Courtney Raske, facilitator at Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan, uses the TFH high ropes course. Area teachers will undergo special training in Social and Emotional Learning on Tuesday at TFH. (Photo courtesy of TFH)

HARVEY — Marquette Area Public Schools teachers will undergo special training in social and emotional learning on Tuesday at Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan.

Zack Sedgwick, principal at Superior Hills Elementary School in Marquette, said in an email, “Our intention is to help establish some common expectations, and language, for our new SEL Initiative at Superior Hills Elementary, which I truly believe encompasses everything we do as educators.

“I also believe that part of my role as a principal is to help teachers build the resilience they need to be successful so that they can better build the same in students.”

Sedgwick said he hopes the training will help in this case.

Casel’s Core Competencies, the Michigan Model for Health and Second Step will be used as the primary resources.

Sedgwick said this initiative/training is possible as a result of much work and collaboration between MAPS, the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency, Promising Future Partnership, Teaching Family Homes and others.

About 50 staff members and facilitators will be involved in the training, he said.

The day will involve activities such as cooperative learning concepts, problem-solving scenarios using language sets, and breaking down pictures, videos, audio and the like.

It also will include problem-solving in small groups using outdoor learning spaces, solving problems as a team, building resilience and the TFH low ropes course.

A whole-group activity will involve the TFH high ropes course.

“One of the things that we were focused on is that their initiative mirrors the goals and many of the techniques of TFH,” said Dave Mastric, TFH director of facilities, public relations and marketing.

The SEL Initiative’s Facebook page defined the program this way: “We empower teachers and administrators to fully embrace and then engage their own social and emotional learning via patient, self-reflective and scholarship-infused professional development, preparing them to model for peers that SEL can redefine how one teaches without ever needing to dictate what one teaches.”

The initiative promotes Social and Emotional Learning for educators, both in pre-service training and as ongoing professional development.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.