001end us tonight and the first thing I'll do is hand it over across the table for our introductions and what we're going to be talking about. >> Absolutely. Well, welcome. Um, I'm David Brower. I am assistant superintendent. I get to work with several departments and one of the departments I get to work with is student services. And it just is so amazing to work with this team um who really are all about making sure students are safe um and ready to access academics. Um and so I'm joined here with Sarah O'Donnell, our executive director of student services. You're going to be hearing from each of these people tonight. So um and then Sher Simpson, our director of I got to write this down. I have to look at a time. Behavior and mental health supports.
002Um and then we're also just super excited to have three members of our counseling team. We just have an amazing group of counselors that support um our students from personal experiences um having students in the school and just how critical our counselors are and have been and truly have just been amazing for my own family as well. So, we have Ally Hubble from Crestwood, um, Deja Barry from Bonnie Lake High School, and Tonnie Randall from Emerald Hills Elementary. And we're just super excited that they get to share firsthand. It's it's easy for us to tell you what it is they do, but really to hear from them. And I also want to recognize behind you is Josha, another member of our student services team, our director of equity, who also works closely with us as
003a team. Um, but the fact that he's hiding back there doesn't mean you can't call on. Just wanted to call that out. Also, we'd like to start with this month is schoolboard recognition month. And so, the plants in front of you are courtesy of the students services department. Um, thank you for helping our students grow. >> Very nice. >> There you go. >> Very nice. Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Right. So, you ready for us to >> Let's do it. Yeah. >> Okay. So we can go ahead a couple slides. So >> yeah, >> wanted to start um with our strategic plan. Everything we do is rooted in our strategic plan. I mean counseling services and student services as a larger whole. We largely focus on social emotional safety. Um because that impacts all areas
004of our student of our strategic plan. Right from goal one through goal five, there's not a piece that is possible without the work that student services counseling does around helping students feel safe, engaged, welcome. And it really is rooted in and focused on our promise to know, value, and support every kid. So, we're super excited to share um some of the things we're doing. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Sherry who's going to kick us off in our next part. >> All right. Well, we have a few outcomes today. um the role of a school counselor may be a lot different than what you remember when you were in school. And so, uh I want you to understand some of the key differences in what school counselors or guidance counselors used
005to have done versus what school counseling is today. And um I'm really excited for our school counselors to share just some of the work that they're doing to close achievement gaps and to really um serve the unique needs of our kids. So, um, so I'm showing a little bit of the evolution of counseling here on this slide. And so, counseling of the past. How many of you guys can remember who your high school counselor was? >> Really? Like, really? >> I got called in my senior year, asked what I was going to do, didn't know. I was in music and she pulled out a book, looked and said, "Do you want to go to Oberlin University?" I said, "Sure." "Do your parents have a lot of money?" "No, it was a great talk. See you,
006>> Mrs. Welch." It was a great >> Hey, anybody else remember? >> I don't I don't remember. >> But that's not their role anymore. It's no reflection. >> That is not the reflection here. Um, it used to be very reactive services like I would call you in if something happened in your class and like you needed to talk to me or if you were crying and you had to come down to the counseling office. It was more reactive services, not data driven. Um, we would measure it based on how we think the program's going versus um looking at real data of our students to measure the growth on certain skills. Um, it was a much more isolated job than it is now. Um so school counseling today we use something called the ask a national
007model. Um and so that's a framework for best counseling practices where they're focusing on datadriven solutions for things in schools. So you'll notice like the counseling work is deeply embedded in the goals that the principles have within their school improvement planning. Uh and especially when they have these goals that are like for subgroups, a lot of times our counselors do very intentional work around these subgroups of students to help remove any barriers. So speaking of that, >> yeah, so um our counseling goals obviously uh they intentionally align with school improvement plans and we focus on both schoolwide and closing the gap. And so you'll see this nesting. We have our district strategic plan. Um and then that uh our school improvement plans focus and support on our uh strategic plan. And then specifically when it
008comes to our counseling program, we have our our comprehensive school counseling plan and we use data from the um TFI action plan. The oh gosh TFI here I am nervous in front of you. I'm nervous tiered fidelity um uh inventory that schools complete on um a yearly basis to really understand our MTSS systems. And then they focus on student growth goals as do many of our other staff members as well. And so just want you to see that nesting of um our counseling roles within the strategic plan and school improvement. So um there's a lot of information on this but big picture I hope you recognize just simply the triangle the tiered system of support. Um and uh just as as Sher indicated um uh school counseling is not a standalone service. Um and in
009fact uh school counseling services are embedded across the three tiers of tier one for um uh support and um prevention uh with kids um uh but basically uh the three tiers of the multi-tered system of support for students and they play a critical role supporting behavior, academics and social emotional um needs through prevention, early intervention and sometimes intensive supports. I mean they are found in all um elements of a tiered system. So big picture um just want you to see um their layer of our tier um onto our tiered system. One of the things I want to point out in this is a lot of times when we think of school counselors, we think of like the one-on-one counseling that someone might get, but they're doing classroom lessons. Um they're doing small groups. And I
010think some of what they're going to share today is around some of those like that diversity of what their role covers in the schools. Uh so we follow what's called the ask a national model. So the American school counselor association model and with this there's three domains. So counselors they focus on academic development, career development and then social emotional development. And I thought those just really fit well into our portrait of a graduate that we have. And um thinking about all of those elements in the portrait of a graduate where those three domains, they really intersect what we see for all of our kids in order to graduate. Um and so I want to spend most of our time today with our counseling panel. So, as in the next couple slides, I'm going to have
011each of them introduce themselves. But what we do as kind of an end of the year thing is they do this counseling spotlight where they shine a light on one of the things that they've done within their work over the past year. And so, I thought what a better way to introduce themselves than to give you one of their spotlights from last school year and kind of talk about what they highlighted as an element of their work from last school year. So, all right. Tonyie starting with group. Um, so again, and Tony from Mineral Hills, we uh I I do a needs assessment. All elementary counselors do a needs assessment at the beginning of the year. And one of the questions that we ask is um do you feel your school is safe and welcoming?
