By Cindy Adams
Walk into a classroom at enCircle's Minnick Schools this year and, before math, reading or anything else, you'll find students talking about their thoughts and feelings. Every morning, for thirty minutes or so, that’s the entire lesson. It's called AIM.
Accept. Identify. Move.
It's a short acronym for something much bigger. Simple on paper, but it asks a lot in practice, including some vulnerability and openness. In the AIM program, students learn to accept an uncomfortable feeling instead of running from it. They identify what the feeling is, why it matters, and how it's showing up. And then they move toward whatever it is they actually want for themselves, rather than into behaviors that pull them further away from it. It is both individual and collective.
"Often we tend to teach in the moment," said Lindse Collins, Supervisor of Behavior Analytic Programming at Minnick Schools. "We wanted to be a bit more proactive and teach the students coping skills every day, rather than waiting on a situation to happen. That's what AIM is helping us do."
Lindse introduced the program and established its initial direction. Yolanda Jordan, Behavior Specialist, then took a lead role in further developing the program, including creating the training materials and determining how the program could be effectively integrated into the Minnick School model. The intent is to blend three approaches to social-emotional development—Applied Behavior Analysis, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Mindfulness—into a single daily rhythm. Each AIM session ends with something tangible, a craft, a drawing, some small piece of artwork that is hung on the classroom wall as a sort of visual language the students and teachers can point back to when needed.
Shortly after Yolanda transitioned from classroom teaching into the field of behavior analysis, she was introduced to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and quickly became drawn to its practical, values-based approach.
When AIM, a child-focused curriculum grounded in ACT, launched nationally in 2018, she jumped at the opportunity to begin using it with the clinic clients and small groups she was serving at the time. Although much of the early published work focused on broader implementation, Yolanda believed the approach had strong potential in schools.
"I knew it would work in a school setting," she said.
And she's already seeing signs of that potential. One student who once escalated quickly by shutting down and flinching away from support began responding differently. When those moments arise, Yolanda will lean in, gently place a hand on or near the student’s shoulder, and quietly say, "I'll be right here while it passes."
Instead of pulling away, the student stays.
"They just stayed with their feelings and allowed me to be in their space to support them," she said. "I like that, it allows space for me to build trust in a vital moment."
Both Lindse and Yolanda believe the benefits of AIM won't be limited to the students. They are confident the teachers will also grow in how they communicate and connect.
"I'm also quietly hoping the teachers will come to me and say, 'Where can I find more information on this?'" Yolanda said.
Because it's about relationships and the importance of building them, protecting them and repairing them where they are frayed. In the end, relationships are where everything else begins. Learning will follow, and it will be more impactful for having come second. That first thirty minutes is likely the most important lesson of the day.
When students feel safe and understood, everything else in the classroom becomes possible. Your support helps enCircle’s Minnick Schools keep building the relationships that make learning happen. Make a donation today. Thank you!
