Dear Morningside Center friends,

Happy New Year! We hope you're staying warm during this polar vortex and that 2025 has gotten off to a good start. Below we have lessons on Lunar New Year, the winter blues, and a couple of activities on testing and stress, as the first round of Regents are coming up. You'll also find new and relevant news that we are following!

Thank you to all who gave during our end of year appeal! If you wanted to donate and didn't get to it, it's not too late! 

And another thank you to everyone who bought Teach for Joy and Justice swag—let’s see you in your t-shirts and hoodies! Share a photo on social media and tag @morningsidectr! And if you missed our t-shirt campaign, don’t worry—we will do another this Spring, possibly with more options. Let us know what you’d love to see! 

New & Featured on TeachableMoment

Navigating The Winter Blues

Students reflect on their feelings about winter, including its challenges, and share their coping strategies through a poem, a circle, and exploration of the "wheel of holistic health." 

Celebrating Diversity & Inclusion During Lunar New Year (2025)

Students explore the diversity of names and traditions people in different countries use to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and consider how we can be more inclusive in marking this holiday.

Two Activities on Testing & Stress

Two activities to help students reflect on their feelings about standardized tests - and consider strategies to handle stress.

What We're Reading

Simple Ways to Make the Most of a Check-In

"When done effectively, quick check-ins can help you better understand how your students are doing and strengthen your classroom community" By Alex Shevrin Venet at Edutopia

‘There’s a culture of fear’: Undocumented college students agonize as Trump term nears

"'Where a lot of my peers would have nightmares about monsters under their beds or things like that, I had a genuine fear that one day my parents were just gonna be gone and I would never know what happened,' Hernandez said." By Olivia Sanchez at the Hechinger Report

"When kids have been doing circle all year, they feel part of a community, and they don’t want to disrespect that community by fighting. So our suspensions have gone down significantly. Our restorative circles have brought us closer to our students. And they’ve brought us together as adults. We became part of the circle." 

—Caron Pinkus, Principal, Landmark High School, Manhattan