At Gervais Middle and High School, we’re proud to highlight the ongoing work of Guadalupe Lopez, our student advocate and behavior management coordinator; and Courtney Utter, our Gervais district nurse, who are leading a thoughtful, brain-based and community-engaged approach to substance use prevention and student support.
Middle school: “Know Your Neuro” in homeroom
In our middle school homeroom classes, Guadalupe introduced “Know Your Neuro,” a prevention curriculum developed by Crystal Collier, who has a doctorate in philosophy in counselor education. This program is grounded in neuroscience and social-emotional learning. It helps students understand the stages of brain development — what Collier calls “neurowhereabouts”— and builds executive functioning and coping skills to protect their developing brains and steer them away from high-risk behavior.
The curriculum includes short videos, age-appropriate classroom activities and discussion guides and is designed to integrate easily into a homeroom or health class setting.
By providing young adolescents with insight into how their brains develop and respond to stress, peer pressure and risky decisions, Know Your Neuro equips them with the tools to make healthier choices — and to understand their own impulses and emotions in a new light…