February Counseling Connection

After kicking off the kindness campaign, our students enjoyed dressup days to promote and reinforce their commitment to kindness. At the end of the month, we will celebrate our first classroom "Golden Rule" award to the classroom that has filled the most links in our kindness chain. This classroom will have the Golden Ruler in their room to celebrate their kindness.

We have 2 groups (one from each grade) meeting now that are both focussing on friendship and social skills. We are still working on the final scheduling of these groups for a consistent schedule, but hope to have that worked out in the next week. I'm really excited about these groups and the skills we will be working on together.

In our classrooms guidance lessons, we are working on skills for learning that was an identified area of need by our DESSA assessment. Students are learning listening skills that are useful as a learner and in relationships with others. Our next lessons will be focussed on self regulation skills and learning how to use resources that will be available in their classrooms to help manage their behaviors. Self regulation is the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulse, and to think before they react. Teachers will be providing an area in the classroom that will be a designated "chill zone" for students to use those resources to help identify and regulate their own emotions.

On Tuesday, February 11th Lexy Kruse, with St. Luke's Hospitals Child Protection Center, will visit 5th grade classrooms to teach students about protective behaviors and gives them guidelines on what constitutes a “safe touch.”

Students in the fifth grade will view a video entitled, “Sexual Abuse: It’s Not Your Fault.” This videos will be preceded by an age appropriate discussion about good, bad, and secret touches and followed by dialogue about the video, the Safetouch Rules, and who they can go to for help. The Child Protection Center’s goal is to reduce the occurrence of child sexual abuse in our community.

Email: hpentico@solon.k12.ia.us
Phone: 319-624-3401