012Do you feel your class is safe? And um last year I had a surprising number of students in that um said that they did not feel that their school was safe and welcoming particularly African students. And I'm not saying African-American students, I'm saying African students because students with um a parent who is from Africa. And um this is really disturbing to me and this admin team. And um so after giving it a lot of thought, I asked some of those students to come meet me for Swahili group where they could teach me some words in Swuhili and I would be a learner. And um then I decided to expand it to all of our students who had a parent who had African heritage. So we wound up with 10 students total. And um I I
013started out with a survey. My school is safe and welcoming. Actually, I used the data from from the original survey for that and then um added data from the remaining students who came. Um I asked or I I added a question. My school respects and welcomes people from all races cultures and backgrounds and I feel I also asked them um a question. I know a lot about my culture and a surprising number of kids especially the older ones fifth graders like oh yeah Mr. I've got this. I know everything about Kenya. My mom talks to me about it all the time. So, um we we had a a just really fun time in group. We would have guest speakers. Um Mr. um what's what's his name? Maurice from Summer High School. Um set us up
014with some guest speakers. Uh some students from Summer um we had parents come in. We uh had some food. Um they the students would go home and learn a fact about their country and come back and report it. and um was really pleased at the end of the year how much those numbers went up. The only number that went down and I took this as actually a positive was I know a lot about my culture actually decreased because all of the students said you know I really need to know more about Kenya. I need to know more about Sierra Leon. So um I thought that was pretty cool. But their feelings of belonging, their sense of our school is being safe and welcoming increased quite a bit. And um uh this year most of the
015parents who had students in that group reached out to me and asked me if I was going to do Rafiki group again. Rafiki means friend in Swahili by the way. So I'm very rewarding. >> Any questions? >> Come by anytime. I'll tell you when the when the group is >> and just making sure you guys know they're highlighting one small thing that they did where I'm like that's a lot of work but that was a piece of the puzzle >> can you speak about the behavior referrals? >> Yeah. Um so thanks do I do you know what Swiss is? I I'm wondering how >> I um >> Okay. All right. So, we have um what does Swiss stand for? It's it's our our behavior referral database, schoolwide information system. Thank you. And so, um when
016when there is a behavior incident that a staff person thinks is sufficiently concerning, you know, so this isn't just me telling a kid in the hallway, oh, he's walking feet. This is something that, you know, it is concerning, perhaps repeated or perhaps high in intensity. It will be logged into our Swiss system. >> And we had a little guy. I'm going to look at my numbers here because I I included one student in this Rafiki group. It was mostly third through fifth graders, but I had one little guy who had um a lot of Swiss referrals. He was our highest flyer, and I don't know if I put his number up there, but he was our highest flyer in the entire school for Swiss referrals. He was um uh physically aggressive to peers, um verbally
017aggressive to the teacher, disrupting class multiple times in a day. And I thought um he could benefit. He he had parents who were from Africa and I thought that he could really benefit from the modeling of this group. So I told the other group, you're the elders in our group. You need to you need to model for this friend. And we had lots of conversations about how to um behave when someone is disrespectful to you, how to behave when you don't like something that's going on. And his um behavior referrals plummeted. um we don't have him back this year unfortunately but but by the end of the year he was doing really really well and I think this group was one part of it you know there were a lot of other but >> is
018that the very last line that you're referring to >> Oh thank you >> from 39 to >> in the first trimester 39 >> to 10 for the last two trimesters that's two trimesters yeah >> that sense of belonging yeah >> which impacted the learning of everybody in this Right. >> Yeah. >> Right. Well, Crestwood Ellie. >> Okay. So, something one small group that I focused on last year at Crestwood was the emotional regulation peer leaders club. So, the goal of this club was to help students build confidence in managing their emotions, overcoming challenges, and self-regulation while connecting with peers and building positive relationships. So last year at Crestwood, we had a really tough population of kindergarten friends. Um, so that's where I spent a lot of my time. So me and the principal, Lisa Roseb,
019we were thinking like, how can we get how can we help target these kids? At the same time, we had some second graders that could have used a little bit extra help and would have been good peer leaders. So we paired them together. So, for six weeks, um myself and another kindergarten teacher co-taught the Character Strong Tier 2 curriculum, um to a group of kindergarteners and a group of second graders. Um and it was just a really cool opportunity for them all to work together, especially because they don't really get that opportunity often. Um and some of the curriculum we went over was kind of noticing your buttons or what's triggering you, naming your feelings, and brain, body, and behavior powers. So, what was cool about this is um the pre-est and post- test averages
020um for each question the average went up to a four or higher which is um which on my scale was always and so I'll read you some of the questions. So, the first question that I asked them um before the group and then after the group was done was one, when I feel angry or sad at school, I know what I can do to help me feel better and get back to learning. Um, number two, I notice when I'm acting differently than my teacher expects me to, and I change what I'm doing to follow directions. Number three, I'm able to identify a range of emotions. Number four, I'm able to read my body's cues and know what emotions I'm experiencing. And number five, I'm able to identify triggers that influence my behaviors. So, that was
021impressive that those all went higher. And then I also look at Swiss data a lot like Tony was talking about. So, um, before the group, the Swiss numbers were pretty high. Um, overall for our kindergarten, that's like the average number of referrals. Um, and then by the end of our six feet group, the kindergarten Swiss referrals had significantly decreased. But we did notice, however, that some of the second grade SO referrals had increased. And I was thinking that that might be maybe I need to have a more targeted group of second graders. I was really focused on who we chose as our kindergarteners because they were kind of our heavy hitters last year. Um, so anyways, another cool positive of this was not only did the second graders get to be positive peer role models
