Concord Counseling Updates

Once again we have pulled together and helped many families during this special season. Please know our families who received these gifts were most grateful. We made Christmas brighter for many. Thank you for passing along good will.

Our fifth grade students shared Christmas songs and cards this past Wednesday. What a great way to start our holiday break. Wishing everyone blessings for a healthy and happy holiday season. 

Our third, fourth and fifth grade students are making connections of four skills to help us when we are feeling frustrated about happenings in our daily life. C all a friend, relative, a trusting adult or go to your school counselor A ccept what you cannot change about the situation R e-frame how you think about the situation E nourage a friend or someone else who may be feeling sad

Last week our 4 gr. and 5 gr. students created a counseling folder on their google drive and then made a document listing calming tips that are helpful to them. We plan to repeat this process with different topics throughout of the year. Here is a sample of a student's entry:  Calming Tips Read Run Snuggle with pets Bake Color Do arts and crafts stuff Organize Clean Sing/hum Listen to music Talk to an adult or friend Take a nap Time on an electronic Do stuff outside

 

Lunch Fun with Mrs. Critchlow & Mrs. Geisz Our Concord students are always welcome to spend time eating lunch in the counseling room. Today, several 3rd grade students showed great synergy and cooperation as they played together. They even were proactive in cleaning up after themselves! It's a great day to be a Concord Leader!

Our counseling lessons are centering around a healthy mind, body and soul in grades k-5.  Next week we will display our RED Ribbons showing our class pledge to keep ourselves healthy with our daily choices.

Taking time for reflection about each day can help us see the bigger meaning of life. Daily reflection can help us to make connections with people and events that we may have  otherwise overlooked.  Life is meant to be fulfilling; it is not a check list to be completed.  May we pass down the art of quiet time so our children will know this truth.

Keep it simple.  Keep the important people and habits part of your every day life.

Thank you for taking time for Habit Seven: Sharpening the Saw ! Our students brought in a wide range of items from their nature walk the past few weeks.  Passing along healthy habits of self care such as going on a nature walk can be very powerful and bring restoration. Some of our greatest joys and memories come from the most simple actions or deeds.

Sunday Night Lights-- Sunday October 11 Lindbergh High School is proud to sponsor Sunday Night Lights, a phenomenal evening intended to provide an evening of fun and football to children with life threatening diseases. Thanks to all of the dedicated members of the Lindbergh Community who help to make this possible. Please come out and join the festivities as listed below: 4:00 event begins for patients/family par ticipants 5:45 p.m. Flyer’s Field opens to the public, Stadium concession stand opens 6:15 p.m. SNL Heroes parade into stadium 6:30 p.m. PRE-GAME FESTIVITIES -- 2015 Heroes introduced! 7:00 -7:20 p.m. Kick off – 1 st half 7:20 -7:40 p.m. HALF TIME featuring LHS students and special guests 7:40 - 8:00 p.m. Game time - 2 nd half 8:00-8:15 p.m. SNL Field Dance/ 2015 Group photo

            UNITED WAY * MISSOURI

Over the past 2 weeks, we have visited with ALL of our new Concord students in grades 1-5 during their lunches! Our goal was to help our students get to know each other and their counselors, as well as be able to locate the counseling office. Concord students are always welcome, once a week, to eat lunch in the counseling office! Our school year is off to a great start!!

There are times when our confidence is shaken.  Understanding who we are as a person on the inside can help us rebound again and again.  Having good friends around us who offer encourage and guide in positive ways can be a very powerful act of friendship.  What kind of friend have you been today?

Our PTG has provided extra school supplies and the Rotary Club has provided extra back packs. A special shout out goes to the Rotary Club for providing weekend food bags to some of our families at Concord. These items make for a better day of learning for our students. Thank you for showing care to our school community!

Let's start this new school year with dreams and hopes that fall among the stars for our children and our community!

