New project HAPPY ZONE promotes balance between school and family
“It is urgent to educate for the emotions”
Happy Zone is a project in the area of social-emotional education directed to schools, parents, and teachers. Andreia Espain is the author of educational programs and teaching materials implemented in various schools and clinics in the country.
It is called HAPPY ZONE and is a pioneering and innovative project in the area of social-emotional education in Portugal. Aimed at schools, parents and educational agents, the project aims to promote happiness and balance in school, family and social context. The increasing adherence by the school and clinical community to educational programs and games with the HAPPY ZONE badge testifies to its importance and benefits.
“It is urgent to educate for the emotions”, emphasizes Andreia Espain, author and general coordinator of the project HAPPY ZONE. Created in 2014, the rapid expansion has led to the development of the CALMAMENTE® program Learning to Learn and of pedagogical materials, namely, educational card games entitled: Positive Affirmations for Children (2016); «I Am and I Feel Yoga» (2017) and «A Cloud of Emotions» (2017).
The professional experience as a teacher of Secondary Education allowed Andreia Espain to feel the pulse to the school reality and make a privileged analysis of the emotional behavior of the students. It was then that, identified a gap in the Portuguese school dynamics, decided to create the HAPPY ZONE project that quickly expanded through classes and training sessions, to schools in the Greater Porto region. The main idea was to teach students to develop socio-emotional skills in the sense of self-knowledge and self-regulation.