022to the kindergarteners, but then going out to recess, which I do a lot, um, I would see those second graders working with other young students, not just the students that were in the group. And then the kindergarteners got to then go in to their classrooms and kind of be examples and peer leaders of what they're learning in the group. And that's what was awesome about pairing with the teacher too because then they see that it's not just things that they learn in Miss Alli's office with the counselor. It's, you know, kind of what's expected at school and the um what we want from our students to be great learners. So yeah. And then this year, kind of knowing everything that I worked on last year, um I'm in charge of the fifth grade Orca mentors,
023which is our um some servant leadership opportunities. And so they get to go every Tuesday, a group of them get to go to kindergarten, first and second grade classes and have lunch with them um and then go out to recess with them. And the younger kids just love it. The fifth graders love it. This today when I told them they got to go to kindergarten, they got screamed and they were so excited. So it was cute. But yeah, and >> it's like a great program where you're kind of flexing in both directions as far as modeling behavior. >> Yeah, >> that's great. >> It's cool. >> And if you're doing that in kindergarten, think of the dividends, you know, for years kind of obvious. >> Yeah. He skills in here. >> Yeah. >> And the
024charact we use the character strong tier 2 um curriculum and that was really cool because it just kind of has everything laid out for you and then um it's just easy to navigate and so and then it was easy for the teacher to understand how to use that and then she would use some of the stuff and for her whole class too which was awesome for her. So >> again perseverance right now. >> Yeah. >> Seems appropriate. Yeah. Yes, it does. >> But Ally and and I both of you when when do these learnings take place? >> Um this one that we did was during recess. So their first recess which is about 30 minutes. Um and so some of the kids at first and some parent we have to make sure you ask the
025parents of course. Some parents are concerned about like their kid missing their recess time. Um so if that's a concern then we could have shifted it to like lunchtime or something. Um, but it just kind of depends when there's a good time. But this one particular one was during recess once a week for six weeks. We're thinky group was at lunch because if I had done it during recess, it might have been harder to get kids to come. So much >> and hey, high school's a little different just a tiny bit. Um we um so we also try to be really data driven in our efforts and where we're focusing and spending our time and who we're what students we're working with. Um one of the things that we we do um a needs assessment
026as well. Um but we also look at our schoolwide SIP data and looking at groups of students some groups of students who are struggling more than others. So struggling meaning not passing classes at the same rate as the general population or um just maybe not graduate not on time graduation and things like that. So we decided last year to focus on our McKenna Vento students and McKenna Vento is our homeless um unaccompanied youth and we included with that our foster youth as well. Um uh and so we our our thoughts were um you know kind of one trying to figure out okay why are they not passing like what what's going on are they do they have resources that they're not getting do they need access to help after school and they don't have transportation
027because a lot of them are relying on ANA transportation um do they do they need school supplies do they need a snack in the morning like what is it that is creating this barrier um for these students. So, we just started tracking. We got we were able to run weekly reports of their grades and every Monday as part of our PLC, we reviewed their grades. Um and any student who we saw like was struggling, we were pulling those students in and having conversations. And it it wasn't our typical like you're missing this assignment, let's fix it. It was more like, you know, bigger. What's going on? What are the needs that are not being met? Um, an example of one student that I really worked with a lot last year, uh, was he needed help
028after school and his ride came right as school ended. And so it was simple fix just I worked with our McKenney Bento um, liaison in building leaison. She worked with transportation, arranged for him a couple days a week to get a ride later, easy. Then he was able to stay after and get some tutoring and honest like he passed all his classes. It was amazing. So, um, and I and I also really think that that connection, that identifying barriers, um, was part of what helped, um, students raise their grades, really being intentional, really looking at their grades every week and calling students in. So, um, our pre like our first look at our students when we first looked at the beginning of the year, 48% of our Mckini Veno students were passing all their classes.
029But after first semester, 69% of students were passing and earning credit. So, it's still lower than our final um number of students, but that is a pretty big jump. Um and then at the end of the year, I I was trying to find our final end of the year data and I couldn't find it today, but um it's similar to that class number um where the McKenna Ventil students um had a big increase in their class rate for the year. I want to point out how intentional that work is though like >> well I think too when you're getting into the high school level especially mechan students who are struggling with homelessness they're either living out of a car or a motel u just probably being seen being acknowledged that you know who they are
030and then you recognize that they could use some assistance probably just made them immediately feel you know wanted and seen building and that right there is going to have a big impact and then when you actually get into the warp with them, you can see the numbers jumping up. So, I think >> yeah, we're connected seeing um one of my not that I have favorites, but one of my favorite little guys um he was a freshman last year is part of ASB this year and just thriving like you see him around. He's doing things smiling. >> That's a big deal to jump from not being seen at all or being known to being that ASB. and he was one who showed up on my list um >> the weekly list often. >> I would imagine
031too so much better >> like just the weekly review and that if you're homeless that there's somebody who's actually holding you accountable to do the work, right? Because that there that someone's that you know that there's going to be someone who's going to check and they're going to you know bring you in and ask you about it and helps just motivate me to do something, right? that they can. >> Yeah, I think it helps students not slip through the cracks. A lot of times, McKenney Mental students are mobile. They're highly mobile. So, they're they're not always staying at our school or within our boundaries. And so, how can we support them? I did have one student moved to Tacoma. I met with I did a Zoom with the Tacoma school to help transition that student
032um to Tacoma. Um so, I I do I feel like overall I got to know those students a lot better. Um this year um our PFS behavior family support specialist is being doing more intentional work with them. We we are shifting we're still using data. We are shifting our the counseling focus to 504s because that was the next biggest group that did not have success in passing all their classes. they stood out a lot like they so working on making sure their accommodations are appropriate, that students know what their accommodations are, teaching them how to advocate and ask for for help when they they need to use their accommodations. Um, so yeah, that's our that's our goal this year is around 50 students because they continue to be a group who really needs some help.
