so excited you're at that building and so excited that you came to join me here on this episode. So, with that in mind, what are you going to talk about with us today?
Speaker 2:So today I thought that we could kind of talk a little bit about social emotional learning as a part of the Husky Pack.
Speaker 2:It's something that we at Washington West, and throughout the elementary buildings, have been very committed to over the last several years, particularly in part because of the pandemic and what we saw some of our students coming back into our classrooms with, and also as a result of some of the initiatives by New York State and really encouraging and ultimately asking that all of our schools embed and incorporate social emotional practices into the classroom as well.
Speaker 2:So really, I would say that my passion for this kind of stems from being a teacher at IJN when I first started my career, brand new, I actually started alongside a veteran teacher who was also brand new to the district, and one of the biggest things that we tried to do collectively amongst our team was really work on building relationships, not just with our students but obviously with one another and also with our families as well, and a lot of the activities that we created and the things that we incorporated into the classroom were really cultivated around, obviously helping support the students Thrive academically but also encouraging them to interact with one another.
Speaker 2:We had such a great experience together. We had a great team at IJN and ultimately I would say that it wasn't just the students in the community that we built within our own classrooms, but the school wide community and the culture within the building was very strong. Our team, not only in fourth grade and fifth grade, but also throughout the building as well. We had so many wonderful opportunities to engage with each other and I would say that collectively and socially we were really a very strong group and, of course, that that led itself to having our students just thrive and strive and do great things academically and socially and emotionally as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what does this look like now in practice at Washington West?
Speaker 2:So, honestly, the start of a lot of our efforts began post pandemic. We had some teachers that really wanted to establish a check in system with their students, and it started off with the the movie Inside Out. So we use the emotional characters from inside out and the students would come in and just kind of gauge where they were for the day, saying whether or not they were happy or they were angry or they were sad. That gave the teachers the opportunity to just check in with those kids and say you know what's what's bugging you today, or tell me something about what's making you so excited and happy as you start off your school day today. And the students really responded well to that. The teachers had really strong relationships and connections with the kids in their classrooms and we felt that that check in system was step one for us. It really ultimately helped our kids feel welcome in their classroom space, and when I say that we want to establish a strong classroom community, a lot of that is tied to the social, emotional well being of our students too. So that was that was the initial piece that kind of caught wind. And then in 2022, we had a collective of elementary teachers both across Washington West and Eastview, alongside our school counselors, and developing something called pack time or pack binders. Pack being positive actions create kindness and we thought that in creating these, these mini scripts, our teachers could sit collectively with their class and have open, honest conversation about thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes, behaviors, and they had a script that they could follow as well. We purchased a great deal of books that kind of highlighted different emotions as well, so that the teachers could use those in their conversations and discussions with their students. And we we kind of started off a little bit light and said you know, we want you to circle up with your class at least once a week, and we also were moving toward becoming a leader in me school district and we wanted the teachers to incorporate the link, the language of the seven habits as well. So after we developed those pack time binders, we then transitioned into what we have right now. Yeah, and right now in our schedule we have packed time incorporated into the daily schedule at Washington West For 20 minutes every day.
Speaker 2:Our students have the opportunity to circle up with their classmates, with their classroom teacher and even with some of our special area instructors as well. They push into the classrooms to be a part of that classroom community so that they too can be immersed in that social emotional experience. In the pack time they actually have conversations just about. You know how they're feeling that day, whether it's I'm a zero or I'm a five. I'm really upset, I'm really angry. I need to talk to you.
Speaker 2:There's an emergency going on that gives our teachers an understanding of where the kids are at when they're walking in the door, so they know what they're able to do when they start to put the academic tasks in front of them. So in those circles we've noticed that there's much. There's a strong connection between the teacher and the students. There's an open and honest conversation about behaviors or issues that may arise in the classroom too. If there's a conflict between two students, it's a way for them to interact and engage and talk about again their thoughts, feelings and emotions and come to some sort of resolution to move forward. And it really has promoted a positive demeanor within the classrooms and a lot of our faculty and staff have said that they feel like it's a true classroom community and they trust in the students to make positive choices and then they too can hold themselves accountable if something isn't going. You know the way that they had intended or planned.
Speaker 1:So I think they've been using that all year this year, or they've been using it right over here.
