I share the results and ways that the school counseling program is addressing each concern below and look forward to any conversations or ideas you might have in improving our school climate! Willow is a great place to be and we want to make sure EVERY student feels that way!!
CONNECTIONS WITH ADULTS
I cannot stress enough how important it is for students to have several trusted adults in their lives. This has been shown in studies to be a protective factor when it comes to mental health and bullying - adults they can talk to about their problems play a key role.
Last fall, 78% of our students reported two adults they felt safe talking to. Staff took note of this and we talked about connectivity and the importance of it. Together we read a text that discussed the brain and learning - and a major point of this text was that students need to feel safe and emotionally connected to their teachers for an optimal learning environment.
This fall, we saw an increase to 93% - which is great, but not 100%. Seven percent of our students could not name two adults and a few went so far as to type in "no one" in the survey. This amounts to 20 of our students. How can we reach them so they feel supported?
Continued discussion and activities with staff to ensure we are making connections with ALL students. Developing and beginning a formal mentor program - "Willow River Daymakers" - that will begin mid-January.
What else can we do to make sure our kids feel connected and supported while at school?
UPStanders
This fall, 64% of our students felt that students stick up for each other "All of the time" or "Most of the time". What can we do to drive up that number and certainly eliminate the 3% of "Never"? When it comes to experiencing or seeing mean behavior occurring, 8% of our students reported this happening "every day" and 22% reported it happening "A few times a week". What can we do to change this and improve our climate?
While we encourage students to be UPStanders, this fall we had 21% of our students report they ignore mean behaviors. How can we encourage their assertion skills so they can feel confident standing up for themselves and others?
This year the school counseling program pushed for an increased awareness of UPStanding. The idea is that when you see someone being treated badly by another student, you choose one of four ways to be an UPStander rather than a BYStander. Speaking out, Being a Buddy, Telling an Adult, or Interrupting are the four main ways students were taught to be UPStanders, complete with examples of how this could work for any personality or age.
Our Student Council demonstrated the four ways to be an UPStander at our October All-School Meeting and we have been getting reports about UPStanders throughout our building who are brought into the counselor's office, given a t-shirt, pencil and certificate, and we call home to report their UPStanding behavior! This has become the highlight of my year so far!!
In February, we will celebrate the "National Kindness Week" to help continue the push for kindness toward each other - including sticking up for each other and helping each other be more kind.
When it comes to "bully-proofing" our school, the most influential people are our kids - not us. That's tough for us to wrap our heads around sometimes, because they seem so small, but our kids are powerful advocates for each other. They do need adults to help guide them in effective ways to do this, but ultimately, the message "We don't do that to each other here" and "We Choose Kind" coming from our STUDENTS is what will determine the amount of mean behavior that occurs at school.
