Staples Resilience Project

All of us—parents, teachers, and counselors alike—care deeply about the education, growth, and well-being of our young adults. We parent them, we teach them, and we help guide them as they grapple with figuring out their own unique combination of interests, assets, and values. We are all in this together to give them the tools they need to continue this growth throughout their lives and become well-adjusted, thriving individuals.

Crucial to their continued growth is resilience, the ability to cope with life’s inevitable disappointments and injustices. The Staples Resilience Project was developed over the course of the 2012-13 school year in response to a rise in the number of students at both who struggle with anxiety, depression, and stress-related crises, and who would benefit from continuing to develop resilience as an asset. Many of our students are not coping well with the pressure they feel to excel, and this can manifest itself in varying degrees as low self-esteem, worry, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and substance abuse.

As counselors, we are constantly researching, collaborating with colleagues, and looking for ways to support our students and help them find balance, strength, and direction. You, as parents and teachers, are very much the front line: you are with these wonderful young adults every day. Over the past decade, the Staples Resilience Project has been involved in a number of school-wide initiatives, including communicating tips and information to parents and school staff aimed toward promoting the health and well-being of our students and a positive, inclusive school community. You’ll find these messages archived below with embedded links to an abundance of resources that we think you will find useful!