{"id":32556,"date":"2026-01-12T10:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?p=32556"},"modified":"2026-01-12T10:29:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:29:38","slug":"winter-2026-student-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/winter-2026-student-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready, Set, Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Two hurricanes and a global pandemic exposed a need to support coastal North Carolina youth struggling with upheaval. Harnessing lessons from nature, North Carolina Sea Grant and partners developed a project for middle school students across the state to guide them through turbulent times.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On a blue-sky Saturday in March, a group of young children and adults have gathered in a small, open-air shed at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, waiting for the entertainment to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPuppet show in the barnyard in five minutes! Come see it while you still can!\u201d calls an older girl, clad in a blue-and-white tie-dyed T-shirt, to museum goers on a nearby footpath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the shelter, a teenager wearing a matching tie-dyed shirt stands at a small lectern, flanked by several peers in like attire. He first introduces his team \u2014 students from Broad Creek Middle School in coastal Carteret County, North Carolina \u2014 then presents the show: \u201cIt\u2019s a story called Teddy and the Trash Monster<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drama unfolds over five or so minutes as several student puppeteers maneuver animal cutouts from behind a backlit screen while others provide narration. The plot goes something like this: A turtle named Teddy befriends a gaggle of wetland creatures determined to vanquish a vile glob of plastic detritus that has been terrorizing their habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n “I\u2019ve never seen a program like this change not only the students, but the faculty and the energy of a campus and, personally, me. I feel like a better person just being a part of this.\u201d
\u2014 ROBERT CONDIE, EIGHTH GRADE ENGLISH TEACHER, BROAD CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL\n <\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This shadow puppet show is just one of several student creations on temporary exhibit at the museum as part of Creek Week, an educational event celebrating local waterways. At another booth, a phalanx of colorful finger-puppet snails appears attentive with googly eyes and grins. Nearby, a gallery of drawings depicts fish enwreathed with phrases describing traits like \u201cself-awareness\u201d and \u201cmental agility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students\u2019 source of inspiration is a book of fables \u2014 stories with a lesson \u2014 about animals and plants persevering through challenging ecological and social situations. In one fable, for example, a marsh snail survives high tide after heeding sage advice. In another, a snapper teaches a grouper to become self-sufficient after family tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fables are central to Ready, Set, Resilience<\/a>, a middle school program designed to help kids navigate communal and personal hardships, be they natural disasters or relationship struggles. Born from a unique collaboration \u2014 comprising faculty, staff and students from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment and North Carolina State University, resilience practitioners, and other North Carolina educators \u2014 the program also includes lesson plans and complementary activities modifiable for different ages and educational settings.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First piloted in Carteret County in 2022, Ready, Set, Resilience has expanded to five counties across the state, including areas devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. This momentum reflects a growing need to support students through various crises that disrupt lives and learning. It\u2019s also a testament to the dedication of North Carolina teachers who have been instrumental in shaping Ready, Set, Resilience into a versatile program that benefits kids and adults alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs an educator, this is the most impactful thing I\u2019ve ever seen implemented,\u201d says Robert Condie, an eighth grade English teacher at Broad Creek Middle School, who mentored the shadow puppet show team. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a program like this change not only the students, but the faculty and the energy of a campus and, personally, me. I feel like a better person just being a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origin Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 2020, as coastal communities gripped by the pandemic were still recovering from damaging hurricanes in 2019 and 2018, the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina, received a unique request from the local Boys and Girls Club. Personnel were concerned that kids in the club\u2019s afterschool program were suffering from the prolonged disruption to normal life. Could the Marine Lab help?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat they wanted were [Marine Lab] students to come and mentor their kids in a way to support the kids socially and emotionally,\u201d says Liz DeMattia, a research scientist with the Nicholas School and director of the Duke Marine Lab Community Science Initiative<\/strong><\/a>, who co-leads Ready, Set, Resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University students from the Marine Lab had traditionally assisted with science-based programming at the afterschool program. To qualify as mentors, they would need additional training, so DeMattia sought expertise from Patrick Jeffs, a former trauma therapist and founder of a consultancy called The Resiliency Solution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, DeMattia and Jeffs developed a series of mentorship training workshops on resilience. To drive home the concept, they challenged the Marine Lab students to draw examples of nature bouncing back from disturbance. The students\u2019 examples \u2014 a sea star regenerating a lost limb, for example, and new growth emerging after a forest fire \u2014 astounded the workshop leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat they came up with was so beautiful,\u201d DeMattia says. It dawned on her: Weaving examples of nature\u2019s resilience into fictional stories could be a powerful teaching tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond providing entertainment, stories can help kids process difficult experiences and emotions from a \u201cpsychologically safe distance,\u201d says Kathryn Stevenson, director of the Environmental Education Lab<\/strong><\/a> at NC State and co-leader of Ready, Set, Resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telling