What should SEL really look like?

 Today I attended the Teach Maryland Conference in Baltimore. The experience was amazing and I learned a ton from experienced peers and the National Teacher of the Year 2024 Mrs. Missy Testerman. 
 One Keynote speaker was Mrs. Kat Locke-Jones, the 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year. Her story, the one of her brother Sean Locke was inspirational and it was so interesting to learn about her and her families Locke foundation(SL24 is what’s it’s formally called) started on the idea of always being there for young people with social and emotional support. 
Her foundation posed a question in my mind. The county I’m from practices SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) but to such a degree students and teachers alike find it is dragged out and overplayed so much that kids rather tune it out or ignore it completely, leading to much of what their trying to do, futile. What differs from SEL and the Locke foundation is their approach and spread of the program. The Locke foundation wasn’t apart of the curriculum or a set in stone time for every children to have to be apart of, but just a place where students can go to get help, interact, take a break, or aid one another in a positive manner. I think SEL would have a much higher success rate among young people if it wasn’t shoved in their face, if they knew someone and someplace was there for them anytime they need it and not “here’s a required lecture on managing anger”. What do you think it should look like? I encourage you to look up SL24, the story and the impact.