To help assist in implementing new lunch and recess procedures at Rowland Elementary School this year, the SEL Schools’ team of Youth Development Specialists (YDS) have stepped in to help students successfully adjust to the revised format. During lunch and recess, YDS team members have spent time getting to know the students while helping them to make friends and learn how to play together during Recess Zone Play. The new zone recess areas are playgrounds that are divided into specific areas or “zones” that feature a variety of activities. YDS team members join each of the zones to teach students how to play the different games and model how to appropriately play together. Conflict resolution is another key area that YDS staff support by using approaches that align with Conscious Discipline, a building-wide social-emotional learning and classroom management program which features the motto “Connection Before Correction” as a core principle. When conflict arises between students, YDS team members implement the Conscious Discipline strategy known as “time machine”, which provides specific steps for students to review the previous actions to help achieve conflict resolution. A special thank you to the YDS team of Chet Mason, Jerome Jackson, Jack Rhine, Toya Owens-Hodge, Richard (Ricky) Powers, Raymond Smith-Watkins, and Demarris Winters for their efforts in helping our students learn and grow every day!