ASHEVILLE, N.C. — At Fairview Elementary, they make social-emotional learning a priority. It’s about teaching kids how to be empathetic, express their emotions, be assertive and listen. Katie McCracken says this helps create a better learning environment for all students.   

What You Need To Know

  • An elementary school in the mountains is teaching kids coping skills for life

  • They’re focusing on social-emotional learning, which teaches kids how to communicate earlier

  • The Second Step Programs that teach students these social-emotional skills are taught in more than 60 public school districts across North Carolina, as well as in charter and private schools

“You see more kids learning and less kids distracting from learning. They’re able to stay in class and sit there and learn what they’re supposed to learn, instead of being in the office,” McCracken said. “We’re just expressly teaching them how to ask for what they want or what they need in a socially appropriate way.” 

She's been teaching here for the last 15 years, since the school implemented social-emotional learning, and says stressful life events in her own childhood made her want to teach kids how to cope.

“I think I grew up using that, becoming a person that teaches kids how to calm down, how to talk to people so that they can have a head start, start out better than I had a shot at,” McCracken said.  

Looking back at a play they put on in elementary school about emotions, recent high school graduates Ava Martin and Paige Marino say all these years later, what Katie taught them has stuck with them.    

“This was called the impulsive puppy. It’s basically just this dog puppet that Ms. Katie would use when talking to us about controlling our own emotions,” Martin said. 

“Being assertive and learning that skill so young, gave me confidence,” Marino said.  

The recent high school graduates' credit their ability to regulate their emotions, empathize with other people and communicate effectively to social-emotional learning. Now, they’re planning to take what they learned into college and their careers. 

“I was able to take that time, to recognize what I was feeling, and that helped me build that mindset of, this is what I’m feeling, what are others feeling, and how can I help,” Martin said. 

“I didn't realize how much emotions need to be regulated and how that can be done in different ways and for me. That’s music,” Marino said. 

Martin is planning to pursue a career in psychology and social work. Marino is planning to pursue a career as a collegiate voice professor. 

The school counselor says not only does she want to help create talented students, she wants to help create good people.   

“I feel like I'm making better people. It's not just that, you can read and do math and be a bad person. But I want kids to be good people,” McCracken said. “I want them to stay out of trouble and contribute to society, instead of being sad and alone. I just want them to be really happy adults, and I think it takes these skills to be a happy adult.”