Spring is here and warmer weather, prom, graduation, and more are just around the corner. Crunch time can be difficult and if stressors have got you down, read on for tips on stress management, resiliency, and coping strategies to help you and yours overcome obstacles and finish strong.

Be sure to check out the link to our SEL Online Library as well for links to read-a-longs for books on anxiety, grief, or any number of social emotional topics. For even more helps, take a look at our newsletter archives on our Counseling Webpage under "Newsletter Archive" in the left-hand column.

As always, if you are concerned that you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health issue, it is important to act. Start the conversation. Seek help from a trusted adult. A list of area Mental Health resources and hotlines can be found on our district counseling website under Counseling Resources. You are not alone.

Take care,

Ashley Ward, MS, LPC, CCTP

Coordinator of Counseling and Student Support

Mabank ISD

amward@mabankisd.net

Recently, our secondary students had the opportunity to participate in Youth Equipped to Succeed’s Aim for Success program. Youth Equipped to Succeed believes strongly in connecting students to positive messages and healthy relationships that will help them navigate cultural pressures. Through their programming, students of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances are equipped with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need in order to achieve more healthy and successful futures.

Mabank ISD is a Capturing Kids' Hearts District. CKH focuses on building relationships, accepting others’ ideas, and building on communication. This program is implemented to impact staff to student, student to student, and staff to staff relationships. Through CKH, staff and students learn and practice skills that they will use every day such as building meaningful relationships, using the EXCEL model to create a safe environment for learning, and using a social contract to develop a self-managing system for behavior and performance.

Coping with big emotions? Sometimes it can be difficult helping our children or loved ones cope with big emotions. Read on for tips on helping your child cope with stress, loneliness, anger and loss.

Momentous Institute has been building and repairing social emotional health for nearly a century. Almost anywhere you look, the research confirms what we know to be true – that people with solid social emotional intelligence are happier, healthier and more successful.

Our K-6 Guidance Lessons are age specific and are built on safe relationships. Lessons move up through self-regulation, awareness of self and others, empowering students to be change makers themselves. We wrapped-up Safe Relationships in the first six weeks of school and have moved on to the next step in our Social Emotional Learning: Self-Regulation.

Awareness of Self takes a look at Gratitude, Optimism, Resilience and Grit. We dug into gratitude during the holidays, and with the new year we are zooming in on goal-setting and motivation which we find in building optimism, resilience, and grit.

Lets take a closer look at each of these:

Optimism:

What Is It?

Optimism is a mindset that allows us to see options for addressing challenges in life. When you have optimism, you have the ability to see that opportunities exist in any situation.

Why Is It Important?

We know that self-talk matters, and it’s important for students to have optimism because it influences how they feel about themselves and their belief in their ability to achieve their goals. Having optimism makes it easier to take risks and view mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. Approaching challenges with an optimistic attitude will help children persist, target their efforts, and ultimately succeed.

Grit:

What is it?

Grit is the ability to keep working toward a goal, especially when it is hard or challenging.

Why is it Important?

It’s important for students to learn about grit because when they keep going, one step at a time, they’re more likely to achieve their goals. In school, children are asked to work hard on things that are not necessarily intrinsically motivating. Sometimes they can begin to associate struggle with failure. We want children to learn to feel comfortable with taking risks and working on challenges. When children learn early that they have an inner source of strength, they approach life and learning with more confidence.

Resilience:

What is it?

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from failures or setbacks.

Why is it Important?

Failure and setbacks are an inevitable part of life. Sometimes, caring adults in children’s lives try to shield them from failure. This is a mistake! We learn so much about ourselves when we experience failure and then “bounce back.” It is essential to teach resilience so that students will have the skills they need to bounce back from setbacks that they will experience in the future. It’s important for kids to learn resilience so that they don’t let failure stop them from achieving their goals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), within the last two years, teen overdose deaths related to Fentanyl have tripled. Over half of all overdose deaths are related to Fentanyl use.

Fentanyl can come in many forms and even the smallest amount can be lethal. It is often mixed with other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Prescription medications can also be laced with it. There have been some cases where the Fentanyl pills were made to look like candy. Oftentimes, the teen has no idea that what they are taking has Fentanyl in it.

What can you do as a parent to prevent your teen from falling prey to this deadly trend?

1) Talk to your teen. Talk about the dangers that they may face at parties and social events. Let them know that they can talk to you about things that are concerning them.

2) Monitor their social media and app usage. This is a common way that teens get access to this drug.

3) Encourage your teen to get involved with extra-curricular activities, church, service projects, community, and school organizations. Keeping your teen involved can help battle loneliness, isolation, and hopelessness.

4) Know how to access the district’s anonymous reporting tool. It can be found on the district’s website. Report any suspicion that Fentanyl use may be occurring in the schools or that someone may be abusing it. Encourage your child to do the same. You could save a life.

5) Monitor your child’s behavior. Has their behavior changed lately? Do they have a new set of “friends”? Are they keeping to themselves more often than usual?

6) Seek help if your child is facing a mental health challenge or if you suspect they are using any substance.

This is an amazing scholarship opportunity available to any Texas student who plans to pursue a trade or vocational degree or certification at an accredited community college or nonprofit trade school in the state of Texas. The Life Association Scholarship may be used for tuition, fees, books, and equipment. They only have 1 applicant as of April 21st, so please share this great opportunity!

Click the link below to complete the 2022 Universal Application for the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) scholarship opportunities. This allows you to apply for multiple scholarships hosted by CFT in one spot.

A chatbot named ADVi – short for “adviser” – uses artificial intelligence to provide on-demand support to Texans looking to attend or return to higher education. Right now, any student in Texas may access ADVi by texting “COLLEGE” to 512-829-3687 or by starting a freshman application in ApplyTexas.

When students sign up to receive messages from ADVi, they receive:

• The ability to ask questions about college 24/7 via text message,
• Backup support from our virtual advisers if a student has needs or questions beyond what ADVi can provide,
• Student-friendly, accurate, and engaging messages about key college access milestones,
• Information and tips to help with their college applications, planning, and financial aid, and
• Resources to help navigate the transition to college.

Learn more at www.askADVi.org.

Ashley Ward, MS, LPC Coordinator of Counseling

Email: amward@mabankisd.net
Website: https://www.mabankisd.net/page/counseling
Location: 310 East Market Street, Mabank, TX, USA
Phone: 903.880.1300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mabankisd
Twitter: @mabankisd