Last Day Traditions

What traditions do you celebrate on the last day of school?

We normally finish on an early release day, meaning that we release the students after the last lunch shift.  This makes for a short last day.  Since grades have already been turned in, it is a day for celebrations.

Students start out the day with an all school awards assembly where we recognize attendance, participation in extracurricular sports and clubs, and academic achievement.  This year as my collegue and I lined out the awards to pass out, we were both AMAZED at all the students who were so successful!!  (On a side note, we also ran some data for PBIS and found out that 78% of our students did not have a single discipline referral for the 2014-15 school year!)

After our awards assembly, we switch gears and celebrate the talented folks with a talent show.  Our Emcees are 8th graders and they pretty much run the show!  This year's show consisted of singing (groups, solos, duos, with music, and acapella), electric guitar solo, solo color guard routine, and what I will call stick juggling (see picture).  Our talent show always ends with a "surprise" performance by the teachers...usually a dance mix.  This year was no different.  The mix included YMCA, Thriller, Cha Cha Slide, the Superman, the Twist, and many other songs.  The kids LOVE this part!  Boy do they like to make fun of the staff!  :)

After the talent show there isn't much left except yearbook signing and lunch.

And then we send the kids off for the summer.  This is one of my favorite traditions!!  Other schools may do the same thing, but I had never participated in anything like this before. On the first and last days of school, ALL the staff head outside with the students to help the kids get on the busses (the first day they need help finding their busses and the last day they need help getting on them...TODAY!). Once all the students are loaded and the first bus starts to pull away, all the staff line up in a huge row and wave. On the first day we wave and shout, "See you tomorrow!" and on the last day, we wave and shout, "Have a GREAT summer!" The kids smile and wave like crazy. Once all the busses are gone, as a staff we shout and whoop it up! It has brought me to tears each time I've participated. I must add that we do have walkers and car pick ups, but the great majority of our kiddos ride the bus. LOVE this tradition!!!

At the end of the day, we all are brimming from ear to ear with warm fuzzy feelings for the kids we love and the staff who support them.

I just need to stop the tradition pictured below!  I need to leave before the parking lot is totally cleared.  
That's us!  What do you do at your school?

Nick News!

Hi everyone!

Right now we are pretty much inundated with preparing for our standardized test, the MAP.  The format is changing from paper/pencil to computer this year!  If you have a similar situation, you can understand how overwhelmed we are feeling.

Well amongst all the craziness of testing prep, we received some GREAT news!  In our school district, our superintendent has a middle school and high school advisory board (separate so the middle schoolers will talk...they get a little intimidated in front of high schoolers).  One of my duties is to drive our two students to the board office and back each time they meet.  While that duty might not sound like something school counselors normally do, I have to tell you that I love this duty!!  The kids are great and we have wonderful and riveting conversations to and from the meetings

You are saying, "What is the good GREAT news of which you speak?"  Here it is:  after a conference call from Nickelodeon concerning INTERNET SAFETY last month, Nickelodeon called our district back, saying that they would like to film them for Nick News as they were very impressed with their maturity in handling the internet.  Yeah!!!  Yippeeeee!!!  Hurrah!  Hurray!!!!

So, guess what my job is tomorrow?  You guessed it!  I will be taking the kids over for their interview at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.  I cannot wait to hear what the kids have to tell me!  :)

Seize the Day!

This expression comes to mind as my mind spins out of control with thoughts and ideas from the Bright Futures Community Engagement Conference which I just attended...for free!

Let me explain...

In January 2015 I got an email from the Missouri School Counselor Association (MSCA) of which I am a member.  They had a generous donor, allowing them to send 25 school counselors to the conference with FREE registration.  Being a new counselor, I jumped on that one!

