Tom Hicks Elementary
Lewisville Independent School District
Crest 2018-2019
Counseling Staff & Contact Information
School Counselor
Tom Hicks Elementary
972-350-4114
Twitter: @HicksCounselor
Category 1: Principal's Comments
Mrs. Stenson drives students success and safety by building relationships with students and families, so they have a safe place to go in time of need. Mrs. Stenson implements all four components of the ASCA model and the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs through guidance lessons, individual student planning, responsive services, and system support. She teaches students how to be proactive with peer relationships, conflict resolution, bullying prevention, drug safety, problem solving, academic success, social skills, and emotional awareness through guidance lessons, small groups, and individual student meetings. She provides a safe and comforting environment for students, teachers, and parents who need guidance and support to be successful in school. Mrs. Stenson created a school wide incentive program that helps maintain safe and civil hallway routines. This program helps our school maintain a calm and safe learning environment for all learners. She also implements weekly small groups, school wide character challenges every month, career awareness through College to Career Week, drug awareness during Red Ribbon Week, and bullying prevention throughout the year. Mrs. Stenson also spends time connecting and building relationships with our community and the resources it has to offer.
The school counseling program at Tom Hicks Elementary supports the campus improvement plan initiatives by assisting in the coordination of district and state assessments, implementing our Academic Medal Plan, and campus award/character programs. Mrs. Stenson helps with all aspects of our campus improvement plan from attendance, campus culture, student and family success, and community partnerships.
LISD Four Cornerstones
Category 2: School Counseling Advisory Council
Curtis Martin- Principal
Brooke Stenson- School Counselor
Kim Sager- Kindergarten Teacher
Lauren Lubke- First Grade Teacher
Amy Edwards- Second Grade Teacher
Jennifer Phillips- Third Grade Teacher
Sandee Crabtree- Fourth Grade Teacher
Odille Hale- Fifth Grade Teacher
Lori Yoakam- Gifted and Talented Facilitator
Laurel Grabe- Special Education Teacher
Christina James- Art teacher
Debbie Blanchard- PTA President and Community Representative
Our advisory council spends a great deal of time planning and implementing a variety of school and community programs to enhance student learning, well being, and safety. The purpose of the advisory council is to ensure that all campus needs are met through the school counseling program . The committee meets every 6-9 weeks or 4 times a school year to make sure everyone at school feels safe, secure, happy, and ready to be their best each day. Members are selected on a volunteer basis with various backgrounds and knowledge. At advisory council meetings there is an ongoing discussion of yearly events and procedures that enhance student learning and experience. Topics range from Red Ribbon Week events, guest speakers, campus assemblies, themed spirit days, special programs, student awards, college and career week, student safety, community involvement, and staff morale.
The feedback from this committee helps to ensure that the school counseling program meets all campus needs and is tailored to the specific needs of our students, families, and community members. Mrs. Stenson takes all feedback and recommendations into consideration. All feedback helps the school counseling program create meaningful experiences for everyone involved and provides a sense of community within the campus, while covering some very important skills and topics that make our school and students function best. Our goal is to provide students the necessary skills to become healthy and confident learners.
As a result of our collaboration, we were able to create a school wide expectations model for the entire school called PAWS. PAWS is a behavior incentive program that creates a safe and respectful school environment. The School Counseling Advisory Council also worked to enhance our College to Career week to make it more engaging for our students and the community members who volunteer. This was a huge success for our campus and we received overwhelming positive feedback from everyone involved.
Category 3: School Climate and Safety
1. Bullying Prevention Unit K-5 by Second Step
The school counselor implements this curriculum through guidance lessons. This particular Bullying Prevention curriculum teaches students how to identify bullying, prevent bullying, student safety, and respect for others. Topics discussed include:
- Recognizing Bullying
- Report Bullying
- Refuse Bullying
- Bystander Power
- Cyber Bullying
David's Law requires that all Texas public schools have the authority to address cyberbullying. These bullying and cyber bullying lessons were taught over an 8 week period during the 2017-2018 school year to all of kindergarten through fifth grade.
2. Child Protection Unit by Second Step
The school counselor also implements the Child Protection Unit through guidance lessons. This curriculum addresses personal safety in relation to abuse and neglect. Topics discussed include:
- Ways to stay safe (8 Never Never Rules)
- Always Ask First Rule
- Safe and Unsafe Touches
- The Touching Rule
Erin's Law states that all public schools are required to implement a child sexual abuse prevention program. These lessons were taught over an 8 week period during the 2017-2018 school year to all of kindergarten through fifth grade.
3. Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week curriculum, which was provided by Lewisville Independent School District (LISD), was taught during the month of October to teach students about drug safety and awareness. Topics discussed:
- What is a drug?
