BrightNow! Social Emotional Wellness
Promoting Arts-Based
Social Emotional Wellness Tools
What We Do
BrightNow! is a team of educators, musicians, artists, and innovators dedicated to creating tools for educators and families that support the social emotional wellness of young learners. Through music, movement, and interactive programs, teachers are supplied a support "tool-kit" that is highly engaging and rewarding for kids. The supports are addressed and integrated into the lyrics, lessons, and activities in a way that enables a teacher to incorporate them into lessons and day-to-day activities, and are deliverable online or in-person. This is vital at a time when public health policies can cause interruptions and changes for young learners. BrightNow! programs will keep kids engaged and will positively impact their social emotional wellness.
Bright futures...Right now. BrightNow!
Why We Do It
2020 marks the thirty-first year that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been surveying students to learn about their behavior, attitudes, and knowledge concerning alcohol, drugs, and violence. The Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) is conducted every two years by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The data serves two primary needs: to provide school administrators, state and local agency directors, and legislators with the critical information needed to identify patterns of concern; and to assess risk and protective factors related to these behaviors. The 2017 PAYS for Dauphin County indicates an increase in students reporting violence and drugs at school, an increase in bullying and cyber bullying - particularly at school - and an increase in mental health concerns. To support the need for intervention in the Harrisburg/Steelton-Highspire/Middletown area, we reviewed their data. In the more densely populated areas, over 90% of the population is economically disadvantaged, with as high as 80% being students of color. A review of the Safe School Initiative data reported for 2018 demonstrated that more than half of disciplinary incidents were committed by students age 13 and under. Therefore, the need for teaching student’s self-regulation, metacognitive skills, and pro-social conflict resolution is both clear and critical.
How We Do It
BrightNow! LLC is a partnership of educators, musicians, professional development specialists, and education policy advocates. Research demonstrates that social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties are now among the top five challenges impacting children. Schools are struggling to meet the social and emotional needs of students, resulting in growing populations of students identified as needing special education services, experiencing chronic disciplinary actions, resulting in a disconnection from school, and a need for mental health services that far exceeds the current availability of financial and human resources in most schools. Teaching students how to self-regulate, communicate their needs, resolve conflict in a peaceful manner, and show compassion, empathy, resilience, and kindness conveys critical skills necessary for their success not only in school but in life.
BrightNow! with partners, CAIU 15, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Penn Literacy Network, PATTAN, PBS, WITF local artists and musicians, has developed a Social Emotional Wellness toolkit. Adapting the “I do, you do, we do'', transferable skills philosophy and through carefully crafted artists in residency programs and other out-reach projects\programs BrightNow! is developing an alternate model to deliver and learn content. Our training enables teachers to continue using the new methods to connect with young learners and introduces new ways for young learners to connect with various concepts.
The Team
Qualifications of Key BrightNow! Team Members
Leann Cox, co-founder, has taught in suburban and urban school districts in Central Pennsylvania for 40 years. Currently, she is the University of Pennsylvania’s PLN Facilitator/Liaison Coordinator. Prior to her recent retirement, Leann has been recognized as one of the foremost leaders using aquaponics as a platform for teaching STEM disciplines, having successfully created accessible learning opportunities for economically disadvantaged students. She has co-authored several grants to support programming for economically disadvantaged youth.
Bob Welsh, co-founder, started working with youth mentor-ship and internship programs over 25 years ago. He pioneered new workforce training opportunities for youth which earned him the Governor’s Keystone Award for Innovation. Mr. Welsh also brought the School To Table© program to the region, which provides fresh produce to local restaurants and events, as well as fresh food to schools in the area that are considered to be in a food desert. Bob is the Founding Director of many non-profit agencies such as Cultural Enrichment Fund and the WheelHouse©; as well as Founding CEO of Integrated Agriculture Systems, Inc., and The Green Room Studios.
Lenny Tepsich, a.k.a. Mr.Music®, co-founder, has worked with children for the past 40 years in
classrooms and the community. He is a recipient of the Easter Seals “Brace for an Ace” award and
Volunteer of the Year award from the Pennsylvania Chapter of Volunteers of America for his ongoing
efforts to provide alternative therapies for children with special needs. His PeaceBeat© project, co-
produced with Bob Welsh, has been an effective tool for educators for over ten years, helping students
find peaceful resolutions in their lives. A feature performer at HersheyPark for over 30 years, he
developed a holiday program for HersheyPark’s Christmas Candylane and produced the album
“Welcome to HersheyPark” with songs that greet guests in the park today.
Holly Serio earned her bachelor's degree in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College in 2008, . While teaching at the ELCO School District, she went on to earn her Masters in Music Education (also from LVC) in 2015. After teaching elementary music for 12 years, Holly has transitioned from the public school classroom to pursue other music ventures, to include student assemblies, and performing at various venues to audiences of all types. Holly was the 2021 recipient of the "Best Children's Artist" award from the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame because of her work as a children's music songwriter and performer. Additionally, in the summer of 2022, Holly attended the BrightNow! Summer Professional Development Training: Songs from BrightNow! Social-Emotional Wellness Toolkit: PreK-6 Music, Movement, and Social Emotional Wellness (sponsored by the Capital Area Intermediate Unit), actualizing a seamless transition to the BrightNow! Team. Holly's main goal is to provide educational entertainment through music to kids of all ages.
Our Approach
BrightNow! Supports...
What do BrightNow! tools support?:
- CASEL Competencies
- PATHS®
- The Zones of Regulation
BrightNow! tools also augment and support:
- PBIS
- Responsive Classroom®
- Daily Five
The supports are addressed and integrated into the lyrics, lessons, and activities in a way that enables a teacher to incorporate them into day-to-day teaching.