Counseling Newsletter - Winter 2024
Welcome to School Counseling!
The role of a school counselor
The school counselors (formerly known as guidance counselors) are here to support every single student at Ashland Middle School! Here are some of the things we do during the day:
- provide brief, solution-focused individual counseling to support social, emotional, and academic sucess
- provide support during a crisis
- collaborate with school staff, families, and community agencies to support students
- teach classroom lessons to all students about a variety of classroom-related topics
- perform individual student planning to help students with goal setting, understanding their own interests and skills, and achieving their potential
- make referrals for appropriate community resources
SEL Updates
We have had a busy few months at AMS! Here are a few of the initiatives that your student may have participated in:
Classroom Lessons
We recently delved into the challenging world of gossip and rumors. Students explored how these seemingly harmless conversations can have significant consequences on individuals and communities. They also worked together to discuss strategies to resist the temptation to engage in gossip and developed ways to combat rumors effectively.
Minding Your Mind
Our 7th and 8th graders attended an assembly that was presented by Minding Your Mind. The speakers used the power of storytelling to provide education on mental health challenges to our students. This program creates safe communication spaces to discuss signs and symptoms often associated with mental health challenges and how to address them.
SOS (Signs of Suicide)
We delivered this evidence-based youth suicide prevention program to our 8th grade students.
Through the program, students learn:
that depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help
how to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend
to ACT (Acknowledge, Care and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend
who they can turn to at school for help
We encourage you to visit www.mindwise.org/parents for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn.
Want to help?
There are many ways you can support the counseling program at AMS. Here are a few:
- Ask your student about what they are learning in their counseling lessons! We are always having some excellent discussions in each grade - the students are insightful, ask thoughtful questions, and really help us understand the world through their eyes.
- Donate much needed snacks - individually wrapped granola bars, goldfish, pretzels, etc are always appreciated!
- Connect! Have a question about your student? An idea for a topic? Let us know! Parent-school partnership is encouraged to assist with best supporting the AMS community.
AMS School Counseling Staff:
6th grade: Caroline Williams - cwilliams@ashland.k12.ma.us
7th grade: Traci Bartlett - tbartlett@ashland.k12.ms.us
8th grade: Maddie Collins - mcollins@ashland.k12.ma.us