033Not that we're not paying attention to or we can't even tell, but we're we're including them the 504 this year. >> I want you to establish some institutionality there and then that work can continue while you're working with another group that's still going to continue. >> Yes. Needing that same kind of focus. So figuring out, okay, why are they not passing students on a 54 for lots of different reasons? So really kind of figuring out, okay, how can we best support them and you know, needing their accommodations or or do they need they need something else? you know, teaching them skills too to like self- advocacy and awareness of sometimes executive functioning depending on whatever it is they need help with. >> Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Oh, no. I just wanted to
034add um uh last year's uh graduation rate jumped 12% uninfor students. And when uh our team you know working um with Andy uh on this and looking at this we attributed to the work that high school had done with the intentionality of focusing and supporting u our students. So um from the year prior um it was a 12% jump in the revenue. So I'm just want to say that job is awesome. No, I was just going to ask sounds like you guys all use data to identify your subgroups and kind of your priorities. Do you feel like the data sources that you get are what you need? Do you need do you require it sounds like too that in order to get good data you need the teachers to buy into inputting into that? Do
035you feel that you that that is embraced and um recognize how you use it within your schools? I I would say at the high school we ours is less on teacher input as it's more hard data like grade data. How many are passing their classes at at a grading period or any whatever moment we're looking at. Um, and then for our needs assessment, it's te it's student perceptions of I feel safe at school or um you know there's a there's we could share that with you if you want to see that. But um lots of questions that we ask students and then um some and sometimes we've run um groups based on our needs assessment social emotional like anxiety related groups or things like that. Um it just kind of depends year to year what
036the needs are which is I love the ASKA model. It's just being way more intentional instead of just guessing. Well, I think we should do this this year. Now, this is what the data says we should focus on this year. And then how can we as a there's five counselors at Bonnie Lake High School. How can we as a group work to make positive changes for th those groups of students? >> I think it's utilized in the elementary level too. Um we all use the Swiss and that's really helpful and um teachers buy into it and when a student gets a referral the teacher puts it in so the teacher knows what had happened and then it goes to our assistant principal and she sees it um and I can see them too so it's
037helpful to use >> I've never seen Swiss system so um is it specific um is there specific writeups of what occurred or are there certain definitions of >> drop down menu and each student's listed on there and then you can kind of give a drop down and you can put a comment of it explaining what happened too. >> So thank you contains a lot of information time of day so you can get graphs you know this kid always spikes on that day where it's going on with him on Mondays that kind of thing time of day or >> area of the building >> does that also get passed on to parents >> sometimes sometimes >> if if the students. I mean, most kids have zero, you know, when Swiss there is none, right? >> But
038um yeah, >> but writeups I assume would involve notifying parents. >> Yeah. Yes. Yes. And sometimes um when parents are taking their kids to the doctor, we'll print out a you know a packet which will include Swiss data for them so that the doctor can know and see this is really a problem. >> Thank you. So, >> well, >> we do have one member online, Tom. Just jump in if you have any questions. He had surgery, so he's at home recuperating, but I know he's online. So, Tom, just jump in if you ever have any questions. Okay. >> Hi, Tom. >> Hi, everybody. >> He may or may not respond, but go ahead. He's >> stop. Oh, okay. There we go. Um, we had one team member that couldn't join us today, but I did
039want to just share really quickly her data because I think um what what I was hoping you'd see from our panel is the diversity of what our counselors do. And Aubrey Merritt over at Maple Lawn, she she presented to us and like blew me away with her intentional focus on one specific student who um is selectively mute. And over the course of, if you notice on her graph, over the course of meeting with her over the course of the year, she went, I think it was four sessions without saying a word. Um, and like finally the third session she reported her anxiety level and you can see as time went on with meeting with her over the course of the year like she grew and like started at whisper you know eventually it got to
040the point where she could like actually do a reading assessment with the kiddo in her office. So, um, just seeing that type of impact where yes, it's one student. It's one student who does not qualify for special education. She's she's not getting any special services, but through the interventions with her counselor, we were able to start like making academic progress. So, I just thought it was very impressive and I wanted to show you like just the diversity of the skill set that um, our counselors live here. Well, just that graph, you first look at it, it's a little overwhelming, but once you actually understand that graph, it is that's very amazing >> to see the anxiety line going down, the word spoken going up. And just seeing that progress for for that student is amazing.
