#42 Sussex County Teacher Edition: The Align Wellness Center / Sparta
Apr 13, 2020
"To be able to offer therapy, counseling, and wellness activites to our students and staff members has been just a dream come true." - Dr. Jane Esposito
School Psychologist and Coordinator for the Align Wellness Center, Dr. Jane Esposito from Sparta High School in Sparta, New Jersey, tells us all about the creation of The Align Wellness Center at the high school. The center is committed to providing students with counseling and therapeutic care.
According to the site linked above, the center offers group and individual counseling services, educational counseling, and awareness of substance use and its effects, as well as a large variety of educational and outreach programming to include psychiatric referrals and consultations.
They are uniformly committed to providing students with respectful and confidential health care and counseling in a safe, supportive environment.
The Major Issue In The Classroom
Stress and anxiety levels in students have become a major issue in the classroom and that’s why I’m super excited you're here because this Sussex County Teacher Edition is all about highlighting what teachers and school staff members are doing with their students in the name of social and emotional learning.
One of the one things I’ve come to know about facing challenges and tragedies is that kids of all ages sitting in classrooms all throughout Sussex County and the state of New Jersey suffer greatly from them. Year after year I witness these levels in children increasing. Students trust themselves less, they lack resiliency, as well as the ability to cope with minor disruptions.
My Mission
As the Sussex County Teacher of the Year with a platform for embedding yoga and mindfulness into daily classroom instruction, it's become my mission to seek out other teachers in the county who are making tremendous shifts in the learning process for kids. While I accept this honor very graciously, I also acknowledge the fact that there are many other teachers in the county who deserve to be highlighted for implementing the same practices.
With the help of our Executive County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Rosalie Lamonte, and all the Chief Administrators in the county, I‘ve been able to make some great connections, hear some inspirational stories, and learn about the healthy goodness that’s happening with our kiddos in the classroom to help them build strong social and emotional character, which creates a solid foundation to confront the personal and academic challenges they are facing.
Meet Hank, the bunny!! Everybody loves Hank :)
Contact Dr. Espositio:
"We are really doing a lot of great work for empowering them [students] and they are learning so many strategies...every week there's that new learning curve going on." - Dr. Jane Esponsito
