Research shows that one of the ways to counteract negative stress is to help students develop strong social and emotional skills to bolster their resilience.

Afterschool programming provides daily opportunities to help students practice social and emotional (SEL) skills. Staff can take everyday situations—such as arguments between friends, or frustration over a difficult homework assignment—and turn them into teachable moments. In response to these rising opportunities, many afterschool programs have begun using strong, evidence-based SEL curricula and assessments.

As part of this movement toward building SEL skills in high school, Aperture Education is looking for organizations and individuals who can help with the standardization process of its latest SEL assessment, the DESSA-High School Edition (DESSA-HSE). There are several options for participation.

• The first option is a fundraiser in which program staff and parents can complete ratings (assessments) of their high school-aged students or children to earn up to $615 for the program. Programs that complete this process will also receive a one-year subscription to the DESSA-HSE.

• The second option can be for a single rating. Individual educators and parents can complete assessments of their students and children and earn $5 per assessment (up to four assessments for educators and two assessments for parents). For information on the fundraising opportunity, visit http://info.apertureed.com/fundraise. For information on the single-rating opportunities, visit http://bit.ly/AdultRating.

Assessing students' SEL skills allows afterschool programs to identify and more quickly build the specific skills their students need to succeed in the turbulent high school years and beyond. Join us in working toward the standardization of the DESSA-HSE, and help high school students build the SEL skills they need.z

Written by Jessica Adamson, CEO of Aperture Education.