Summer 2 September: Program for Rising Freshmen Attending Ellsworth High School
For Immediate Release
Date: June 18, 2021
Media Contact: Tracey Carlson, tracey@healthyacadia.org
Program Contact: Tara Young, tara@healthyacadia.org
Summer 2 September: Program for Rising Freshmen Attending Ellsworth High School
Ellsworth, ME - Are you a parent, caregiver, or ally of a student who will be entering Ellsworth High School as a freshman this September? Tara Young, Healthy Acadia’s Drug-Free Communities Coordinator, with support from Kathy Dunn of All Connected, a Hancock County-based health and life coaching service, will host a free summer program focused on social-emotional learning and building connections between in-coming freshmen. The group will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 13 to August 31, 2021. The exact schedule will be determined based on the needs of the participants.
“Upon graduating, many eighth-grade students in the region have several high school options from which to choose,” said Tara Young. “If they elect to attend Ellsworth High School, they may only know a few other students, and due to COVID-19, some students may have been fully remote for part or all of the last school year, leaving them less connected with peers. This, combined with the lack of a traditional step-up day this spring and the added challenges of coping with the many changes caused by the pandemic, will make entering high school this fall extra stressful for many students.”
The Summer 2 September program was developed to help ease some of the stress and anxiety that teens may be feeling around going to a new school as well as mitigate any sense of disconnection with peers. The framework, developed with input from Ellsworth Elementary Middle School and High School faculty and staff and the Freshman Teachers’ Team, focuses on those skills that students will need to excel in their transition to high school. The program will offer a fun, screen-free, and mostly outdoor experience aimed at strengthening social-emotional learning competencies, resilience skills, research-tested goal setting and organization tools, and promoting connections between incoming freshmen as well as older students who are volunteering as mentors.
Participation in the program will be limited to 10 students. For questions or to apply, please contact Tara Young at tara@healthyacadia.org.
Healthy Acadia is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that engages in a broad range of initiatives to build healthier communities and make it easier for people to lead healthy lives across Washington and Hancock counties, Maine. Learn more at www.healthyacadia.org.
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