I had to drive 4 hours to get to Joplin from my hometown.  A long drive, but made much sweeter by lodging with my old college roommie who is only an hour away from Joplin.  :)

So, on day one I made it past registration and was looking for seating when I spotted my children's former elementary principal (and now assistant superintendent in my school district).  I sat down next to Mr. T and chatted about Bright Futures, an initiative that we just began in my district (like last month!).  After chatting for a bit, Mr. T asked me if I would like to be on the Advisory Council for Bright Futures.  Of course, I asked about time committment and it did not sound like it was too much, so I let him know that I was definitely interested.

Then, I started attending the break out sessions.  I learned that basically the Bright Futures framework brings community and schools together so that students can have their basic needs met and then give back to the community.  My mind was full of amazing stories and my heart filled up as I heard each one.

If you have not heard of Bright Futures...check it out!  Bright Futures USA.

I learned so much about community partnerships from this conference!  I will say that at first, I was a little scared to drive four hours away for a conference where I knew no one.  Now that I've been there and back, I am so glad I did!!!

It just goes to show how important it is to Seize the Day; to try new things.  There is so much out there for us.  We've just got to be ready to take it on!!  Who's with me?  :)

Bright Futures

#bfcec2015

Middle School Excitement

Today my colleague and I went to one of our feeder schools and talked to the 5th graders about enrollment for 6th grade and what to expect from middle school.

We had an attentive (while squirrelly) audience, filled with questions from, "How do I know what class to go to next?" to "What happens when you are late to a class?"

The kids are so full of excitement and it is so fun to meet them ahead of time and hear all their questions and concerns.

As they ask us questions, we like to subtly push a few things, like good behavior and attending summer school.

Students may not remember everything we present while visiting their school, but it sure is a great chance to introduce ourselves and hear their concern and fears.  I can't wait to work with these kiddos next school year!  :)

Crunch Time

February is a short month.  This being my 2nd year as a school counselor, I have come to the realization that February is the beginning of crunch time for school counselors.

We start out the month with National School Counseling Week, which fires us up and gets us motivated!  :)

At least in my district, we start enrollment for the upcoming school year at the end of January and beginning of February.  This means we coordinate with the high school our students feed into so that they come out to speak to our students about 9th grade enrollment.  This year the high school counselors came on January 29th and on February 6th we went into 8th grade classrooms to use the enrollment information to help students develop their personal plans of study.  I have to admit, it was a little much at once and we are re-thinking how we do this for next year.  We are thinking of starting with personal plans of study in September so that when high school counselors come out to visit in January, our students will actually have a head's up on some of the information.

Now wait!  8th graders aren't the only ones in our building.  The first week of February brought myself and my colleague into the 6th and 7th grade classrooms, helping those students enroll for next year.

We are one of six middle schools in our district.  20 elementary schools feed into those six middle schools.  My colleague and I visit three elementary schools to speak with the 5th graders on enrollment for 6th grade and what middle school looks like.  We have completed one such visit so far and have two more to go.

So...as you can see enrollment is a priority right now, but we are also about to start testing season!  Tomorrow we have meetings about what our state testing will look like this year.  It will be very different...testing is online for us this year.

Now maybe you can see why I entitled this Crunch Time.  This is a time when I write everything in my calendar and check and double check that I am doing all that is required of me.  It's not that it can't be done, but we have to be strategic with our time right now.  

It is also time for most of the 504 plans that I manage to come due so I have to keep up with those and make sure I schedule the meetings in a timely manner.

A good comprehensive calendar is essential for this time of year!  So is self-care.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a school counselor, and I know that this time of year can be stressful with a lot on my plate.  If I work together with my colleague, plan ahead, and take care of myself, I can also continue helping students and staff find their success.  Game on!  :)

#SCCS15 Scholarship for #ASCA15

I just entered the 2015 School Counselor Community Scholarship for ASCA 2015 registration at http://www.thecounselinggeek.com/sccs-2015-scholarship-appl… – Apply by Feb. 14th, 2015. Hosted by The Counseling Geek and The Middle School Counselor.