Frequently Asked Questions
Resilience Grows Here (RGH) is the Farmington Valley’s mental health initiative aiming to foster mental well-being through all stages of life. The school-based curriculum is intended to give students in the Farmington Valley skills to thrive in life. From topics on how to set and maintain boundaries to how to manage emotions to how to deal with failure, RGH offers a wide-ranging curriculum meant to meet students where they are. Each lesson includes an introduction video, a class brainstorm or activity, and an activity sheet for each student to complete.
RGH has previously been recognized by the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) as a model practice.
The RGH curriculum is designed to be taught to middle school and high school students, with a modified version for elementary school currently in the works. With each lesson being just 20 minutes, this curriculum is perfect for advisory periods. Schools can use this curriculum to fulfill the social emotional learning competencies. In addition, each lesson is crafted in a way that it can be taught by all teachers, no matter what subject they specialize in.
While the curriculum is designed to be delivered to students in schools, parents can also use the materials at home to jumpstart conversations with their children.
Each lesson has a corresponding lesson plan that is designed to be simple and easy to follow to the person delivering the lesson. Lesson plans include an overview and takeaways as well as a symbol-coded plan. Each lesson starts with an introduction video, then moves into a class discussion or activity, and ends with students completing their own activity sheet. All accompanying materials, including ways teachers and parents can reinforce each unit, are provided by RGH.
Although the units are numbered, they do not need to be taught chronologically – allowing schools to pick what is most relevant to them!
At present, the following units are available, with more added regularly:
- Unit 1: Friendship
- Unit 2: Relationships
- Unit 3: Understanding Yourself
- Unit 4: Boundaries
- Unit 5: Managing Our Emotions
- Unit 6: Communication
- Unit 7: Anger
- Unit 8: Failure
