#BecauseWeAreTheKindZone

by Christina Triano

Why SEA? Because of what you see . . .

Smiling, happy faces greet you when you walk around our campus. Students stroll along the sidewalks in pairs and in small groups as they would around their own neighborhood. They enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air between classes, giving their minds a break from the intense concentration required in academic pursuits. You can watch as they savor a moment of contentment and camaraderie and then dive back in to the challenge of achievement.

Why SEA? Because of what you hear . . .

5th grade students stand on the sideline to cheer on Kindergarteners as they race in the Mini-Triathlon. Hang around campus long enough and you can’t help but hear students sharing the stories of each other’s successes, congratulating each other on winning “the Cheese” and encouraging one another to keep trying when they’re experiencing some kind of setback. You’ll hear Happy Birthday being sung over the announcements, as well as at weekly chapel. And also in chapel, you’ll hear the applause that accompanies the students’ walk up to the altar as they bask in the pride of hearing their name announced in recognition for their acts of kindness. The sounds of individuals joining together to support one another add a dimension to life on campus that can’t easily be found elsewhere.

Why SEA? Because We Are the Kind Zone.

Rainbow Awards and Pins are a wonderful and concrete example of the Kind Zone in action. Yet, there is so much more to it. The general feeling that you are welcome here - that you are supported and safe to be whom you are is the real measure of the environment that our Kind Zone fosters. According to a new WestEd study, “The most important thing about school climate is the significant impact it has on its pupils.” https://www.wested.org/online_pubs/hd-13-10.pdf Building a sense of community is necessary to foster healthy attitudes towards learning. This is something that SEA does uniquely well. Shawn Achor, acclaimed researcher and psychologist, says “If you can raise somebody’s level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stressed.” His research concludes that only 25% of job successes are predicted by one’s IQ. Conversely, 75% is directly linked to your degree of optimism, levels of social support and your ability to frame achieving success as a challenge rather than as a threat.

SEA students empower themselves as they contribute to our Kind Zone. As lower school students learn to say please, thank you, and good morning, they begin to see the value in civility. As teachers show them how to share and care, they cultivate the support system within each other that is also vital to their own individual success. As our upper school students learn that careless words can cause unintentional hurt, they learn to curb their own natural impulsiveness. As they look for positive ways to relate to one another, they train their brains to look for the positive outcomes in life. SEA middle school students benefit, as well, from positive peer pressure. They encourage each other to try new ways to understand a problem and consider together the wide range of possible paths that they can each one day forge. These are the advantages of a positive learning environment.

In the engaging TedEd video below, Achor speaks about how our brains are 31% more productive at a positive orientation rather than when negative, neutral or stressed. He explains how happiness releases dopamine and, therefore, turns on all the learning centers in your brain, allowing you the flexibility and openness to adapt to the world in a different way. He encourages educators to create a sense of positivity in students and, in turn, to encourage their immediate success in school and their future success in life. SEA’s positive school environment does just that.

Why? Because we are the Kind Zone.

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?language=en