Mailyn is a first grade student at Lee Elementary in Denton, TX who began attending the Communities In Schools of North Texas Afterschool Center on Education (CISNT ACE) program in September. During the first few months, she pretended to not be able to speak English so that she didn’t have to share with her peers.
While her class was outside, Mailyn would often take toys for herself and not play fair with her classmates. Adrianne Ahr, the CISNT Behavior Intervention Specialist recognized an opportunity for intervention and began meeting with a group of students whose primary goal was to focus on empathy towards other students and positive peer relationships.
During the first few weeks that the group met, Mailyn was set in her way of doing things and did not want to share with the others. Adrienne would ask her to observe the other students, and see if they were reacting positively or negatively towards her when she wouldn’t share. She also addressed the behavior of pretending to not speak English.
Towards the end of the group session, Adrienne started noticing healthy changes in Mailyn. She was more likely to share. She began communicating with her peers because she wanted to play with them. Most importantly, she developed empathy when the other students were sad or disappointed with something. We are excited to see such a positive impact the group meetings have had with Mailyn, and we look forward to see how she influences her classmates with her new attitude.
