Sandra M. Chafouleas, PhD, is presented with this Presidential Citation for her contributions to supporting the mental health of students in schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chafouleas has contributed greatly to the school psychology literature on social, emotional, and behavioral health. Of considerable importance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chafouleas, as many psychologists did, became concerned about the impact of the pandemic on child emotional well-being and wanted to find ways to intervene that were simple—meaning low-resource and able to be implemented by anyone. Through a unique partnership with the University of Connecticut’s Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, she has led the development of Feel Your Best Self (FYBS), an educational toolkit to help elementary-aged kids learn to regulate their emotions through 12 simple, evidence-informed strategies. FYBS elegantly complements existing classroom activities and can strengthen family collaborations through fun, involving puppetry in teaching and learning strategies for emotion regulation that support child overall emotional well-being. FYBS has already garnered national attention through a feature on NPR’s Morning Edition and has been delivered to over 400 children in Connecticut through partnerships with schools and community. In addition, through Chafouleas’ presentations at local and national research and practice conferences, over 500 educators, psychologists and other mental health professionals, and family caregivers have learned about FYBS and how to implement the toolkit in their setting.