Help us welcome Maggi Geisz , our new part time counselor, to Concord.  Mrs. Geisz will be at our school every Monday, Tuesday and the first and third Wednesday of each week.  She will work alternate days at Long Elementary with Kim Maddock.  Mrs. Geisz is also dedicating time to serve as our head Pom coach at Lindbergh High School.  We are very excited to have her join our school community. Carolyn Hubert served our Concord community last year as a part time counselor.  She has been assigned as our full time counselor at Sappington Elementary working with Stacey Toomay.  Here's to a great school year for all!

Free Summer Resources: Family Support Network  918-3362 Family Solutions 504-1935 Family Resources  534-9350 Your tax dollars support a St. Louis County  Children's Fund. Please call and see how these services may help your family if the need arises for emotional support.

This week and next week we are having guest speakers from Jewish Family and Children Services during counseling class. Grades k-2 we are hearing  a body safety plan of: No, Run, Tell K and 1watched a short clip of Winnie the Pooh and second grade watched a clip of Camp No, Run, Tell to help understand this concept and the  power to say, "NO!" Our pledge: I'm in charge of my body. I'm the boss of my body. My body is private. Grades 3-5 Kids are hearing safety rules for Internet * our digital foot print is for LIFE * play games online with people you know personally *ask permission from others before posting pictures * stop -block - report - when witness cyber bullying * keep personal information private  * change passwords at least yearly * make passwords at least 8-15 digits with mixed symbols * turn connect device off when not playing so your home is not a "reality show" * age appropriate games and accounts

We want to take time to thank our Concord Dads for purchasing our new water bottle filling station.  It is located in the hallway by the music, art and p.e. entrance.  We are using it daily.  You are so good to us!  

We are currently exploring Career Pathways during our counseling lessons k-5.  Our hope for our children is to be able to connect or identify with two or three pathways as they graduate elementary school.  We will explore hundreds of choices found in each career pathway and dream about careers that have not even been invented.  As our children discover their interest, aversions, talents, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes... we hope they will begin to hear their calling to their hobbies and career paths of choice.

We will begin our MAP testing at Concord next week.  Please check with your child's teacher for their specific schedule. Today on Flyer-vision I showed the kids how to make a tasty protein shake for breakfast.  Start with a milk of your choice (soy/almond or regular) add a package of carnation protein mix, a package of oatmeal, a yogurt cup, fruit and a cup of ice.  Blend and enjoy! You can experiment with ingredients to get your favorite flavor. Please help your child protect their sleep as we continue to learn and grow at school.  A lot of physical and emotional growth, repair/healing and recharging needs to happen each night. Thank you for your support to our school community.  You are the BEST parents!

Grit:  perseverance, commitment, passion, work ethic and the ability to fail and get back up...

    "We want to thank you once again for being there for our family this past Christmas.  The gifts and household items are and will be a huge help to us. The kids just loved all the gifts and clothes. God bless you, the school and all that make this possible to the families in need. Please remember I will help in anyway needed this year to help organize."                                                                                                        Sincerely,                                                                                                      A Concord Family

Try to make a connection with someone by remembering a time you had a similar experience or just try to imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes. Now that you can relate, ask yourself,  How would I like to be treated? What considerations would I appreciate from others? Are you willing to treat others the way you want to be treated? Practicing empathy is like working a muscle. We need to exercise our empathy skills often and regularly throughout our life.

We have been recognizing traits within our own personality.  Our emphasis is knowing we cannot erase these traits but, need to embrace them.  Our goal is to be proactive and have a healthy balance for our-self.  If these traits are having a negative impact on relationships we need to look closer and set goals to have a better balance.

        What is your motto when you fall in life?

A heartfelt thanks to parent, Amy   Deguire,   for organizing our ability awareness speakers for third and fourth grade students. Some of the topics discussed were Downs Syndrome and Autism. Our students had a good day of learning.

As we turn to the second half of our school year we absolutely hold onto our self regulation skills and begin a closer look to delve into problem solving skills. We will emphasize the problem solving skills as a lifetime continual effort to be part of a greater whole. You will be seeing information about Kelso's Choices in the coming weeks.  Our children will come to understand verbal and nonverbal choices to help them in many given situations. We want our children to feel empowered to be able to help themselves when we are not by their side.