The Bricks Are Coming Down!

Last Thursday in our assembly the 8th grade students performed their skits showcasing our 3 pillars of character: Scholarship, Integrity and Compassion.  The skits served as a way for these students to share with the 6th and 7th grade the insights they gained during Leadership Day.  In addition, the 8th grade created posters representing each of these pillars, however, they are currently covered with paper bricks.  Now the leadership really begins!  The class of 2018 is charged with the task of watching the actions of their younger peers.  They are looking for behaviors that convey compassion, integrity and scholarship.  When an 8th grade student witnesses such an occurrence, they remove a brick from their poster and write a note to the recipient about the excellent character they demonstrated.  Our posters are starting to come into view; the brick wall between us and our pillars is coming down!

As we know, leadership is not something that is learned in a finite amount of time.  The skills of a great leader are refined constantly.  As such, we feel it is important to start building leadership skills in the 6th grade.  Each year our 6th grade girls complete a program called, Step Up, which focuses on positive self-esteem, conflict resolution and solutions to common adolescent challenges.  This year I have the joy of getting to work with these girls through their PE class on the Step Up program.  Last Friday we had some really fantastic discussions about bullying, teasing, and exclusion.  The girls impressed me with their honesty, respect and empathy.  Together we brainstormed ways to respond as a bystander and ways to respond as someone who may be feeling hurt.  We even talked about understanding bullying behavior from the perspective of the bully.  I am thoroughly enjoying my time with them each Friday!  It is helping me get to know them, in fact, I may know all of their names now!  I'm very much looking forward to working with the boys in November and December!

I also wanted to share with you some upcoming group counseling opportunities.  The following are links to the permission/student commitment forms for the groups.  Some students are getting one of these from me because they have indicated an interest in one of these groups on their needs assessment survey or because they were referred by a teacher.  If you would like to talk to your child about possibly participating in one of these groups, feel free to print this form.  Forms are due on FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27 in order to participate. 

Body Image/Self-Esteem Group  
*will be offered to both boys and girls in separate groups

Boys Leadership Group