Pulaski Street Elementary School recently accepted a number of social and emotional learning books from the Riverhead Community Awareness Program that paid tribute to CAP’s dedicated volunteers.
Due to COVID-19, Riverhead CAP was unable to host its annual volunteer luncheon. In lieu of this event, the community organization honored its volunteers by purchasing books to add to the growing social-emotional collection at the Pulaski Street school library. Each book was dedicated to a volunteer who has devoted his or her time to teaching CAP’s social and emotional learning and Safety and Drug-Free Youth curriculum at Pulaski.
Amelia Estevez Creedon, Pulaski’s library media specialist, explained that social and emotional skills provide students with the ability to understand and manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
“The social-emotional learning concepts introduced through literature help students work through tough issues that they face in their everyday world,” said Creedon. “The books have been selected specifically to support the CAP curriculum at Pulaski and the [New York State] Social Emotional Learning standards.”
“CAP was started by community volunteers in 1979, and today volunteers continue to be the driving force behind our most awarded and popular programs,” CAP director Felicia Scocozza said, adding of the donation, “We would be unable to provide these programs and services to students without the volunteers who genuinely care about the Riverhead community and donate their valuable time. We are grateful for the school-community partnerships we have developed.”