041>> Well, I'm thinking of the perseverance it takes to sit through five sessions without the person saying a single word. >> I don't think I could do it. >> It's amazing. Um, so, uh, I thought we'd just answer a couple of panel questions, but if you guys have questions that you want to ask, please go ahead and ask them. But, uh, the first panel question that I had for our group is, uh, how does your role support our promise to know, value, and support every student? So, Bernie, do you want to maybe start? >> Sure. Um, I loved it when we came out with this promise in the Sun Black Lake School District because I think this is so important. Um, my goal every year is to know all of my kids. Um, with 530
042students, um, I'm more successful with some than others, but I do make it a a goal of mine to have lunch with every student at some point before they get to fifth grade. And we don't have a lot of turnover at MS. So I I keep a little I have a little picture book with all their school pictures in it and when I have lunch with them I'll check them off so that I can if anytime I have a free lunchtime and we have three lunch periods in Milville. So anytime I have you know I'm free at 11:30 tomorrow I'll go oh okay and I'll find a kiddo in fourth grade that I haven't had lunch with yet. And um and I always meet meet my target by fifth grade. And then I I um
043have more intentional work with them when they're in fifth grade because we have a student leaders program. And so um I'm usually by the time they get to fifth grade, we're doing multiple lunches together. But um that is how I know all students and I have, you know, questions that I ask each of them. Who is at home with you? How about pet? You know, um what do you like to do when you're not at school? Um, and it's a part of my job that I really value because I've established a rapport with kids. So later if there's a problem they need to come in and tell me about um something that's going wrong in their life, school, you know, wherever um we've already established that rapport and I'm not spending time with them, just
044trying to make them comfortable in my office. >> Um, at the high school, a couple things that we do. Um, we see we try to see all of our freshmen. um before winter break. Um and really it's it's pulling them down, checking in if how's high school going so far or have you joined clubs or sports, how are you checking on grades? Um how are things going? And so I always tell students kind of two parts. One is I want to meet them and check in on them, but I also want them to know who I am and where my office is. Um, it's a big school and some, you know, sometimes they're they have to ask where I'm at when they get their little slip to come down. So, I want every student, um,
045I have 110 freshman this year. I want every freshman to know who I am and where my office is and what I do for them at the high school. Um, we also see our seniors in the fall. um seniors are getting ready to launch and so and that's application season and so we call in every single senior and just whether that's checking on um where you at with your common app you need a letter of rep um what are your plans for next year let's research some trades if you're un you know whatever whatever it is connecting them to apprenticeships or trades or um helping them with their college applications we meet with every one of our seniors in the fall um and then in during registration season, we call it um kind of February,
046March timeline. We meet with every 9th, 10th, 11th grader, and that is to check in on their courses for next year, make sure they're meeting their high school graduation requirements, and that it's their classes that they're choosing are matching their future plans, whether that's four-year college or trades or whatever it is, that their classes make sense for them um with what they want to do in the future. Um, one of my favorite parts about my job is that we do get to know almost every student. And so, um, like Tonnie, one of my goals when I start at Crestwood, I'm in my third year now, but was to learn every student's name. So, last year I got that. Um, now I'm still working on the new kindergarteners, but I'm really proud that I know them
047all. And then, um, I get to do like bus duty in the morning and afternoon. Um, or I do my small groups or classroom lessons. We go into each classroom and teach a bully lesson in the fall. Um, and so that kind of introduces them to me and then they know how they can come see me if they need help or anything. Um, but even just walking in the hallways, we're just very um enshed with our students and that's what I love about it. You get to work with them all of the years they're at Crestwood, not just um for one year you were their teacher. So yeah, >> sounds like all three of you have very busy schedules. >> Yeah. All right. Well, um I think you guys Oops. There we go. Thank you.
048I think you guys have heard some of the differences from just their responses so far of how different it is between elementary and secondary, but thought you guys could elaborate a little bit on some of the key differences in counseling approaches between elementary and secondary, how those developmental needs shape what you do. Um, I kind of think especially at elementary school and especially when they're new to elementary school, you're really focused on teaching them how to be a learner and how to be a good, safe, and kind community of your school um, culture in your classrooms. And so, I think kind of by doing that and having them be a well-rounded learner helps set them up for more success in the future um, academically and in their personal life and things like that. So that's
049kind of what we really focus on at the younger grades. But >> what about you want me to talk about? Well, um I >> Yeah, I think about um I do a lot of work my with my third, fourth, and fifth graders and one of the things that I'm looking ahead to is middle school and um uh just having coping skills and emotional regulation skills because when you look at the at the rates of mental illness and anxiety and depression in young adults, college age adults, it's really scary. So, I'm really working a lot on normalizing difficult feelings and distress tolerance. And um you know, if if you're feeling like this math assignment is really hard, that doesn't mean that you rip up your paper and throw it or that you give up. You you
050know, it's okay to feel uncomfortable. And that's normal. We have to persevere. So, I do a lot of classroom lessons on that because I'm trying to get them ready for completion. Um, and at the high school, and I think I've talked a little bit about that, we're really like when I see those ninth graders, I'm telling them I'm my job to support them is um to make sure they graduate. So, you know, we're tracking credits, we're passing their classes, and if something's coming up, there's a barrier, um, social, emotional, or whatever it is that's getting in their way, our job is to help them problem solve and advocate, um, to help them move past that so that they can graduate. Um so addressing the social emotional and then also helping them connect to career and
051college planning. Um Heather Miley and our building our career specialist is amazing. Um so we partner very closely with her too to help kids find opportunities um to research different career options. She takes students on field trips and um students we bring in guest speakers and always trying to connect students to that next step after high school. Hey, my final question for the group is just around partnering. Um, I know our counselors are just a very integral part of their staff. And so, how do you partner with teachers, administrators, outside agencies, and families to create support systems for kids throughout their school experience? you want to start this time. >> Um so, um kind of mentioned that a little bit. So, we we host um a few parent nights. So, we have our our senior
