Featured Program and Parent Resource: ASSET Education

ASSET Education is a non-profit organization currently operating in ten DPS secondary schools.  The ASSET curriculum is designed to provide educators with tools to support students with strategies to mitigate stress and build resilience.

Tessa Zimmerman, founder of ASSET Education, was inspired to create and write this curriculum and is passionate about getting it in the hands of adults who are on the front-lines of responding to children’s anxiety and stress.  Tessa’s personal story of growing up with anxiety is similar to what many school-age children face today.  She recounts that while growing up, her educators didn’t know how to respond to her anxiety attacks and this was the impetus for her to found  ASSET Education.

Tessa and her colleagues realize that in addition to educators, parents are critical first responders to childhood anxiety.  She recounts that one of the most-profound components in helping her live with anxiety was having adults around her who knew how to cope with their own anxieties and stressors. Modeling how to care for our own mental health gives young people permission to do the same. 

One go-to tool Tessa uses is Finger Breathing. This tool can be accessed anywhere, plus no one needs to know that it’s being done. Simply, hold each finger and take a deep breath. It takes seven deep breaths to calm the nervous system, and in this tool, you get ten! You can watch this video to see Finger Breathing in the classroom.

In response to COVID, ASSET Education has released an At-Home Toolkit with concrete stress-reducing tools families can use with their children (available in both English and Spanish).  Included in the toolkit, you will find Dr. Daniel Siegel’s “Handy” Model of the Brain. This poster provides a nice visual of what happens when the brain is stressed versus when the brain is calm. To watch Dr. Siegel explain this hand model in clear, easy terms, visit http://bit.ly/handmodelofbrain. During high-stress times, this model  will help children understand what is going on in their brain and bodies.

Additionally, the toolkit features scripts of five quick, concrete stress-reducing tools.   Each tool takes 5-10 minutes to implement, and all you need to do is read the script to your child (and participate alongside them if you’d like!).

The entire toolkit can be found here.