The Counseling Connect
February Newsletter
Teaching Daughters to Deal With Mean Girls
Myths Debunked About School Counseling
- Myth: School Counselors only help the most needy students.
- Fact: School Counselors provide ALL students with a standards based school counseling curriculum to address universal academic/career and social/emotional development.
- Myth: The education system in the US currently supports the right number of counselors to students.
- Fact: The national recommendation for student to school counselor ratio is 250:1. The actual national student-to-school counselor ratio average in 2016 was a startling 464:1
- Myth: School counselors can give long-term intensive therapy for students who need it
- Fact: School counselors provide short-term, brief, solution-focused and structured interventions for students and refer out when a student needs ongoing therapeutic services.
- Myth: School Counselors and other types of educators can be hired interchangeably
- Fact: Certified School Counselors have completed a 48 to 60+ Master's Degree program in school counseling, and have completed a practicum and internship. School counselors are uniquely trained in areas of human development, trauma, relationships, crisis response, and specific counseling/therapy techniques.
8th Grade Career Fair
Why: The purpose of this trip is to provide each student with “real world” information about several careers that interest him/her. Students will choose to attend presentations about certain careers. Each of the presenters will be adults currently working in that career field. Students can then ask questions and solicit advice from someone with direct experience in that particular career field.
Transportation : Transportation will be by regular school bus. We will leave at approximately 11:20am and return to LaSalle Springs at approximately 2:10pm. Don't worry about permission slips! These were sent out in October in conjunction with the South Tech Field Trip. If your student returned a signed permission slip for the South Tech field trip, then they are good to go. 100% of 8th grade students returned these permission slips with the exception of any new students that were enrolled after October.
Lunch: Students will eat lunch at LaSalle prior to leaving for the field trip.
Dress Code: Students should dress as if they themselves were going on a job interview. Please do not feel that you need to purchase new clothing for your child.
Ms. Giden will also be in the classrooms on February 19th and 20th to give a career lesson in preparation for the Career Fair.
Thursday, Feb 27, 2020, 11:00 PM
St Nicholas Family Life Center, South Forty Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA
What Parents Need to Know About Social Media
Mindfulness for Teen Worry by Jeffrey Bernstein- Peering in at Peer Pressure
Peer pressure can lead you to do things that are contrary to your real interests or goals. For some teens, giving in to peer pressure may be something like hanging out talking or texting because it's what your friends want to do, even though you'd rather get started on homework. Or, maybe a sweet talking friend coaxed you to sign up for an activity or sport that you really are just not into doing. Another scenario of getting pulled in by a friend could be following his lead to skip an assignment or a class.
Try this! Mindfully Reflecting on Peer Pressure
Take a few deep breaths to help clear your mind. When your're ready, reflect on times in your life when you have faced pressure from peers to act a certain way or make certain decisions. How have you positively influenced or negatively impacted your peers by perhaps pressuring them to make certain choices? Consider how peer pressure has helped you at times. Then think about the opposite: What, if any, peer-pressure situations led to a regrettable decision or an unpleasant outcome? Afterward, feel gratitude for being open to learning and growing from these experiences.