7th Grade Counseling Blast
Week of March 3rd
Quote of the Week
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
-Audre LordeMarch Upcoming Events-ANTI-BULLYING MONTH
THIS WEEK:
Anti-Bullying Month Starts! See below for info on Crew Plans and Contests, and Bullying stats (at the end of this blast)
Tuesday, March 4th: Anti-Bullying Assembly 2:00pm-3:15pm
5th Grade: Big Gym
6th Grade: Auditorium
7th Grade: Small Gym
Please take students to designated place BEFORE 2pm.
Tuesday, March 4th: All School Community Gathering in Big Gym 3:15-4:00pm
Friday, March 7th: Cameron Track Meet-old TPS Track vs. KIPP Academy 4pm
COMING SOON:
Monday, March 10th: Pennies for Patients Kick-Off Assembly-5th Grade 12pm (instead of recess) in Auditorium (see below for more information)
Wednesday, March 12th: Cameron Soccer Game-Time and Place TBA
Thursday, March 13th: Cameron Track Meet-Hillsboro High School 4pm vs. Lead Academy and Head
Saturday, March 15th: Leadership Council Community Service Project and Potluck at CCP-Community Trash Pick up and clean up 9am-11am, Picnic/Fun 11am-1pm ALL STUDENTS, FAMILIES, TEACHERS, AND STAFF INVITED
Wednesday, March 19th: 5th Grade Movie Fun Day 12:30-2pm, earn based on points, more info to come
Thursday March 20th-Wear Purple Day
-Take a stand against bullying, students and faculty wear purple and jeans :)
Anti-Bullying Month
Crew Plans
-Please participate and express the importance of learning and standing up to Bullying
-Crew plans for the month with links and powerpoints uploaded to Crew calendar
-Please also explain contests and encourage students to enter, may work on in Crew
-3 topics for each week, provided 3-4 activities for each topic, may take more than one Crew period to cover a topic
-One copy for each of the lessons/worksheets/activities will be given to GLC
-Please ask me if there are questions
Contests
-Poster Contest-BEST POSTER AND ANTI-BULLYING SLOGAN, due March 20th
-Must be on white copy paper or poster board
-Must be appropriate
-Must contain a slogan and picture and/or symbol
-Essay Contest- 300-500 words on the topic "How to Stop Bullying in School", due March 20th
-Must have correct grammar and spelling
-Must be neatly written or typed-12 pt Font
-Top 5 for each contest will get a gift card or special lunch
Purple Day-Thursday, March 20th
-Wear purple to stand against bullying
- In Crew this day each student will write something nice about someone else on a blue or yellow sticky note or small piece of blue or yellow paper and have a student collect all from Crew and turn it in to Ms. Parker
-Ms. Parker and Leadership Council will make the notes into the letters CCP and display them on the first floor to show that we promote kindness, not bullying
High School/College Skills
2. How can I support you?
3. Is there a day that works best for High School Information Day?
I am happy to plan and coordinate this if you let me know what you are thinking.
Tutoring Issues
There has been some issues so please let me know if tutors do NOT show up or are late to your class so I can talk to them and the 5th grade teachers. No one informed of problems and I had to find out from Rodriguez that some of them received ISR.
School Store is OPEN Tuesday!!! YAY!
School Store Procedure
1. Please sign up for the School Store on the School Store Calendar
2. You may only sign up during Crew time, no one is allowed in the school store at any other times
3. When you arrive at the store there will be two Leadership Council members to monitor the store and check out your students
4. Have printed or written for students how much CCP Cash they have from the beginning of the semester to spend
5. Only send four or five students in the store at a time
6. Students can only buy up to 3 items per visit
7. Please make sure students put back unwanted items neatly
8. Monitor the rest of your students in the hallway
Other Info
-Prices are higher, new price list will be on the back of the door
-You can have students use their CCP cash for other things priced lower than the store too (convent stores in room, bathroom, other prizes, borrow paper/pencils/books)
-We are in need of more items for the school store, please contact me if you have items
Groups Update
Please allow students to come up to my room during their group time.
See google doc for student names.
7th Grade New Students-Tutoring Wednesday 8-8:40am
Abdo, Eriny G
Buford, Jasmine R
Carrasquillo, Keilah G
Carrasquillo, Will G
Zanchini, Taylor
Leadership Council 7th-Monday Lunch and Recess (12:40-1:40)
Self-Esteem/Anxiety Girls Group 7th-Tuesday Lunch and Recess (12:40-1:40)-talked about rules and got to know each other
Social Skills/Organization Boys Group 7th-Friday Lunch and Recess (12:40-1:40)-talked about goals and what organization is
Individual Students
STUDENT CONCERNS:
Kevin and Luis-thoughts on goals for them?
Sam-goals for the rest of the semester?
Idaly-behavior, goals?
Will-don't really know him, asked for counseling, how is he doing in class?
