MAC celebrates Social-Emotional Learning Day 2022

March 11, 2022

Mesa Arts Center is proud to be part of the International movement to showcase, promote, advocate and support social-emotional learning through our engagement programs. On March 11, 2022, Mesa Arts Center will join communities across the globe to celebrate the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) on the third annual International SEL Day, centered around Finding Common Ground, Pursuing Common Good.

“The pandemic has amplified the need for mental wellness and programming that supports the well-being of youth. Mesa Arts Center strives to be a partner to educators and administrators in offering arts-based opportunities that can assist in elevating youth social-emotional health. We want to be intentional in this commitment to our local youth and school communities and as an extension of this advocacy, we are joining hundreds of organizations across the globe in celebration of International SEL Day on March 11th. International SEL Day invites participants to join the movement of celebrating the importance of social-emotional learning through conversation, workshops and advocacy,” said Sarah Dolens-Moon, Arts Learning Specialist, Mesa Arts Center.

Project Lit is just one of many engagement programs that Mesa Arts Center is proud to offer that caters to social and emotional learning.

“I have developed from a shy, harsh self-critic to a confident, not-so-harsh self-critic. I have learned to get over periods where I feel I cannot write,” said a student currently enrolled in the program.

Now in its tenth year, Project Lit is thriving in more than 20 schools around the valley.

“A well-rounded educational experience is important for a young person’s chances at reaching their highest potential in life. However, when they do not have a healthy foundation of social and emotional wellness that equips them with tools and resources to cope and navigate their world, it is almost impossible for them to focus on the basic tasks they are required to accomplish every day. Therefore, we have focused on developing programming that uses the arts to foster and develop social and emotional learning with young and emerging adults,” said Tomas Stanton, Program Manager Project Lit, Mesa Arts Center.

The program uses poetry, spoken word and hip hop to promote literacy and activate social and emotional learning. The strength of Project Lit is the cultivation of a brave space for creative expression to foster social and emotional fluency while upholding the traditional values of reading, writing, and speaking.

“The Arts is one of the greatest teachers of social-emotional learning for youth. Being part of the artistic process allows young people to make deep connections to their emotions, identity and the experiences of others, all key social-emotional growth learnings. Mesa Arts Center embeds SEL concepts into all of our programs for K-12 students from the Classical Music Inside Out Program which sends artists out into the schools to disrupt traditional identity narratives around what classical music should look and sound like to our signature Project Lit program that places students at the center of their experience by using poetry as a platform for self-expression,” said Dolens-Moon.

Learn more about Mesa Arts Center’s Engagement Programs at MesaArtsCenter.com/engagement