Graduate Student Research Symposium 2025

This study “Can lunch bunch impact a sense of belonging in the classroom?” explores how lunch bunch sessions can affect a sense of belonging for fourth-graders in a classroom in Hawai’i. Using the CASEL framework to support the main idea of each session. While the concept is used elsewhere, its impact with a new teacher at my school is unknown. I believed small, structured lunches would improve connections throughout my students.
Students were selected via teacher observations and surveys. The goal was to find a new SEL tool for other teachers to use. Lunch bunch sessions were conducted to measure the impact. Though survey results were unclear, teacher observations reveal the benefits of implementing SEL strategies like this one. This research contributes to the understanding of belonging in a unique context, highlighting the need for further exploration.