The Tauck Family Foundation had the pleasure of hosting an inspiring investee cohort gathering in November 2014.

At this workshop, our investees shared their social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies and objectives.

Dr. Stephanie Jones and her team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education described a model for how SEL skills relate to and support broader educational goals.

Dr. Clark McKown, Executive Director of the Rush Neurobehavioral Center and developer of SELWeb, shared some of his latest work to facilitate effective measurement of SEL skill development in the classroom setting.

Attendees shared lessons learned and commitments for the year ahead in a Restorative Circle.

Commitments included:

“I commit to being more vigilant and being more resourceful and clever with the tools that I currently have to best attain a clear picture of who our students really are and how to best serve them in the area of SEL.”

– Lisa Moore, Horizons at Greens Farms Academy

“I am committed to thinking about our teachers and how to best support them as we’re working through this learning to support our students with their own SEL skills.”

– Heather Wachter, Achievement First Bridgeport Academy

“I leave here today with a great sense of satisfaction and gratification that as somebody that spent the last 40 years of their life in education that after many fits and starts there’s a community of researches, educators, clinical practioners, who understand the importance of SEL and bringing it front and center to schools all over the country.”

– Bonnie Brown, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

“My takeaway is that there are things I’ve seen through other organizations that we can definitely benefit from, and my commitment is to help children of color to breach the barriers they place on themselves.”

– Dennis Jones, New Beginnings Family Academy

The evening closed with a 20th Anniversary Reception in which Tauck Family Foundation Board members and representatives from investee organizations had a chance to interact with each other.