Speaker 2:So in the previous year it was more loose. We didn't have an established timeframe for it, but the expectation was you have at least one pack time lesson per week in addition to two lessons that are associated with the seven habits through Leader and Me. So they started to incorporate some of the Leader and Me language. You know be proactive. You're in charge of your own attitudes, actions and behaviors. You've got to take responsibility for what you need to be doing. They started to incorporate some of the seven habits language in addition to that circle time, and then the circles actually evolved and we were able to craft it into our schedule on a daily basis this year so that all of our students can be immersed in the social-emotional experience amongst their peers and alongside their classroom teachers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been great. Yeah, so anything else in terms of programs, initiatives, fun things that are happening at your building that you want to share with the world, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:Well, we have lots of fun things that happen in our halls every day. So, gosh, there's so many things coming up. You know, the biggest thing that we've got that we're looking forward to I know everybody's probably looking forward to spring break. Even though it's not so springy outside right now, we love to celebrate and get everyone together as we step off to our last break of the school year. It's kind of our last extended break. We always have what we refer to as the spring break party and you know we get out the husky and we hula. So we have a luau themed celebration with our students. We get all dressed up in our bright colors and our Hawaiian gear. All of the students get a floral lay. We have a big celebration to encourage our students not only to enjoy their time with their families, but also to make sure that they read. So there'll be a reading challenge coming up. It may or may not involve a bunny mascot costume. So there's some things that are happening that we really are looking forward to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and as we progress into the next school year, I think that we want to continue to capitalize on the social, emotional needs of our students, to continue to incorporate pack time into our schedule so that we remain committed to it. And we also are looking forward to kind of taking some of the language of restorative practices and thinking about how we can put that into our elementary discipline matrix. So instead of always saying you know you get a detention or you need to do this, we want to have more of a restorative conversation about how we can repair and rebuild some of the relationships that may have been flawed in some of the disciplinary actions that our students have engaged in. So we've incorporated that language into the upcoming release of the Code of Conduct so that we have that as an element that all of our students will be immersed in when things maybe don't go as expected within the classroom space. So that's a big piece.
Speaker 2:Obviously, the district's very invested in MTSS, which is the multi-tiered support system, and we want to make sure that we're continuing to think about how we approach our students, not just on the academic side but the social-emotional side. So one of the biggest things I can say is that you know this comes from Ellie Hearn. I've heard her say it many a time. You know, first we have to make sure that we take care of our hearts before we can take care of our minds, and that's one of the things that we need to do, particularly with our littlest learners, is make sure that they feel welcome, they feel comfortable, they feel loved in their space, and then we can really help them achieve greatness in their academics too.
Speaker 1:Fantastic, so that's spring break for us.
Speaker 2:It's a good time. Yeah, all right, so what?
Speaker 1:else would you like to tell us about Washington West?
Speaker 2:You know, washington West is a great place to be. We have an incredible faculty, an incredible staff, a lot of camaraderie and teamwork happening in our halls, and our students really do truly enjoy being in that space. I think that over the course of the last six years I've seen so much evolution and growth in that building and our team is really invested in making our students feel welcome so that our team can foster great success across the board, both academically and socially, emotionally for our students too Awesome.
Speaker 1:So remember, last year we made a cartoon.
Speaker 2:Yes, we did.
Speaker 1:Everybody was a super here. So my question I'm asking most people that went through that experience is if you could have the superpower and all of what once a year, what would it be? Bonus points for coming up with something funny. Okay, so Everybody will get a different superpower question, because I don't want to listen to yours and see it.
Speaker 2:If I stepped outside of the school lens and I wanted my superpower. For self-serving purposes, it may be to eat as much ice cream as I possibly can, and even if it's only once a year, I could savor the flavors and just really enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Never get sick, never, never have any ice cream?
Speaker 2:Yes, I would choose butter pecan. Is that strange?
Speaker 1:No, that's not, that's a really good flavor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my grandmother loved, but it was the only ice cream she ever had. So that's now why I love butter pecan ice cream. So I would eat all the butter pecan I possibly could.
Speaker 1:It's a great answer. I love that. I love that. I don't know what my answer would be.
Speaker 2:Something to think about right.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, thank you so much for coming on. The Husky Huddle, you have successfully thrown the gauntlet, made it across. Whatever it's called the Grudheim, I don't know I don't know either.
Speaker 2:We did it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we did it yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much Happy to be a part of it, and anytime you want us to talk about the great things happening at Washington West, we're happy to do that.
Speaker 1:So you will be invited back.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you everyone for listening to this awesome episode of the podcast, and I hope you'll tune into the next one. We're going to find out what other superpowers are lurking among us, because we're all super, all right, thank you.