Join us for a Mindful Minute with Classroom Champions athlete mentor Christian Taylor!

April is Alcohol Responsibility Month, which is the perfect time to talk with kids about saying “NO” to underage drinking. As we settle into spring, these conversations have never been more important—and they are working! Underage drinking rates are at historically low levels. And together, we hope to keep them moving in the right direction.

This week is National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, and next Friday marks the beginning of Alcohol Responsibility Month. Now is the perfect time to start and continue conversations with kids about alcohol and the negative effects of underage drinking on their developing brains using Ask, Listen, Learn resources, of course!

In response to requests from educators, these new online assessments enable you to measure your students’ knowledge before and after engaging with the Ask, Listen, Learn program by having students complete a pre-test and a post-test.

School counselors are such an important part of the Ask, Listen, Learn community, and we love seeing and learning from their passion for student well-being—both in schools and from afar. They are truly making a big difference in students’ lives. School counselors help parents, students, and educators everywhere see that we are certainly better together.

For your classroom, we are pleased to launch new Social-Emotional Learning resources created in partnership with Discovery Education—the leading provider of standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. These two classroom activities focus on what it means to be responsible and how students can make responsible choices in their everyday lives. We know that not every conversation or lesson is about alcohol, but learning about responsibility and making healthy choices builds the foundation for good decision making in the future.

5 Conversations to Have at Home During Red Ribbon Week

Check out the resources below that you can use with your students to encourage them to say YES to a healthy lifestyle and NO to underage drinking.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is not just a series of lessons to focus on at school, the lessons, goals, and fundamentals can also belong in the conversations and values, and behaviors that continue at home.

One essential partner in schools that can tie these efforts together is school administrators. These educators are such an important part of establishing a school culture that fosters development. So from all of us to you: THANK YOU, PRINCIPALS.