In school suspension (ISS) has been reformed and is now called Student Recovery.
Coach Sudd came up with the plan to change to more of a recovery than a punishment. “My degree is in behavior science and in my studies I discovered in school suspension is not an effective behavior change. When I got here to Churchland, I devised a new plan that would be more effective in helping children recover.“
Assistant Principal Mr. Austin said, “We wanted to try a different approach with in school suspension -- more of a therapeutic approach -- so that we can reduce the number of times students come back to ISS. We don't want kids to come back for the same thing.”
The change is allowing students to have a voice instead of being reprimanded when all they need is someone to talk to and listen to their problems.
It’s not just students that have emotional outbursts going who benefit -- it’s also the academic over-achievers who are having a bad day or having anxiety.
Coach Sudd himself added that, “Most cases with anxiety usually happen with the overachiever. A lot of people forget about higher achievers. They usually have more anxiety because of the pressure that they put on themselves to maintain that very high GPA or whatever, so a lot of the anxiety cases that I get are usually the higher achieving students”
The students get the chance to sit down, take a break, and for one second not having to worry about school work, work, or sports. They get the chance to let all the pent up frustration out and talk to someone who can help.
At the end of the day, Student Recovery is a healthy change in the school to help all types of kids get over the emotional pain and frustration in there lives.
Photos: Mann, Nunez, Wray