- Medicine Safety
- Peer Pressure
- Respect for Self
- Goal Setting
- Coping Skills
- Refusal Skills
In addition to the Red Ribbon Week curriculum, students also participated in a school wide assembly by the Dallas Mavericks. This program focused on goal setting, believing in yourself, and staying drug free. Students were asked to participate and engage in the assembly. The teachers, students, and parents loved this assembly and it's message.
Our campus also created events for the entire Red Ribbon Week that enhanced student understanding of drug awareness and safety. Activities included:
- Spirit Days created by Student Council
- Drug Free Pledge
- Daily assignment to show understanding of drug safety
- "Proud to be Drug Free" School Poster and Pledge
Additional school climate and safety programs at Hicks Elementary:
- Wolf Call- School wide meeting in the gym once every 9 weeks. Students are presented with awards and announcements are made.
- Student of the 9 Weeks- Each 9 weeks 2 students from every class are awarded for character excellence during Wolf Call.
- Staff Shout Outs- Teachers can write a positive message to other teachers on a display board for all to see. This helps with staff morale and boosts confidence.
- Wolf Paws- Classrooms earn wolf paws for excellent hallway behavior.
- Safety Patrol- students help with car pool, walking students to class, and hall monitoring.
- Student Council- These students help lead Wolf Call, help students and teachers with campus activities, and lead campus tours.
The school counselor plays an integral role in the safety of our school. The campus safety plan is created and implemented by the administration at Hicks Elementary. Mrs. Stenson helps ensure that every student knows safety routes and measures in a crisis event. Mrs. Stenson also has a safe room box ready to go in case a school crisis should occur. Our school district has a Care Team that is utilized in time of need to help students cope with crisis situations.
The school counselor trains all staff on anti-victimization, bullying, child abuse, substance abuse, suicide prevention, child protection unit, and dating violence. She also emails staff and parent flyers that promote awareness and safety measures about these topics.
Bullying Prevention Graph
Students of the 9 Weeks
Red Ribbon Week Assembly
School Wide Red Ribbon Week Poster
Classroom Wolf Paws
Wolf Paws
Staff Shout Out Board
Category 4: Student Results
Goal # 1 Statement
Hicks Elementary will decrease the number of bullying reports in kindergarten through fifth grade from August 28, 2017- May 31, 2018. It was our goal to decrease from 23 bullying reports in 2016-2017 to less than 12 bullying reports during the 2017-2018 school year. This goal was chosen because we want our school to be safe place to learn and thrive. All administrators used a consistent form to track bullying reports. The goal was to have less than 12 reports for the entire school year.
Counselor Interventions:
- Bullying Prevention Curriculum taught by the school counselor through guidance lessons
- Small groups to help with peer relationships
- Thorough investigations when bullying reports are made
- Individual student intervention time for reported students
- Staff, student, and parent informational flyers and presentations were given to spread awareness about bullying
- Consistent form to track and investigate bullying by all administrators
Goal #1 Bullying Report Graph
Goal #2 Statement
Our campus goal is to decrease the number of 5th grade students not meeting grade level on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test. This goal was chosen because the School Counseling Advisory Committee felt like the scores from the previous year did not fully depict the accurate potential of our students. It was our goal to have more students approach and meet standards on the 2017 STAAR test. The test took place in April and May of 2017 and 2018.
Interventions: Every staff member was given a small group of students during our “Pup Camp” to work intensively on specific skills needed to improve STAAR scores. Pup Camp is a program put in place by the School Counseling Advisory Committee, Building Leadership Team, and school administration. This program provided staff members resources to enhance skills for mastery in the areas of reading and math. Teachers also continued to hold regular tutoring sessions for At Risk students.
Counselor Interventions:
- Counselor conducted small groups for tutoring in math and reading
- Counselor completed guidance lessons on test prep and readiness
- Counselor helped create and implement the Pup Camp material and organize tutoring groups for the entire school
- Counselor followed up with At Risk students
- Counselor provided students with resources as needed
Goal #2 5th Grade students not meeting standard comparison
Category 5: Major Achievements
Other Major Achievements
- PTA Honorary Lifetime Membership Award Recipient
- Nomination for School Counselor of the Year
- Member of the Texas Counseling Association
- Character Club Leader
- Campus Building Leadership Team Member
Category 6: Community Partnerships and Resources
Academic Domain
- Watch Dogs- Our Watch Dogs are parent volunteers who spend the day on campus. They spend time working with students in need, mentoring students, helping the teacher, and being a positive role model for all students.
- Destination Imagination Club- Destination Imagination is an after school club that give students a creative outlet to do problem solving activities. This club is led by parent volunteers. Our students are offered an extra push in creative thinking through this club.
- Character Club- This club is lead by the school counselor. Students are taught about various character skills and then students create and plan ways to put each character skill into action. This is a great club that reinforces positive character traits.
- Chess Club- This is a creative after school club that allows students to learn the strategic game of chess and its competitive edge.
- Coding Club- This club allows students to learn how to write code using various software programs. This club is lead by our school librarian.