052um career and college night. Well, not just for seniors. We actually love it when freshman start planning um too. So, um but we do a senior parent night as part of that. Um uh next week is our financial aid night where we are helping families um who need help completing the FAFSA or FASPA to complete that. And then we do an options night helping families understand dual credit enrollment. So running start skills center AP college in the classroom um those kind of programs to earn college credit while they're in high school. Um, in terms of like future planning, those are lots of our um programs that we have to help work with families. Um, and then partnering with our teachers when there when there's a a concern. We host lots of parent teacher conferences where
053we're we're getting teachers and parents and students all in the same room to problem solve or to, you know, identify what's going on and how are we going to work together to help the student. um working with our community partners on mental health. Um I'm grateful for the community partnerships we have with Daybreak and Pathways to Change and the South Group and um what's the drug alcohol? I'm drawing a blank on her name. >> Youth and youth and family and >> and the Auburns. >> What is Eden a part of? >> Oh, Heidi's Promise. >> Heidi's Promise. Um yes, we have great partnerships with community members to support students who need mental health or drug alcohol or Yeah. So, and that's all helping students reduce barriers so that they can be successful. >> Um I
054think being the school counselor, you are constantly talking to parents and teachers um and lots of different stakeholders. Um, a lot of connecting that I do with families is through 504s, students who need a 504, kind of working with them and their teachers. Oftentimes, um, I'm creating the initial 504. Um, so kind of going through that process and seeing what's needed for students. Um, also going back to what Sarah was talking about with the tier one and tier two and tier three MTSS process. Um, I'm part of all three of those tier one, tier two, and tier three teams at our school. But, um, tier two is a really cool spot because it's the kids who need a little bit extra help than just the tier one that everyone gets. And so that's a really
055great time that I get to work with our administrators and our teachers to be able to figure out how we can help best serve this um student and what kind of accommodations they might need like a small group or um check in checkout with a trusted adult and things like that. So um yeah, it's a lot for me. I would say um probably because I've been at Emerald Hills for so long, I I talked to a lot of parents and people are always looking for parenting advice. I mean, people really don't know where to turn, you know, in our society. So, I get a lot of calls from parents saying, you know, hey, this is what's going on. What do you think? Do you have suggestions for me? Um I make a lot of, you
056know, referrals to outside counseling. I work with multiare. We have a multiare therapist coming into our building one day a week. So, that's a a lot of um time is is making those referrals and talking to parents about what that what that looks like. That that's not a school district employee. That's just an agreement we have for somebody to use space in our building to reduce the barriers for parents, you know, of having to take a half a day off work every week, come pick up their kiddo, take their kiddo out of school, drive them down to Kuwala, and then bring them back. instead that child can just be seen at our building for a half hour or an hour. So, um a lot of times spent doing those kind of things, have teacher consultations.
057Um yeah, just kind of whatever people need because at at the elementary school level at least, um you know, parents are such a huge part of their lives. Maybe that's true when they're older, too, but um uh parents and teachers really it really is a group effort trying to help these kiddos. On the parent education note, uh Tonnie's presenting at building bridges in a couple weeks around anxiety, but she she's also led other district-wide trainings for like love and logic and uh so like they have this true belief in providing everyone with the tools that they need for success. So it's awesome. Well, so those are all the questions I have for the panel. Do you guys have any questions for our counselors or district office staff? Um, question. Uh, the work that you guys
058do and the skills you bring are amazing. I'm I'm sitting here thinking, gosh, I hate getting old. But, you know, for 30 years or so, I've been able to watch what has transpired in the district. And really, we did go from when I first got here, which was the very reactive, very um traditional, you know, even kids who boasted that in four years they never saw their cancer, knew, never knew who they were to um building things. And I know there was a lot of pain for those of you guys that have been here for a while and worked your way through the beauty of of advisory at the secondary level building that um to where it is now is is truly such an amazing uh place to be. And and the best part is
059that that the kids do know that they're cared for. The kids and parents parents don't always express it all that successfully. But know how much care goes into that, how much skill and how much talent is is constantly being done. And without your work, I don't think we're at the places we're at with graduation. But even more importantly, I mean, there are some kids who will never graduate no matter what we do. And and I'm looking at my secondary friend thinking we all, you know, after the day after graduation would sit there and go, I don't know why you beat yourself up because so and so didn't walk across the stage. But years later, they would contact you and tell you they're being successful. And I'm being successful because here's what happened. U some of
060them came back 10 years later and still wanted their diploma. So that was great. But to watch what's transpired is just truly been amazing. And it's because of the it's because of that and it's because of the leadership at the district level of making sure that um the resources have been there. Hasn't always felt like it. I know that. Um I know that uh sometimes it took a while to see the positives of some of the things we were doing. But um the other piece that that truly I talked to my wife about this um my whole career in 41 years was was pretty much at the high school level. But those last five years or so I had the pleasure of going down and seeing what happened at the elementary and middle school. And
061there is such magic in the council that those young kids have never had a clue. So thank you guys very much for all you do. It was a great brief. The fact that there really isn't a ton of questions just speaks to how well the presentation was put together and the information that you provided us is just outstanding to learn and see what's happening at all all levels district. So, thank you all too. >> I really appreciate tonight's presentation. I'm glad we're not looking everyone into one group. You're finding their challenges and you're working on those and then put them into the big picture. Everyone is different and this will be addressing every issues that kids the kids might have. That means a lot to all of our students and parents. >> Yeah, everyone thinks
