Picture this: you're 11 years old, and you learn that your tutor, whom you've been looking forward to seeing all day, is home sick. How do you feel? What do you do? It can be a big deal for a kid.

6th grader Jamiah developed social-emotional skills that helped her stay on track at tutoring.

If you're 6th grader Jamiah, you know exactly what to do. Jamiah pulled out her mood thermometer -- a tool Horton's Kids introduced this year to help kids identify and regulate their emotions. 

Jamiah used to the tool to identify that she was feeling disappointed. Fortunately, she had previously come up with strategies to help her get focused and ready to learn. In no time at all, she was having a successful night working on literacy skills with her substitute tutor.

Managing your emotions is part of social-emotional learning -- a set of skills you need to be successful in and out of school.

This year, Horton's Kids launched activities to help kids grow in five essential areas: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills.

This means kids are reducing stress by meditating, drawing, and writing poetry. They're also identifying their strengths and considering how they can best help others.

Kids will take these skills from Horton's Kids to the classroom to their future careers. Thank you for supporting Horton's Kids and making sure that kids are ready for success!

Horton's Kids empowers children living in one of Washington, DC's most under-resourced communities so that they can graduate high school ready for success in college, career, and life.  The children we serve live in a community with one of the highest rates of violent crime in DC, where the average family income is less than $10,000 per year. Children in Horton's Kids are twice as likely to graduate from high school.