The Pulse
Supporting Learning that is Vital and Personal - 5-4-2015
Five Words Every Child Needs to Hear - Dr. Tim Elmore
This is an excellent article, and one you may want to share with your teachers and parents.
http://growingleaders.com/blog/five-words-every-child-needs-hear/ I have purchased copies of Dr. Elmore's book "12 Huge Mistakes Parents can AVOID - Leading Your Kids to a Successful Life", one for every school. I will be giving these to you at the beginning of our next school year. My hope is that you will be able to share excerpts from the book with parents (newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Etc.) or at parent conferences. The book contains excellent information and advice for parents.
Preventing Bullying With Emotional Intelligence (Marc A. Brackett and Susan E. River)
Emotions matter and they matter a great deal in school. A child who feels anxious, jealous, hopeless, or alienated will have difficulty learning, making sound decisions, and building relationships.
Emotions are also at the heart of bullying-at the root of each bullying symptom is a lack of emotional understanding and self-regulation. Emotional Intelligence needs to be a central component of bullying-prevention efforts from preschool to high school classrooms. What all children need is an education in emotional intelligence. This will help prevent children from resorting to pushing, picking on, or hurting peers as an emotional release. It will also help the targets of bullying and bystanders develop the skills they need to manage their fear and anxiety, communicate their needs, and get support.
Aristotle wrote, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
For more information: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/02/19/21brackett_ep.h33.html
National Nurses Appreciation Day
May 6, 2015 is National Nurses Appreciation Day. Please make your staff members aware. Healthy children are successful learners. Our School Nurses support the physical, mental, social and emotional health of all students and contribute to their success. They work tirelessly to ensure our students and our staff members receive the care and support they require. Many thanks to ALL of our school nurses and to Connie Trent for all she does to support our nurses!
https://www.neushi.org/student/programs/attachments/FiveWays.pdf
Forsyth County Counselor of the Year!
Counselor of the Year
We are proud to announce that Jennifer Gibbs, Professional School Counselor at South Forsyth Middle School, has been selected as our Forsyth County Counselor of the Year. A team of outstanding judges from our community shared these words about Jennifer and her excellent work with students:
“Jennifer is a charismatic, kind, and strong leader who is both honest and forthcoming, but also approachable and tender-hearted. We felt like she is impacting every student in her school with the programs she is implementing. We saw Jennifer as an innovator and change agent, who does all of it to help children succeed. What an incredible calling and woman! “
Dr. Jeff Bearden, Superintendent, Sandy Tinsley, Principal at South Forsyth Middle School, and Debbie Smith, Director of Student Support Services, presented Jennifer with her award. Please join us in congratulating Jennifer Gibbs, our Forsyth County Counselor of the Year!
The Science of Resilience
Below is a link to a great article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education on The Science of Resilience. This is certainly something to keep in mind as we look for ways to improve and support our students and teachers.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/15/03/science-resilience
Communicating with Parnets About Their Student's Behavior - Cammie Neal
Check out this tool for positive ways to describe student behaviors for parent communication and SST.
http://tooloftheweek.org/writing-narratives-about-student-behavior/
Thought for the Day:
There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile.
Zig Ziglar, American Author
1926-2012
Partnership With the Forsyth County Family YMCA
Thank you to Forsyth County Family YMCA for your partnership to further impact our students, families, and community!
"This partnership enables our district to support many students and families in Forsyth County. Forsyth County Schools and the YMCA plan to grow this partnership to support students, our drug prevention programs, our after school programs, and grow our mentoring
program.”- Debbie Smith, FCS Student Support Services Director
Through this partnership, a variety of opportunities are being provided to directly and positively impact students and their families throughout the district, including implementing the Youth Fit 4 Life program in elementary after school programs, offering scholarships for summer camp and other YMCA programs for students and families in need, volunteer and job training opportunities for students, and hosting events for all Forsyth County schools.
"It's our pleasure to become Partners in Education with the Forsyth County School System. The Y looks forward to extending our reach together with this partnership to serve more children and families through our impactful mission centered initiatives of Healthy Living, Youth Development and Social Responsibility.” –Kerry Carithers, Forsyth County Family YMCA
Senior Branch Operations Director
Pictured Left to Right: Debbie Smith (FCS Director of Student Support Services), Hannah Orr (FCS Communications and Partnerships Facilitator), Lindsey Simpson (FCS I Have A Choice Grant Administrator), Kerry Carithers (Forsyth County Family YMCA Senior Branch Operations Director), Jamie Rife (FCS Homeless Education Liaison)
7 Mindsets Partnership with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department
Forsyth County Schools and the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office recently expanded their partnership to include the 7 Mindsets, a character education and student empowerment program. The current partnership includes student resource officers and CHAMPS. Funding for nine Forsyth County Schools implementation was provided by drug seizure funds. Staff training is set to begin in May and implementation in August when school starts.
Social cognitive, social emotional and social moral development are fundamental to student development and growth. The 7 Mindsets focuses on positive adaptions when coping with adversity and life challenges, supporting the growth mindset in students. Research shows the 7 Mindsets has a positive impact on students’ grit, resilience and self-perception, resulting in productive citizens in our community. The 7 Mindsets is founded on servant leadership and compliments the social and emotional well-being of Forsyth County students.