Inner Balance
March 2021
Exciting Events Coming Up for Dawson Middle School!
HOPE Squad's Hope Week
HOPE Week - March 8-12
CISD is proud to promote Hope Week through our Hope Squads on each secondary campus. Our DMS Hope Squad is currently working on plans for the upcoming Hope Week. Be on the lookout for more information!
The goal of Hope Squad is to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma, and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide.
Hope Squad Core Values:
- We value education. The Hope Squad program was built by educators in partnership with mental health experts. The evidence-based training changes how schools approach mental health and suicide prevention.
- We value taking initiative. Hope Squad members are trained to take action when someone is struggling. Instead of waiting for a peer to come to them, Hope Squad members are the ones to reach out first.
- We value openness. Hope Squad members are trained to be aware of their peers and watch for warning signs. They learn to show empathy to their peers, listen without judgment, and reduce stigma regarding help-seeking and mental illness.
- We value self-care. You can help others best if you are also taking care of yourself. We advocate for maintaining healthy boundaries, building resilience, and avoiding burnout.
- We value community. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes an entire community to save one. The Circles4Hope model recognizes the role of mental health partnerships, school programs, and community connections working together for suicide prevention.
Hope Squad's Area of Focus
- Safety. Hope Squad members recognize the warning signs of suicide, reach out to peers in distress, and refer them to trusted adults.
- Connectedness. Hope Squad members actively look for ways to support their peers and increase connectedness in their schools.
- Bullying Prevention. Hope Squad members recognize bullying, intervene, and encourage other students not to be bystanders.
- Mental Wellness. Hope Squad members promote resilience and self-care and work closely with their local mental health agency.
- Reducing Stigma. Hope Squad members reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and mental health and show that it’s okay to get help.
The Importance of Patience in Self-Development
In the midst of living in stressful times, it's important to recognize the value of patience. Patience makes it easier to live because it reduces negative emotions like stress, anger, or frustration. When one is patient, one is calmer and more open to changes.
Patience can transform your relationships:
An impatient person is often restless, easily irritable, and might not hesitate in saying things that can hurt other people. Impatience clouds our reasoning and can make us behave rudely or inconsiderately. Consequently, an impatient person is likely to offend other people with his/her behavior. Hence, if you care about your relationships, you must be patient and focus on the good qualities and individual traits of the people around you. One way to learn the importance of patience in our life is to adopt an empathetic approach towards people. Empathy can help you understand other people and their circumstances so you don't feel impatient with them. By knowing the importance of patience in life, you will be able to build and maintain strong relationships.
Patience transforms your potential:
Quite often, people wrongly assume that wealth or high physical strength are the only measures of a successful life. However, more than one’s physical skills or material wealth, it is patience that guides people towards greatness in their respective field.
Long-term vision:
By understanding the importance of having patience we can maintain an unwavering focus on our long-term goals. Temporary setbacks like a delayed promotion, failing to qualify for a tournament or exam, or enduring train and flight delays don’t affect a patient person much.
Mental and physical well-being:
We can see how patience plays an important role in our mental and physical wellness. By understanding the importance of patience in our life, we can learn to stay in control of our emotions and avoid negative feelings such as anger, frustration, helplessness, etc.
Ability to make a sustained effort:
Patience gives people the perspective to focus on long-term strategies. You would have noticed that patient people have a reputation for persistence. This is because they work towards their goals despite setbacks and delays.
Peace and popularity:
Patience enables us to analyze things and situations beyond their face value. The resourcefulness, calm, and empathetic behavior and self-control of patient people can make them very popular. It also gives them inner peace and the ability to keep smiling despite challenges.
STOPit Anonymous Reporting System
What does it mean to have a certified HeartMath Coach at Dawson Middle School?
Your Counselor's can help your child boost resilience, composure and clarity!
The HeartMath Building Personal Resilience™ program is a focused and practical program, combining personalized coaching with scientifically validated tools to help your child self-regulate their body’s response to stress and build resilience. They will learn life-long skills you can use any time to increase well-being, personal and academic performance and quality of life experience.
Be sure to contact your child's grade level counselor for more details!
DMS Counselors
Katrina Tatum
7th grade Counselor
katrina.tatum@southlakecarroll.edu
Amy Hurlburt
8th grade Counselor
amy.hurlburt@southlakecarroll.edu
Lauren Canafax
Intervention Counselor
lauren.canafax@southlakecarroll.edu
Website: https://www.southlakecarroll.edu/domain/812
Location: 400 South Kimball Avenue, Southlake, TX, USA
Phone: 817-949-5500
Twitter: @DMScounselors