Haverhill students showcase RULER mental‑health curriculum; Covington fifth-graders demo TWIG science
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Summary
Students from Haverhill and Covington demonstrated social-emotional learning practices and hands-on TWIG science lessons at an MSD Southwest Allen County Schools board meeting, highlighting in-school counseling partnerships and classroom projects that link science to reading and math.
Ashley Ransom, principal at Haverhill Elementary, told the MSD Southwest Allen County Schools board that Haverhill has spent the last five years integrating a mental‑health pillar into school culture and would showcase the work with students and staff.
“We have integrated and interwoven the mental health pillar into our school culture,” Ransom said, introducing students who described tools they use daily. Students and school counselors described RULER practices — including the mood meter, the meta moment and a classroom/school charter — as methods to help students “recognize, understand, label, express and regulate” emotions so they can engage and learn.
Kelly Stilner, a Haverhill school counselor, explained the district’s partnership with Crosswinds Counseling. “Any student may receive five free counseling sessions during the 35 available school weeks of the year,” Stilner said, adding that with five sessions per week Crosswinds can serve about 35 students — roughly 6% of Haverhill’s student population, per the presentation.
Students gave several examples of classroom investigations and said the activities reinforced academic skills. One fifth grader described a plunger shadow measurement activity that required repeated measurements, tallying and pattern analysis; another described weighing ingredients for banana bread and noting measurement errors as part of learning to document experiments.
Covington Elementary teacher Tara Hallman presented the district’s K–5 TWIG Science work and introduced fifth-grade students who demonstrated inquiry projects. “Twig was selected because it’s fully aligned to the Indiana State Standards and is grounded in research‑based inquiry‑driven instruction,” a district curriculum representative told the board. Students recounted making lava‑lamp experiments, globe‑toss activities used to estimate water coverage on Earth and a hands‑on chemical ice‑cream demonstration performed during the meeting.
Students and teachers framed the lessons as cross‑curricular: presenters said science projects produced data used in writing and math lessons and helped students practice documentation, measurement, observation and reasoning.
The board and audience applauded the presentations and praised students for their work; several board members asked follow‑up questions about curriculum connections and staffing. The school presentations concluded before the board moved on to financial and action items later in the meeting.
