Summitview Middle School’s ‘Deep Dive’ program nurtures student well-being and resilience

A Caldwell middle school hosts weekly seminars for students dedicated to overall well-wellbeing. The initiative, called “Deep Dive,” is the first of its kind.
CALDWELL, Idaho — As concerns for student and school safety grow, a local principal decided to dedicate time every week to teaching students how to be better students and members of society.
Summitview Middle School of Vallivue School District is taking a proactive approach to student well-being with its “Deep Dive” program, a weekly seminar series that promotes mental health, emotional awareness, and positive life skills.
Now in its second year, the initiative brings students together in small group assemblies to discuss topics relevant to their lives, including bullying, emotional regulation, community building, and the online world.
At the interactive seminars, student Lilly Jones at SMS said, “we take notes, we play games, we listen to people talk.”
Counselors, administrators, and guest speakers lead the sessions, which align with the school’s core values of resilience, teamwork, and optimism.
“It really is topics that we think are relevant for teens in general, relevant for our students here at Summitview, relevant towards our school values that we want to incorporate and really just helping them become better human beings and better students,” school counselor Rachel Hernandez said.
Each seminar is designed to be engaging and practical. In one session, students learned how to safely and anonymously report concerns within the school. According to Hernandez, this actually led to an influx of reports showing that students were applying what they learned.
“We do see that some students, like, really take it to heart,” she said.
The program also benefits teachers by providing them time to collaborate without interruption during the seminars. This allows them to strategize and address students’ needs collectively.
The school has also expanded the program by diversifying guest presenters, such as the school resource officer and health experts, to teach at the seminars.
SMS Parent Jamie Warren, who also teaches at an elementary school in VSD, spoke with KTVB about her hope that the program will spread to other schools.
“When my daughters come home and they’re not scared of the principal in the hallway, and they’re like, ‘Oh, we did give a high five to our principal today’, and things like that, it’s made me feel better as a parent and a teacher,” Warren said.
Hernandez credited the program’s success to the willingness of the school administration to try new approaches.
“It came from an idea by our principal, Mr. Walker, who said, ‘Let’s try it. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,'” Hernandez said.
The school hopes that the lessons learned in “Deep Dive” will prepare students for high school and life beyond.
When asked if she enjoys building closer relationships with adults through “Deep Dive,” Jones said, “It’s actually really nice because they know how I learn, like how I deal with things.”
Summit View Middle School plans to continue evolving the program, hoping to have more guest speakers and fresh topics to meet students’ ever-changing needs.
link