I was so excited to find out that I had been awarded an innovation learning grant through KVEC. I plan to implement “Making a Difference Through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).” With this grant money, I’ll be able to purchase SEL materials to use with my middle school students. The goal is to improve our middle school students’ social and emotional learning skills. We want our students to be happy, healthy, and successful. Learning coping strategies and regulation skills is vital for our students to be able to be resilient, empathetic, and problem-solvers-not only at school, but at home, in the real world, and into adulthood. As part of this SEL program, I’m planning to include peer mediation training for older students to help middle school students workout their conflict without adult intervention. Through this comprehensive program and tier II and III interventions, the number of disciplinary referrals and trips to the counselor’s office for peer related conflicts will decrease.