Notes from the Room: Connection First at Long Beach Unified
On August 28, we brought Connection First: Practical Strategies to Set the Tone for Learning to elementary VAPA teachers at Long Beach Unified's Teacher Resource Center — a short, hands-on session led by Upward Together, built around a simple idea: teachers can't pour into their students from an empty, unregulated place. Before we ask a room of students to feel calm and connected, we have to give teachers a chance to feel it themselves.
Rather than talking about creative regulation, the room did it. Teachers picked up markers, pastels, and pencils and worked through two brief exercises — a slow, continuous line to settle into the room, and a "Pattern Fill" activity where each teacher divided a page into sections and filled them one at a time with a simple repeated shape.
One teacher's finished Pattern Fill grid — no two came out the same.
What stood out watching the room: no two pages looked alike. Some teachers filled their grid with tight, careful patterns. Others let color and shape spill loosely across the page. That's the point — this isn't about producing good art. It's about giving the body and mind a small, structured moment to settle before whatever comes next — a lesson, a transition, a hard conversation.
Settling in with a slow, continuous-line exercise before the session began.
We closed with a plain-language check-in: what does regulated feel like, and what does not regulated feel like? No worksheets, no jargon — just noticing where you are right now. That's what teachers left with: something small and repeatable, already tested in their own hands before they ever try it with a classroom of students.
About Creative Wellbeing
Creative Wellbeing is a strategic collaboration that grew out of conversations about how to bring more healing into our systems — and how to shift culture by nurturing wellbeing through art.
It is a partnership among the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the Office of Child Protection, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Justice, Care and Opportunities, and the Arts for Healing and Justice Network, as part of the LA County Arts Education Collective. Together, these organizations are advancing the goals of Arts for All Children, Youth, & Families: Los Angeles County's Regional Blueprint for Arts Education.
Upward Together is honored to contribute to this vision — bringing art as a language of healing and connection into school and family settings.
Want a session like this for your own school or team? Get in touch — we'd love to bring Connection First to your room next.
Upward Together partners with schools and organizations across Los Angeles to build calm, connected, creatively grounded cultures.