New Haven teacher working with students to improve school climate across the country

In a 2023 study, the former U.S. Surgeon General found half of adults in America reported experiencing loneliness, with some of the highest rates in young adults.

This summer, a group of interns in Bridgeport is working to make students and teachers feel less lonely as they head into the new school year.

“I think loneliness is a real thing. I think it affects all people any age, and so being able to be a voice an opinion for that. It’s great, you know, to feel like you’re helping somebody even on a computer or in person,” Jordan Cabbagestalk, an intern for School Climate Signs LLC, said.

For six weeks, Cabbagestalk and his peers have been meeting at the Bridgeport Public Library as part of the Youth Employment Program. They’ve been working with the founder of School Climate Signs LLC and New Haven teacher, Furahi Achebe.

“We have all of these digital monitors gracing the halls in schools and in the cafeteria, everywhere. But people are underutilizing them in almost every single school,” Achebe said. “And that’s because no one has the time to put in footage and search for footage that is uplifting and motivating for students. We’ve done that job.”

The interns have been making about 1,000 digital signs to spark daily conversations amongst students and staff. Each sign has things like a word of the day, random trivia, a historical fact and an open-ended question.

The signs can be downloaded and displayed in schools across the country.

“Seventy-three percent of students between 16 and 24 are reporting that they struggle with loneliness. So, they’re coming to school, they’re having all that banter back and forth, and all of us teachers are trying to silence at the beginning of the class period. However, it’s not meeting their needs,” Achebe said.

Achebe also noticed the connection between students and teachers could use a boost.

“I also feel that teachers are trying to reach students when they say, ‘How are you?’ they try to, but I think that question is dated. I think when people are asking that question students are really feeling like this is a rhetorical question and they don’t have time for me to say anything else, but fine. So, ‘How are you? Fine,’ because that teacher, they feel, that that teacher wants to move on,” Achebe said.

The interns hope the signs will push educators and students to dig deeper.

“I feel like people really need it,” said Ile Beckles, a School Climate Signs intern. “I think people need to support each other more often because some people are really, all they need is a little support.”

While the program is wrapping up for the summer this week, the signs made for the students can be downloaded now for free and would last schools through the end of September.

To receive signs for the rest of the school year, schools can buy them in a package.