a tale set in nature through animal and plant characters \u2014 typical protagonists in classic fables \u2014 adds an extra layer of comfortable distance. \u201cWhen they\u2019re able to see characters deal with adverse experiences and display resilience, kids are able to better understand what these skills are and build them without having to engage so deeply with their own personal experiences,\u201d Stevenson explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating the fables that now anchor Ready, Set, Resilience was a group effort led by former Marine Lab community engagement fellow Aurora McCollum. McCollum, who has a master\u2019s degree in environmental management from the Nicholas School, recruited several undergraduates enrolled in a service-learning program called DukeEngage<\/a> to help her pen plotlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, McCollum and her cowriters produced nine stories, now available in a book called Bend in the Wind: A Collection of Nature Fables<\/a><\/em>. Through lively dialogue and narration, the fables explore six qualities fundamental to personal resilience \u2014 mental agility, connection, self-awareness, self-regulation, optimism, and strength of character \u2014 through an ecological lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first story<\/strong><\/a>, by McCollum, is a fitting introduction to a familiar North Carolina scenario: a hurricane. McCollum imagines a live oak named Quint enduring powerful winds by relying on encouragement from seasoned elders, as well as deep roots and a twisted shape \u2014 traits that keep live oaks from toppling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLive oak trees are really well adapted to thrive in hurricane-prone environments,\u201d explains McCollum, who recently published a paper<\/a> tied to her work with Ready, Set, Resilience. \u201cI thought that that translated really well into what we were trying to do [with the fables].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since their debut, the fables have spurred a flurry of creative output. Ready, Set, Resilience programming now includes a suite of lesson plans<\/strong><\/a> aligned with North Carolina educational standards, as well an activity booklet<\/strong><\/a> with mental and physical exercises for centering mind and body. Although the materials build off scholarship in positive psychology \u2014 a field centered on well-being \u2014 DeMattia and Stevenson both emphasize that the program is not intended to replace formal therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t expect teachers to have that special training, but we can support them with activities to decrease stress and increase self-awareness and increase self-control \u2014 those soft skills of personal resilience,\u201d DeMattia says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s gonna be a hurricane, but sometimes it\u2019s gonna be your friends mad at you,\u201d Stevenson adds. \u201cIn middle school, that can sometimes feel really big.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adaptive Traits<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Robert Condie, the English teacher, first heard about the nature fables as students were settling back into classrooms after months of hybrid schedules. Life was hectic, so he was hesitant to try a new program. But then he read the story about Quint the live oak bending, not breaking, in the hurricane. \u201cIt moved me to say yes,\u201d Condie recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He now uses Ready, Set, Resilience to teach the hero\u2019s journey, a literary archetype that involves an individual on a transformative quest. The fables are seamless tie-ins, not just for their emphasis on personal resilience \u2014 a hallmark of the classic hero \u2014 but for their narrative structures and character development, Condie says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other teachers have similarly adapted the curriculum to their respective subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Matthew Turpin\u2019s science class at Morehead City Middle School in Carteret County, the fables help contextualize ecological concepts. For example, a tale about a tree named Terry is a door to learning about mycorrhizal networks. These underground fungal systems facilitate chemical signaling and nutrient-sharing among roots from different trees, improving tree resilience to drought and pests. In the fable, Terry eschews this communal sharing, preferring to hoard resources. When he receives help after falling ill, Terry apologizes for his selfish behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sherwood Githens Middle School, part of Durham Public Schools, Nelly Basile uses the fables to teach her English language learners new vocabulary. The students become more engaged seeing words like \u201cevacuation,\u201d \u201cstorm surge\u201d or \u201crecovery\u201d in stories about natural disasters they may have experienced in their home countries, according to Basile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a more vivid lesson when you incorporate [vocabulary into] scenes that they can actually relate to,\u201d Basile says. When a word is isolated, \u201cit doesn\u2019t mean anything to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility and flexibility of Ready, Set, Resilience reflect the diverse expertise of its architects. North Carolina educators collaborate with Duke and NC State researchers, staff and students on program development, implementation and adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat has been most eye-opening for me is that no matter what we create, amazing teachers take it in and are able to modify it for their needs and their students,\u201d DeMattia says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Periodic workshops run by Ready, Set, Resilience team members provide designated time for teachers to offer feedback on what works and what doesn\u2019t.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of the curriculum is given to the teachers [with the instruction] \u2018You must do this.\u2019 It\u2019s \u2018What are your ideas?\u2019\u201d says Sarah Spiegler, coastal resilience specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a>. \u201cThe teachers actually test the curriculum in the classroom, and they come back and they make changes to it, and they tell the researchers, \u2018This worked\u2019 or, \u2018This didn\u2019t work.\u2019 And so it\u2019s very iterative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Carolina Sea Grant is a primary funder of Ready, Set, Resilience, along with the Nicholas School, the Marine Lab, the Duke Office of Community Affairs<\/a> and NC State\u2019s Kenan Fellows Program<\/a>. Additionally, as part of a Duke Bass Connections project<\/a> with DeMattia, Theater Studies<\/a> professor of the practice Torry Bend is creating new ways to explore resilience through the use of puppetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Nelly Basile notes, a puppet show could be an effective way for her English language learners to participate in an annual multicultural event at their school. Some kids worry about making mistakes in public, she says, but they may have \u201cmore confidence to speak through a puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs of Success<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

