Culmination of lessons throughout school year turns into fun day of activities
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Primary School celebrated its first ever SEL Day June 5, a year-end culmination of Social Emotional Learning for students.
Throughout the academic year, the primary school has been dedicated to SEL as part of the diverse education it offers to the students.
SEL Day was a celebration of the enriching nature of social emotional education. The event was spearheaded by Carrie Merritt, the wellness teacher who emphasized the day’s importance in fostering inclusivity and community.
“SEL Day is the culminating activity of our Social Emotional Learning plan which we put into action this school year. It kind of encapsulates everything we’ve been doing this year, working together in groups,” Merritt said. “Intermingling kids from different grades is just a collaboration between parents and teachers to create a special environment.”
The day featured a variety of activities aimed at fostering creativity and collaboration across all grades. Students had the opportunity to engage in activities including seashell painting, LEGO building, friendship bracelet-making, Zumba and playing in a colorful storm of bubbles on the playground.
One of the most popular activities was the chalk affirmations; students decorated the school’s sidewalk along West Avenue with vibrant, positive messages and pictures.
Students chose four activities from a list of 20, rotating through them throughout the day, with the overarching theme of collaboration and community building.
Mary Beth Libro, a first-grade teacher and a strong advocate of the SEL program, explained the initiative’s goal.
“We wanted to create a diverse and inclusive community committed to a supportive educational experience that will foster the intellectual and emotional development of each student,” Libro said.
“The goal of our SEL program is that students will develop solid bonds with students and staff during their time at the primary school,” according to Principal Dr. Cathleen Smith, who provided an overview of the program.
“The primary school’s mission is to create a diverse and inclusive community of learners committed to a challenging and supportive educational experience that will foster the intellectual, moral, emotional and physical development of each student with its health and wellness program,” she wrote.
The principal said staff incorporated that into 25-minute morning sessions for each grade level and that Merritt’s program helped students work together “to be good people, be good friends, be good community members and great students of the OCPS. These changes of groups give students exposure to different students within the grade and teachers to develop more personal relationships with each other. These close relationships hope to build stronger friendships with students for future relationships.”
Smith noted that health promotion and prevention “are essential to students’ community engagement, participation in immersive learning, and development of skills as global problem-solvers in support of the Ocean City School District’s mission statement of ‘Commitment to Excellence.’”
As part of SEL Day, students received a worksheet featuring a jar illustration, symbolizing their emotions throughout the day. They colored it a section at a time to represent the different emotions they experienced, highlighting the importance of emotional awareness.
Deepa McCabe, primary school librarian and computer science teacher, led the friendship bracelet and LEGO building activities.
“I love this. I get to come to work and make friendship bracelets with kids all day. What’s better than that?” McCabe said.
The day showcased the community garden, a beloved feature of OCPS. Sharon Naplacic, a teacher at OCPS, shared the garden’s history and revival.
“The garden has been here for several years but no one tended to it once COVID hit. It was that way for a while until my dear friend Mikenzie Helphenstine had a great idea of bringing the garden back,” Naplacic said of the primary school teacher who died after a long battle with cancer.
“This is our third summer of using the garden for our summer program. We have a vegetable section and an annuals section. We use the vegetables to cook with and it’s a great way for kids to learn a little about cooking and healthy eating,” Naplacic said.
Organizers cited the support of the families volunteering and donating supplies and financial donors including R.E.A.C.H., James and Kelly D’Agostino, Chris Halliday and Halliday Architects; Chugger LaCasse and The Printing Company, Peter Madden and Goldcoast Sotheby’s International Realty, and Shannon McAllister and Berkshire Hathaway, Fox & Roach Realtors.
The OCPS Parent Advisory Committee led the day co-chaired by Holly Buck and McAllister and the Ocean City Board of Realtors provided lunch for the staff and students so everyone could eat together.
– STORY by EDDIE D’AMICO/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
