Dear Morningside Center friends,

In schools everywhere, we're hearing about the need to reduce stress for both students and adults. Below, we offer strategies for using crafting - and music - to promote self-care. Plus, a new lesson exploring the student debt issue, and of course, some good stuff to read.

Students learn about and discuss the ongoing problem of student loan debt and find out how grassroots youth activism has elevated this issue in American politics.

Making time for students to do a bit of crafting can provide joy and comfort - and brighten up your classroom. Read on for some guidelines and a couple of project ideas for your class!

Music can be healing, uplifting, and calming for both adults and children. These lessons have young people experience how we can use music to care for ourselves during times of stress.

"The best way to learn from history is to see how our past struggles and triumphs continue to inform our present — and to use that knowledge as a call to action." By Nya Grantham at Teen Vogue

"As a teacher, I like to use art as a way to celebrate Black artists and start conversations that help situate their experiences in the larger framework of American and world history." By Tanya Brown Merriman at Edutopia

"Sotomayor mentioned more than once that students need to realize what happens when they choose the role of bystanders in life — that they are ceding control of their lives to other people." By Trigie Ealey at SmartBrief