re·sil·ience | \ ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s
noun
- the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
- the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
‘Resilience’ has gotten a lot of attention these days. Often, it is portrayed as an exhausting upward trajectory: a push of our internal limits toward a goal. We think of the old adage heard in gyms or in bootcamp training: “no pain, no gain.” But that is not the brand of resilience we teach at Westbridge Academy.
Teaching students to relentlessly push past their limits leads to the opposite of resilience. It leads to depletion and exhaustion. It leads to frustration and failure. Real resilience happens when a student is able to use a skill set to promote their unique personal assets and protect themselves from the negative effects of stressors and trauma. It is both active and protective.
At Westbridge Academy, learning is intentionally rooted in resilience. Since we opened our doors in 1973, our curriculum has been built on the belief that learning is a process that involves the “Four Rs”: Rest, Recovery, Return, and Repeat. Across every content area, we teach students to make a plan, pace themselves, take steps and implement them intentionally, reflect by taking breaks, and then repeat that process, making changes as dictated by successes and failures.
Never in recent history has this skill been more important. For nearly two years, we have lived through periods of extreme stress caused by the worldwide pandemic. Even before the pandemic, however, students lived with stress, trauma and unforeseen challenges.
Our goal is not only to teach academic content. Our goal is to teach students the skills they need to respond…not react…to the inevitable challenges they will face. It all begins by teaching resilience.
Dr. Anthony Hadzimichalis, Executive Director