062>> questions or comments. Awesome. Great job. Thank you so much for being a part of this tonight. >> Yeah. Time take you have a busy day and then take your evening. I really appreciate it. >> Thank you for being here. All right, that brings us to >> good for discussion. Allie, >> thank you. >> Oh, my son went to you. >> I've watched it many times. So that could >> well congratulate We've got a few other things here to go over. We got some stuff that I talked about. Before I get to that, is there any topics that anybody want to bring up tonight? >> Um, I know last year I did it not in most timely fashion, but I talked about meeting days of the week. And I know that Lori, not she's an
063eager beaver, overachiever, >> but is already working on Yes. >> the the Bible of some school district, the calendar. Um, and I always as building administrator, if I did something throughout, then the next year was, okay, let's talk about is it working? Do we need to shift? Because there was no sanctity to it. It was just trying to come up on a better team. I'd like to at least have a discussion about is does Tuesdays really work for everybody or do we need to try another one? Uh for me, Tuesdays are really good. The only day of the week really it's not is Thursdays. So, you know, you have what we're talking about. >> I do have meetings on Wednesdays, but I have to say having having board meetings on Tuesday, I don't know what
064it is. makes the week. >> It's a long week. >> I don't know if anyone else feels that way, but um I always think, oh, it's Wednesday and it's not. I've added a bit of So, I don't know if it's just I'm getting used to it still, but um yeah, I mean it does create a crunch for me on Wednesdays on some Wednesdays when I have that overlap for sure. But you guys have always been very gracious. And >> I know my one question I throw down to Jamie please. But I was concerned when we did Tuesdays was I knew the rhythm having worked for Lori of when I had to have things in and such. And I I worried about making a crunch for you and your team having things done that you needed
065to do very close because I know you are meticulous about being ready for >> I may have gotten in trouble a time or two. >> Um, >> thank you Bill. I am I don't have a a day particularly that I couldn't do it just flexes, you know. So, there's not a day that I couldn't do it. Um I will say Wednesdays I liked Wednesdays better for some reason and maybe that's just how it started, but I think the same um feels longer as the week feels longer and I feel like I have less time here for some reason, >> which isn't really true, but it feels better. Tom, do you have any thoughts on any days of the week that work for you or don't? >> Um, it's fine, but Wednesday is more comfortable for
066me as the week goes on. I've got time to dig into things that way from the weekend and but I'm getting used to it. So, whatever the majority wants to do, but if I had a choice, I'd say Wednesday, but if not, Tuesday is just fine. Okay. Um, >> Wednesdays would be great for us. Um, and you know, we'll accommodate whatever you want. Um, but I don't think we realized that Tuesday is a little bit of a pinch. Um, I think we enjoyed having the Monday, Tuesday cushion before Wednesday just to make sure everything was done like it needed to be because Monday is Monday now. Like every it's published and ready to go and done on Monday. It just was really nice having just that one extra day. >> Um, so if Thursday's not
067an option, if Wednesday is an option, going back to Wednesdays, um, that would >> We're talking for next the next year, right? I just want to make sure that's clear, >> right? >> It would start in September. >> Okay, >> I'm good with that. I'm good. >> Well, this isn't anymore anything like me to take action on. >> I am ready to make a decision. >> Yes. Well played. Well played, right? We're about to um start building the calendar for next year and knowing it's on knowing that it could be the direction is going to Wednesday um is very helpful. So thank you. >> Good. Any other topics? >> Tom, did you have anything you wanted to discuss tonight? >> Um no, it was great presentation tonight. I've been always every time I go to
068school district schools in the district learning so much about our counselors. I'm amazed what they're doing and um you know I'm getting I'm getting healed up and look forward to being with you guys next time. Thank you. >> Make sure you recuperate. Don't uh surgeries are no fun. >> Don't go away yet. I think there's still more. >> Yeah, there's still one more. Stay online. >> Okay. >> I do. I just have a couple quick things for you. Um, I appreciate Aaron bringing this back up to the surface to my attention. There's some required trainings that you need to do for WASDA. Um, there are three that WASDA requires, but we only need to do two of them because we don't um we're not required to do the tribal consultation because we're not on that
069list. Um, so I just make copies for each of you to take home and you can look at it, read it over, Tom, I'll send you one on email. >> Okay. that for you to keep you >> he just gave me a thumbs up. Okay, perfect. And then I just wanted to bring your attention back to um the comment that Bill made at the last board meeting about do you want to pursue um the DISC training? Do you want to think about in the future maybe a book study? And I brought you just a little bit more information about what we did as a team, a classified operational team. This was a workbook that we worked through. Um, just with materials and Kevin, you needed a book. And who else didn't get a book that
070Tom? So Tom, I'll either drop this by your house or put it to me. >> I'm gonna see him on Thursday. I'll give it to JB. I'll bring it to you. >> I'll see her tomorrow. >> Perfect. Thursday. >> And today's Tuesday, right? None of us know. I think >> um so what are we thinking? because here is your existing calendar and if you want to fit this in the proposal that I submitted to you really have three options. We wait until next year when we build the calendar and we build it in. We figure out how to take an existing study session and make it longer to fit in the I mean because the the calendar is already built for the year. So things that are on the calendar, I mean, they're already >>
071this team, I mean, we're already planned for like May. Um, so we would need to fit it in in addition to the study session, an existing one or we find um different dates that you would want to meet and talk about. I would suggest you do the disc first and then if you want to add a book study, add that. Um, and then how you approach it is completely up to you. It could be totally informal with dinner. um it's still a study session so there has to be notes and notice and so there's a little bit of a formality to it but if you want it to be very informal time where we just come and discuss um all the way to if you want us to facilitate bring like agendas and outlines and
072uh which would require really for us because the way we do things a lot of time um will really help us figure out which direction you're heading. So, I'm not asking for necessarily a decision, but like a direction would help because if you want to do the DISC uh assessment now, I would recommend hiring a facilitator. Um, if you really want to go in deep to understand what it means, um, Mike Newman did that for us and he's fantastic. Um, although that's what I would recommend. I don't I mean, you can do this a thousand different ways. You can just read it, discuss it. You can just read it. So, I guess we're not >> sure. Yes. Right. Right. This is what you're talking about. >> Yeah. You could work through the workbook if you
