Griefs Shifting Sands

A 70-minute small group session for adults exploring the non-linear, fluctuating nature of grief using the metaphor of shifting sands and ocean waves. Participants will learn to validate their own emotions and reduce feelings of isolation through shared experience.

JSJulie Smith

Griefs Shifting Sands

JSJulie Smith

Iceberg Investigators Presentation Slides

Weaving Worlds

A 3-lesson unit on culture, identity, empathy, and building an inclusive school community. Students explore the cultural iceberg, share personal perspective narratives, and collaborate on actionable school-wide inclusion plans.

Cynthia Rios

Social Media Showdown

A high-energy, collaborative staff training session built around a competitive trivia game. Staff work in teams to analyze realistic scenarios and master MetroWest YMCA's Social Networking Policy (Appendix IV, Updated 6/2024), emphasizing child safety, professional boundaries, and brand protection.

Jen Hyman

Showdown Team Scorecard

A clean, print-ready single-page team scorecard for 20-30 staff members divided into squads. It features space for team details, selection indicators, and dedicated white writing blocks for teams to cite policy rules from Appendix IV.

Jen Hyman

True Influence Journey

A comprehensive restorative leadership and peer advocacy sequence designed for students transitioning to middle school. It guides students from understanding their social influence to actively protecting peers and spreading positive school culture.

Marcia Cullinane

Heart to Heart

A high-quality co-completion toolkit for parents and 11-year-old pre-teens. Focuses on active listening, emotional attunement, conflict de-escalation, and establishing daily connection rituals.

Theresa Casarella

Showdown Slide Deck

An engaging, high-contrast 14-slide presentation used to project the interactive trivia game during the training. It details real-world scenarios, game rules, and reveals answer explanations citing official rules from the MetroWest YMCA Social Networking Policy.

Jen Hyman

Norm Navigators

A comprehensive 4-day small-group social-emotional learning sequence for grades 3-5. Aligned with the CASEL Social Awareness framework, this unit teaches students to identify how expectations and social norms change across different school environments and how to adapt their behaviors successfully.

Erin McFarland

Inclusion Architects

Students apply their deep listening and empathy skills to design a school-wide inclusion campaign or classroom standard, designing collaborative action items.