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In this issue:

ACTSion Items

Mark your calendars for these upcoming opportunities for community building, supported by Wiseburn's Achieving a Culture of Togetherness and Support (ACTS) Committee.

CounSELors Corner

Topic: Working Together to Prevent Bullying:

Check-in. Speak up. Show Kindness.

Bullying prevention is a community effort. We  can all work together  to prevent it and support anyone who might be involved.

Why it matters: Just like bullying has the potential to result in a stressful environment, supportive behaviors, positive choices, and healthy relationships contribute to an optimal learning environment. Therefore, it is important that we work together to foster a healthy school community. 

The big picture: Bullying often involves people who take on one of four roles:

1. The person being bullied - recipient of bullying behavior
2. The person who is bullying - aggressor of bullying behavior
3. Bystander - Someone who holds knowledge of bullying behavior
4. Adult who can help - An adult who has the power to effectively intervene

Whereas someone in each of these roles experiences bullying differently, methods of bullying prevention are similar for all students and include social-emotional skills and self-regulation (checking in with your mind and body), advocacy for self or others, and demonstrating kindness.

How you can support: In honor of National Bullying Prevention Month the Wiseburn School Counseling team invites you to team up with Wiseburn educators to help Wiseburn schools feel safe for all students, support bully-free schools, and promote healthy learning environments for students. Four easy ways to align your practices with the schools’ are as follows:

1. Promote healthy peer relationships
2. Help students regulate their emotions
3. Encourage students to speak up
4. Foster a family norm of healthy communication.

Zooming in: The Wiseburn team emphasizes the importance of strong relationships among students, educators, and families because a healthy community relates to more positive educational outcomes for students. When students experience bullying, appropriate steps are taken to ensure students are supported, behavior is corrected, students learn and grow from the situation, and students feel safe.

When students experience conflicts, which may or may not necessarily escalate to a level of bullying, developmentally and situationally appropriate steps are taken to help restore ruptured relationships. This might included a conversation about respecting boundaries or working collaboratively on a project with the guidance of a counselor, administrator, or other team member (pictured above). Dana Middle School adds to these restorative practices through "Wellness Wednesdays" in POD and the use of a "Bully Box."

In Step with Second Step

All students participate in a social-emotional learning curriculum called Second Step. Second Step helps students recognize when they are having big feelings, regulate their emotions, build self-confidence and advocacy skills, develop healthy social skills, and develop problem solving skills. These lessons also include content related to bullying.

The Second Step lesson schedule is enriched by instruction, activities, and discussion related to topics that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Teachers are asked to follow a general schedule, which is reflected in the table below.

You can support your student in these activities! Find details using the button links below the table to plug into your student's lessons and reinforce them at home.

ACTStended Learning

In this section, find additional resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion, curated by the Achieving a Culture of Togetherness and Support (ACTS) Committee.

SELebrations

Social-emotional Learning (SEL) takes many forms. Wiseburn school site teams create opportunities for students to develop skills through the exploration of emotions, development of relationships, and navigation through growth opportunities.

Cabrillo Launches Friendship Club

Friendship Club is a school sanctioned inclusion program that promotes friendship and acceptance for students with special needs and their general education peers. Cabrillo's Friendship Club’s first session was a big success! Many parents/caregivers attended, and Dana Middle School helpers were awesome. Alice Davis is the Cabrillo teacher who put it all together, working with Dana Counselor, Megan Enge. www.friendshipfoundation.com

Appreciating the Food Services Team

School sites celebrated Food Services staff during National School Lunch Week (10/10-10/14). The National School Lunch Program is a federally-funded program that focuses on providing healthy and affordable lunches for children in the United States. In celebrating NSLW, we highlight the immense contributions and efforts that program operators and foodservice staff have made in making food accessible year-round for these students.

138th St. Builds Community During Recess

138th St. students were presented with the opportunity during recess to complete a pumpkin art project with the counseling team. Students were able to make meaningful connections with each other and participate in non-traditional recess activities.

See you next month!