National SEL Week 2026: Students Speak Up!

National SEL Week is a “SEL”ebration of social and emotional learning in every community in the United States—and this year, we were thrilled to welcome students from Fairfax County’s (Va.) Justice High School into the conversation. They joined us on Capitol Hill to talk to legislative staff about the importance of social and emotional learning for youth, as their principal, Sean Rolon, explains:

As members of the Justice High School’s Student SEL Advisory Committee, they spoke eloquently about why social and emotional learning is so important to youth and how it helps them develop Skills for Community, Skills for Career, the theme of this year’s National SEL Week. Here’s what they had to say:

Hiwot M. on how social and emotional learning appears in her school

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Kate S. on how social and emotional learning will support her future career

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Edgardo S. on how social and emotional learning supports the skills students will need at work and in school

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Shelly M. on how she uses social and emotional learning for self-regulation

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Madai S. on how social and emotional learning helped her when she moved to the United States

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The views in these videos are those of the students and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.

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