I hope you all are well and that you have something that you are looking forward to for Spring Break! With the help of my wonderful assistant Anne Stephens, I am now moving our update to a blog. We are new at this so let us know if something is not working.
Processing Masking with Students
A memo to all teachers K-12 went out last week, encouraging them to hold community circles or classroom meetings on Friday, March 11th and Monday, March 14th as a way to provide dedicated time for students and teachers to process the change and better understand the choices people make around masks. The memo included circle prompts, questions and resources.
“After March 12, masking will become strongly recommended, rather than required, for students and staff. This means our hallways, classrooms, gyms, libraries and other school spaces will likely include students and staff who are wearing masks and those who are not. While this will create visible differences, it is key that we continue to honor all students and staff and help them feel like part of a rich community of learners.” Read the full memo here.
Limits of Confidentiality
Thank you to Erin Moran for creating this document and to Anne Stephens for printing them. Coming soon to you in English and Spanish via interoffice mail.
Lessons from San Diego
Last month I took the School Counseling ICCLs to San Diego to attend the National School Counseling Leadership Conference. It was amazing and inspiring and we came back with lots of ideas to support our k-12 and ASCA alignment here in BLS. My vision is that one day all schools have a school counselors and a comprehensive school counseling program.
Useful information can be found in the Slide Decks from the Conference. We will try to highlight different slide decks each month so that everyone can join in the learning. This month’s highlight is below.
We attended the presentation Just Say “No” to Sit and Get Workshops: Strategies for Engaging Families in Meaningful Ways. This information may be relevant as we are able to engage with our community as different restrictions are shifting.
The Virtual Drop with Deschutes County
The Virtual Drop is a safe and supportive place online for youth and young adults to connect with each other and with community resources every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3 to 5 p.m.
It is open to Deschutes County youth and young adult residents ages 14 to 29. It is not a requirement to be in-service with Deschutes County Behavioral Health to participate. Individuals can pop in any time while we are open, and stay for as little or as long as they’d like. A Zoom account is not required to attend. It is not a requirement to have cameras on while participating in this service.
More information can be found at www.deschutes.org/thedrop.
Professional Development and Resources
Navigating mental health referrals. On Wednesday, March 30, 2022 from 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM we have an opportunity to meet with the Case Management team at Pacific Source to learn about the referral process for students/families with OHP and private insurance. Bring your questions. Where? Jennifer Hauth’s webex, https://bls.webex.com/meet/jennifer.hauth
San Diego County Office of Education’s School Counselor Videos are full of useful information.
The Central East MHTTC in collaboration with the National Center for School Mental Health is offering a School Mental Health Virtual Learning Series, with upcoming webinars in March, April, May and June.
Free weekly Parent Support Group open to all families of students who are navigating difficult circumstances. The zoom meetings provide a confidential, non-judgmental, safe place for parent to share their emotions, share & receive support, and discuss options and resources. See the flyer for more information.
Erin’s Law
Thank you to the Elementary School Counselor Professional Learning Community for partnering together to update our child abuse prevention curriculum. April is Child Abuse Prevention month.
Summer School
Programming for summer programs is off and rolling. Kevin Milner is taking the lead on this, with summer learning options looking similar to last year. Programming (Jump Start (Gr. 1-5) and Spark (Gr. 6-8) will target learning and enrichment opportunities for our district’s traditionally underserved student populations (gr.1-8) and help these students to get an early start on learning classroom/school routines, along with strategies that will help them to be successful learners in the year ahead. In addition, we will offer participating students with enrichment opportunities that they normally would not experience during their time when they are outside of school.
The process to select students for Jump Start and Spark will be coming up in April.
Some details:
Programming Dates: August 1-19, Monday-Friday
Times:
Jump Start – (8:00-3:30) Day will have two segments: a morning academic focus and an enrichment focus in the afternoon.
SPARK – (9:00-1:00) Day will include academic, with enrichment built into the schedule.
Elementary Sites:
Ensworth: Students from Juniper, Silver Rail and Ensworth.
Pine Ridge: Students from Elk Meadow, Miller, Jewell and Pine Ridge)
Buckingham: Bear Creek, Ponderosa and Buckingham
High Lakes: Students from High Lakes, Highland, North Star and Lava Ridge
LaPine Elementary (Students from Rosland, Three Rivers and LPES)
Middle School Sites:
Pilot Butte (Students from PBMS, Realms,…)
Cascade: (Students from Pacific Crest and Cascade)
Sky View: (Students from High Desert and Sky View)
LaPine Middle School
Summer School for High School: We will continue to offer BLPO summer school classes this year. We will not charge for credits. Contact Amy if you have questions.
We are able to offer Base Camp to 9th and 10th grade students at all of our high schools this summer. We will also offer GED. We will be working with Kevin Milner to get our postings up for the necessary positions. More details to follow.
Local Advocate: Trace Terrell, La Pine Senior HS
Trace Terrell, a La Pine Senior High student, provided testimony to the United States’ Senate Finance Committee hearing on “Protecting Youth Mental Health: Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Care.”
Trace’s testimony was provided through his role as a volunteer for Youthline – Lines for Life.
His testimony was powerful! He shared comments he’s heard from his peers through his work with Youthline, his own lived experiences, and the barriers to mental health care experienced in rural areas. His testimony starts just after 51 minutes in the video linked here.
High School Students Needed:
Camp Tamarack is looking for high school volunteers to help lead our Spring Outdoor School Program from April until the end of the school year! We are looking for high school students who want to gain experience teaching and working with kids. This Spring, high school volunteers will spend 2 days at camp, either a Monday- Tuesday or Thursday- Friday. Earn college credit, high school credit, and volunteer hours. Spend 2 days at camp, make new friends, and transportation to and from camp provided! Once you volunteer, you can apply to work as a paid Cabin Counselor at our Summer Camp for 2-3 weeks this summer!
Sign up at: www.bit.ly/camptamarack
Registration opens on March 25th!