"The Hardy Personality in Theory, Research, and Practice,"
	Applying Hardiness Training to Second Grade Curriculum - Shiu-Sian Angel Hsu, Remington Elementary
	I am teaching a combination class of first and second grades. All my students are from Hispanic families, receiving free or reduced lunch. Their parents speak limited or no English at all. About one third of my students are overweight which may be due to their food choice and lack of proper exercise. Although they have loving and caring parents, these parents appear not to have enough quality time to educate their youngsters. Therefore, the students spend most of their off-school time watching television and eating fatty snacks. From the hardiness training seminars, I have learned that hardiness is a particular combination of attitudes and skills that facilitate resiliency under stress and adversity. A person's coping skill, social support, relaxation, nutrition and physical activity all contribute to his ability to turn stresses and adversity into opportunities, according to our seminar leaders, Deborah Khoshaba and Salvatore Maddi. With the particular background of my students, I believe that they need such a virtue as hardiness. Two objectives of the hardiness seminar are (i) to communicate the nature of hardiness through introduction of the hardiness history in theory, research, and practice, with emphasis on the effectiveness of hardiness training with the high-risk community students; and (ii) to convey specifics of hardiness training by having participants go through some of the exercises used with working adults. Having completed the hardiness seminar, I understand the theoretical background and the effectiveness of hardiness training. Additionally, I myself have had some specific "personal experience" by having gone through the exercise in the hardiness training. Such knowledge and experience about hardiness is very valuable for me in order to prepare an introduction for my students. In this curriculum unit, I will adopt stories from second graders' reading textbooks, incorporating coping skills and social support skills into comprehensible lessons. I will also design many interesting and practicable activities in health science and physical education classes to teach my students relaxation, nutrition, and exercises. Hopefully, my students will be able to grasp the essence of the hardy personality. With constant practice inside and outside the classroom, hardiness will become rooted in their early lives, and will eventually enhance their health, stamina, morale, conduct, and performance. I truly believe, if we nurture our students with hardiness during their earliest possible age, we can expect not only fewer at-risk students but also more positive and promising generations in the future. Prevention is better than cure. I hope I can prepare my students with the best tool, a hardy personality, for their whole lives.