073wanted to. Um I'm just trying to figure out what direction you want us to head so we can either say what could we maybe think about this for next year or let's try something this year. I think it from my perspective is this calendar is pretty full and um it's a lot easier for you to build around something when you have a fresh calendar to look at. >> So I would probably advocate for if more robust if all of this is to be accomplished. I would say in the next calendar year but in the meantime we you know we could on our own time dive into some of this stuff. Um, and we could have, you know, two ones or in our one-on- ones. We could continue to discuss it, but I would I would
074probably not be a proponent of disrupting this calendar at the moment and allowing you to plan for future calendar. That's Yeah. And I recognize I mean we're it I was just talking to Terry about how it's almost the end of first semester and wow we just started or seems like it. Um I kind of like the idea even though I I'm I've started reading Houston's book. >> A little bit. Yeah. It's it takes me a little bit. uh you know building a new calendar that because let's face it we're going to be right in the middle of the whole graduation scene and everything else going on here in just it seemed like a few minutes. >> Yeah. So I I still really like the idea of doing the using the tool and the book study
075whether it's whether it's Houston's or something else but I totally understand that people have lives and trying to fit something fit more meetings in right now is not always the easiest. I the one thing I I think is that if going to do it I mean I think I would like to see us do it formal enough like with the facilitator to be able because other to be able to get out of it what we should be getting out of it because I think otherwise >> we just kind of do it on our own at our own time. were one going to be at different places at different times and I think that you know and getting through it and get getting different things out of it and I think that would not be a
076great use of time um because I don't think we'd all be you know at the same get it I think it we'd get much more out of it if we were doing it with a facilitator at some point but I also that being said I don't want to create a lot of extra work for everybody I think um and I guess part it. I was curious when you said kind of informal like was that like we do the work with the facilitator over things more informal stuff because I think you said one of them like two meetings. >> Yeah. So to do the disc um properly you would probably would want to contract with Mike um for at least two sessions and that would be a more formal um setting. I was thinking like the
077book study would be in like informal. Well, that's well it's one option. You can go all the way from informal where we have dinner and we just talk about the book where everybody just reads a couple chapters and hey, what do you think to us on the opposite end of the continuum really spending a lot of hours planning, facilitating, you know, creating agendas and worksheets or whatever we need on that. >> You know what I mean? Yeah. But in our minds, I mean, that's where we go because we're teachers, right? That's are we talking about it or teaching it? And that's Well, I think we we just kept written now for us. He's building it as we spike like for instance, I just kind of push a workflow back I need to do period probably
078in the next few minutes. So, you know, we all have I have work that I got to do after this Pete. >> So, you know, I think recognizing your time and how you build it in everybody's time. It >> probably would be if we're going to do it, let's do it in a robust way. So let's maybe plan for that and not disrupt the current account. >> Yep. >> So I have an idea that if we plan for this >> Sorry. >> Oh, sorry. Yes. Absolutely. >> Did you have any thoughts before we move to the next step? >> No, it sounds good. So, I have an idea that if we take the results, Erin, do you have any? >> Um, well, I guess I'm just catching up in my brain because when I I
079think when this first came up, and correct me if I'm wrong, I think we got really excited about that presentation and just kind of use that momentum to like, yeah, let's dive in and learn, too. And so my thinking at the time was informal um book study on the book that we got John Maxwell. >> Yep. >> And so I started listening to it and in my brain it was like let's don't even talk about the book. But then when I did this I had questions about how I completed it. >> So I guess my question is what is our purpose? What do we want our outcomes to be? And if we are going to spend time on studying something, is this what we want to do or is it something else because we just
080have this? Is this what we're going for? So, I guess my my answer to your question is I'm fine with pushing it back when we have some time and let's be thoughtful about how we use our time and what ways we want to grow and to learn as a board. And if this is the tool, awesome, great. But if we are going to spend because like I said, I was thinking more informal. So, if we're going to be more formal and um thoughtful about it, which is great, too. I want to make sure that the it is appropriate. >> Yeah. >> So, here's my idea. >> Okay. Um first, it's a gift to have this conversation first of all because there have been times where this board is has been you've had to react to
081so many situations. We haven't had the gift of really stepping back to say gosh, what is it that we want to learn? >> Um so, first that's a gift. Second, I think when we get the results back from your board of self- assessment, um it would be a nice way I I think we should look at it and see how something in the board self assessment connects to something like a gap or a hole or something we identify in the strategic plan that then kind of helps you determine what is the it and it creates a nice triangle, right? So you're studying something that not only supports the strategic plan, but what the board self assessment says might be a gap in our own performance together as a team. So that's that's what I would
082recommend. >> As Marily says, you can take what you like and leave the rest. I >> think that's a great way to >> But that would mean everyone has to do the board self assessment. >> Yes, that is on our list of things to accomplish. Okay. So, are we good with that plan? Yeah. >> And when we get those, we come back together. >> Yeah. >> Good. >> You can still do the disc assessment because I'd love to know your >> I did it. So fascinating. >> I've done it. I like Aeranders like >> I know. I know what I'm not really understand what I am. >> Awesome. >> Okay. So, we have a plan. >> I have a quick question. >> Yes. >> These is there a timeline for this? >> Well, not really.
083I mean, they say there's a timeline. have to do sewing within the first two years. Um, your OKMA training you've just recently done, so you don't need to do that again. But, um, >> yeah, >> I think I got what I need. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Well, then we shall be injured. Hi everybody. >> Hi. Nobody's saying okay and you don't feel the trouble if we got a real