So far, more than 100 educators from six public school districts have worked with Ready, Set, Resilience program materials to some extent. Recent additions include educators in Yancey and Buncombe counties in western North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene claimed more than 100 lives and caused more than $53 billion<\/a> in direct and indirect damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether program adoption is benefitting students is one focus of Stevenson\u2019s research at NC State. Currently, her team is working with participating educators and analyzing student assessments to determine how success might be measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to understand what\u2019s going on in the classrooms before we can understand how that\u2019s impacting students,\u201d Stevenson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anecdotal evidence suggests the program is resonating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Laws, a science teacher at Mountain Heritage High School in Yancey County, began using Ready, Set, Resilience shortly after Hurricane Helene. For one assignment, she asked her ninth grade students to form small groups, read a fable, and write their own by incorporating concepts from class lectures on ecology. Then, each group presented their stories to their classmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One group shared a fable about a snake shunned by its peers who ends up saving their habitat from developers. Realizing they had misjudged the serpent, the other animals accept their hero.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen [these students] presented, I asked them how they got to this idea,\u201d Laws recalls, \u201cand they said that they have neighbors who see their piercings and the way they dress, and [those neighbors] don\u2019t want to talk to them. But when the storm happened, everyone came together, and everyone was helping each other, and that was the first time [these students] felt like they were part of their community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data collected by Stevenson\u2019s team indicates that Ready, Set, Resilience has also had a strikingly positive effect on teachers. In particular, teachers appreciate the respect for their expertise, the opportunity for creative freedom, and building rapport with their students and each other. As it turns out, teacher workshops aren\u2019t just for brainstorming \u2014 they\u2019re also a safe place for catharsis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was Laws\u2019 experience when DeMattia and several educators from coastal North Carolina led a workshop in Yancey County last year, shortly before Thanksgiving. Dozens of local educators from the area showed up for what became a reprieve from Helene\u2019s horrific aftermath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything was just top-notch and exactly what we needed in terms of not reliving the trauma, not having to discuss what happened, but rather making it really positive,\u201d Laws says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was so popular, DeMattia and colleagues led two additional workshops in the spring in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, and teachers from western North Carolina traveled to the Marine Lab on the southeastern coast for a summer workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready, Set, Resilience team members are also planning to participate in the LEAF Global Arts Festival<\/a> in Asheville in mid-October, which will bring more opportunity for connection with western North Carolinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bright Futures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Broad Creek Middle School students who performed at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham had risen before dawn to make the three-hour drive from their homes on North Carolina\u2019s Crystal Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their presentation of Teddy and the Trash Monster<\/em> was the zenith of weeks spent collaborating as members of an extracurricular club focused exclusively on Ready, Set, Resilience concepts. Robert Condie founded the club as a way to bring kids of complementary talents together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the students, creating the puppet show was itself an exercise in building resilience. The script went through at least four drafts and ample discussion, according to lead writer Sophia, now a high school freshman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a lot of taking out things that didn\u2019t work for everybody and adding in things that everybody enjoyed. It was interesting for me, because I usually write solo, to have a bunch of other opinions to worry about, but we did a sort of survey at the end, and everybody [in the club] was very happy with how it turned out,\u201d Sophia says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience was also good preparation for ninth grade, she adds. \u201cI know I\u2019m going to be able to do it instead of, can I do it?<\/em>And I think that\u2019s really helpful going into high school with that mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his part, Condie has turned the club into a nonprofit to support Broad Creek Middle School students who want more engagement in resilience topics with communities and organizations focused on coastal stewardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to be leaders and pillars of the community and take pride in what we have, which is paradise here on the Crystal Coast,\u201d Condie says. \u201cI wanted to put [students] at the forefront of this and really have them own the future of what\u2019s to come here at Broad Creek and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie Leibach<\/strong> composes news and feature stories about faculty and student research as the senior science writer for the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, which originally published this article<\/a> Sept. 23. She is the former science editor of Coastwatch<\/em>, home to several of her award-winning articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shared under a CC-BY-ND license<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n \n from Winter 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/svg><\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two hurricanes and a global pandemic exposed a need to support coastal North Carolina youth struggling with upheaval in their lives. 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