- Volunteer Mentors- We have volunteers from the community who lend their time to work with students that need extra help with academics.
- LISD back to School Fair-helps students with school supplies and other school needs
- Tutoring sessions- Tutoring is done by teachers and outside community members. Tutoring sessions take place every Tuesday and Thursday. Students are invited to stay on work skills that need to be reinforced.
- College to Career Week Community Volunteers are welcomed to attend and participate during career day. We invite community volunteers to speak to our students about their careers.
Our school counseling program uses a variety of resources to enhance student success. The variety of resources offered help our students become better learners, more confident students, and lends a positive outlet for students who need extra support.
Career Domain
- College to Career Week-Community volunteers spoke to students about their careers during our annual college to career week which took place in February.
- Career Assignment- Students had an optional home assignment to complete about their future career and present it to their class. We had over half the students complete this project in 2017.
- College Bulletin Board- We have a staff college bulletin board in the main hallway for students to see where each staff member attended college.
- Think College Thursday- Think College Thursday allows students to learn about various colleges and wear their favorite college attire once a month.
- The Frisco Fire Department and Police Department- We invite guests to speak to students about their careers and other safety issues.
- Career Day- During College to Career week students are invited to dress up as their future career.
- Paws in Jobland- Paws in Jobland is an online resource that allows students to explore various jobs and skills.
These partnerships help ensure that our students are future focused and have future goals in place. We are very proud of the programs and resources utilized to teach our students about careers, jobs, and life long learning. Th school counseling program is able to reach more students and strengthen interest in careers through the collaboration of these community partnerships and programs.
College To Career Week
College to Career Week
College to Career Week
Personal/Social Domain
- Hicks Holiday Giving Tree- This is an angel tree that helps students in need over the holidays. We partner with McQuaid Vein Care and Independence Elementary for this community project.
- MOD Squad and Watch Dogs- These groups are parent volunteers who help teachers and students. They mentor, make copies, help the teacher, and give students a positive role model on campus.
- Hebron PALS- Hebron Pals are high school students who mentor students in need once a week. These students give one on one attention to those students in need of personal and social attention.
- Circle of Friends- This is a group of students on campus who help work with and build relationships with special needs students once a week.
- Friendship Small Groups- The school counselor meets with students to facilitate positive and healthy friendships once a week during student's lunch times.
- Social Skills Small groups- The school counselor meets with students to work on social skills once a week during student lunch times.
- Character Club- The school counselor leads this club that allows students to work on positive character skills and put them into action through projects.
These resources and community partnerships help our students become the best version of themselves. Our counseling program functions at its very best when we collaborate with resources that enhance our school, such as these. These preventive measures ensure that our student needs are being met. Our students are more successful in personal/social development because of these programs and partnerships.
Category 7: Parent Collaboration
Guidance Curriculum
The school counselor communicates with parents about Guidance Curriculum regularly throughout the year. Starting the first week of school parents are welcomed to the counseling program with a welcome letter from Mrs. Stenson, which explains the school counselor roles and experiences. I share the links for all or our curriculum to be viewed online and offer preview options throughout the year as mandated in Texas Education Code (TEC) 33.004(b). Parents receive a newsletter explaining guidance lessons and upcoming events. Parent resources are sent via email when they coordinate with our guidance lessons at school.
Examples:
- Home links for Second Step Curriculum
- Parent Preview Days for Curriculum review
- Introduction Letter about the counseling program with referral link and parent resources
- Parent follow up resources emailed out to parents that pair with guidance lessons taught at school
- Newsletter explaining guidance lessons and skills addressed
- Open House
- Needs Assessment sent out every year
Responsive Services
The school counselor provides students with individual and small group meetings. These are planned, short term, solution focused counseling sessions. The school counselor is prepared to meet the needs of students and families in times of need and assist families seeking resources. Mrs. Stenson is in constant contact with families through phone calls, conferences, emails, and newsletters.
Examples:
- Parent Conferences
- Parent Phone Calls
- Parent Emails
- Resources for parents
- Counseling news updates on website
- One on one counseling
- Small group counseling
- Student Self Referrals, parent referrals, and teacher referrals
Individual Planning
The school counselor assists students with advising in the areas of social/emotional needs, academic concerns, career interests, and goal setting.
Examples:
- Response to Intervention
- 504 Meetings
- Student Goal Setting
- Conferences with parents, students, teachers, and staff members as needed.
- Paws in Jobland- student job interest
- Individual meetings
System Support
The school counselor never works in isolation. The role of the counselor is to share strategies to support student achievement and collaborate with parents, staff, and other professionals to meet the needs of the students and their families.
Examples:
- Counselor Website
- Twitter and Facebook
- Home links for Second Step Curriculum
- Curriculum Preview Days
- Parent Resources/Referrals available as needed
- Counselor team meetings for collaboration and consultation