Students seen on a weekly basis:
Parker
Sam Ghattis7.6
Savanah Whitaker7.5
Kevin Nygen7.5
Idaly Hernandez7.1
Luis Trejo7.5
Will Carrasquillo7.3
Laura Grace
Karson Hathoway7.3
Wendelyn Melgar7.3
Allison
Anita Adithavone7.2
Heru Hayes7.3
Please also invite me to S-team meetings for these students and any other students that might benefit from a counseling perspective. I am also in charge of any students with 504s and meetings to assess students for 504s.
If a student is in crisis, please text me and I will come get them from your room.
If you think a student will benefit from individual counseling or additional support who is not in crisis, please do not email/text me about them or send them to me. Instead, please fill out the referral form so Sanjana and I can figure out the best support service for them.
PENNIES FOR PATIENTS FUNDRAISER March 10th-20th
-March 10th-Kick off Assembly during recess for each grade in the auditorium to explain to kids what to do
-Each student will collect money for children with blood cancer in their own cardboard box and bring to school with them
-Need crew teachers to count money both Thursdays and add it to the google doc in blast next week
-Ms. Parker will color in poster thermometers based on google doc that will hang in each hall and one big one for the whole school-contest between grades to see who collects the most money
Contests:
-The winning grade gets a pizza party
-The winning crew gets an ice cream party
-If we make our school goal something fun like the top student collecting the most money gets to pie Mr. Danhausen or something?
Other ideas?
Bullying Stats and Info
The numbers continue to rise every month...
- It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Source: National Education Association.
- American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims. Dan Olweus, National School Safety Center.
- 1 in 7 Students in Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.
- 56% of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.
- 15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school.
- 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
- 1 out of 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
- 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
- Those in the lower grades reported being in twice as many fights as those in the higher grades. However, there is a lower rate of serious violent crimes in the elementary level than in the middle or high schools.
- 90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying
- Among students, homicide perpetrators were more than twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied by peers.
- Bullying statistics say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings.
- 87% of students said shootings are motivated by a desire to “get back at those who have hurt them.”
- 86% of students said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them” causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.
- 61% of students said students shoot others because they have been victims of physical abuse at home.
- 54% of students said witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school.
- According to bullying statistics, 1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying.
- Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of school-shooting incidents.
Types of Bullying
Bullying can take many forms but it usually includes the following types of behavior:
• Physical – hitting, kicking, pinching, punching, scratching, spitting or any other form of physical attack. Damage to or taking someone else’s belongings may also constitute as physical bullying.
• Verbal – name calling, insulting, making racist, sexist or homophobic jokes, remarks or teasing, using sexually suggestive or abusive language, offensive remarks
• Indirect – spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups, being made the subject of malicious rumours, sending abusive mail, and email and text messages (cyber bullying).
• Cyber Bullying - any type of bullying that is carried out by electronic medium. There are 7 types including:
1. Text message bullying
2. Picture/video clip bullying via mobile phone cameras
3. Phone call bullying via mobile phones
4. E-mail bullying
5. Chat-room bullying
6. Bullying through instant messaging (IM)
7. Bullying via websites
Bully Related Suicide
Suicide remains among the leading causes of death of children under 14. And in most cases, the young people die from hanging. (AAS)
A new review of studies from 13 countries found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied, and suicide. (Yale School of Medicine)
Suicide rates among children between the ages of 10 & 14 are very low, but are "creeping up." (Ann Haas, Director of the Suicide Prevention Project at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
The suicide rate among young male adults in Massachusetts rose 28 percent in 2007. However, that does not reflect deaths among teenagers and students Carl's age. (Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health, in a report released April 8, 2009)
• Since 2002, at least 15 schoolchildren ages 11 to 14 have committed suicide in Massachusetts. Three of them were Carl's age. ("Constantly Bulled, He Ends His Life at Age 11," by Milton J. Valencia. The Boston Globe, April 20, 2009)
• Suicide rates among 10 to 14-year-olds have grown more than 50 percent over the last three decades. (The American Association of Suicidology, AAS)
• In 2005 (the last year nationwide stats were available), 270 children in the 10-14 age group killed themselves. (AAS)
Bullying and Homosexuality
In a 2007 study, 86% of LGBT students said that they had experienced harassment at school during the previous year. (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- GLSEN)
Research indicates that LGB youth may be more likely to think about and attempt suicide than heterosexual teens. (GLSEN)
In a 2005 survey, students said their peers were most often bullied because of their appearance, but the next top reason was because of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression. ("From Teasing to Torment: School Climate of America" -- GLSEN and Harris Interactive)
According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 students...
• Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation
• Nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed
• About a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted.
• Nearly two-thirds (60.8 percent) who experienced harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school
• Of those who did report the incident, nearly one-third (31.1 percent) said the school staff did nothing in response