My Role at OES ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Classroom Lessons
Guidance lessons are an integral part of the school counseling program and important to every kiddos' academic success. The lessons are preventative in nature, designed to reach all kiddos, and are taught in the classroom regularly by me. The guidance lessons focuses on 4 areas: academic, career, personal, and social. A focus is also on character words.
Small Group Counseling
The purpose of small group counseling is to complement and enhance kiddos' learning by improving their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. Small group counseling provides a safe setting where kiddos can increase their self awareness and improve their cooperation and communication skills. The kiddos learn from each other. Ultimately, the goal of small group counseling is to prevent problems in the future by teaching new skills. Kiddos can be invited to join a group by parent request, teacher or counselor suggestion, or by the kiddo themselves.
Kiddos must have parent permission to participate in a small groups. Letters describing what the group process is all about, with a permission slip enclosed, are sent to parents. A form can be obtained from me. A permission form must be returned before participation in a small group.
Based on the need of the kiddos, I offer the following groups:
Banana Splits - This club is designed to help those kiddos referred to cope with changes in their families and to learn about all kinds of families. It is an opportunity for students to build coping skills, share, and relate to other kiddos going through the same kind of issue as well as increase their sense of belonging.
Social Skills Club/I am Special Club - This club is designed to help those kiddos referred to increase self esteem, relate to others, cope with problems, set goals and contribute in a positive way.
Grief - This club is designed to help kiddos who are referred for grief or loss of a loved one. Considering the sensitive nature of this topic, I will use discretion when accepting kiddos into this group.
Red Hots Club- This group is designed to help kiddos who are referred for management of anger.
Newcomer's Club- This group is designed to help kiddos who transfer to OES throughout the year. The PBS Kids Team help out with new students by showing them around and being a friendly face to the new additions to OES.
Individual Counseling
I am available to meet individually with kiddos in circumstances when a kiddo's educational success is being impacted. I will spend time working with them to improve their social skills, discuss feelings, and to empower problem solving methods.
I can assist ALL kiddos, however, I cannot provide long term on-going counseling. When more attention and intervention is required, myself as well as our district social worker can act as a referral agent for parents to access other counseling services within the community and surrounding areas.
*If you have a concern about a kiddo that you feel needs to be addressed in an individual counseling session, please submit a referral form or contact me.