School Social Worker Newsletter
Alden-Hebron Middle/High School Parent Letter
Hello and Happy New Year!
Welcome back! I hope you were able to enjoy some quality time with family and friends during the Winter Break.
As we begin the second half of the school year, I want you to know that you have some amazing kids! During these uncertain and challenging times, our students have done an awesome job of keeping up with academics and/or extra-curricular activities. Wearing masks, maintaining social distance and (for some) working remotely from home, has been challenging. Our students have demonstrated incredible resilience. We all should all be super proud of them.
It has been an honor getting to know your students this year. I am so excited to welcome them back this week during Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons. We will continue to interrelate and grow in the following areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making.
This school year, during SEL, both Middle and High School students have been participating in mindfulness activities and community circle conversations. By practicing mindfulness, students develop in their self-awareness and improve their self-management skills by learning to focus on the here and now. Opportunities were provided for students to establish and improve their social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making skills by participating in classroom community conversations. These activities were new to some students. Most students seemed to enjoy these activities while others seemed daunted to use their voice among their peers. It was exciting to see students who were reluctant to share at the beginning of the school year now demonstrate a sense of safety by using their voice to share insights on topics.
My role as the School Social Worker is to provide direct and indirect services to students, families, and school personnel to promote and support student academic and social success. I am an advocate for your child; working to address and remove barriers that may impact their ability to learn. Together we work to strengthen partnerships in the home, school and community. If you feel that your child or family needs support, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I can be reached either by phone or email. Please be sure to check out the School Social Worker Blog for SEL updates. Listed below are links to mental health and community resources.
Thank you for all that you do. It is going to be an amazing second half of the school year!
Kimberly Mack, MSW
School Social Worker
Alden-Hebron Middle/High School
Email: kmack@ah19.org
Website: https://padlet.com/kmack46/28akik3d8s6gc5or
Phone: (815) 648-2442