Junior High SEL & Wellness

Communicating gratitude is always important, but especially at Thanksgiving.

Gratitude is when you feel thankful for the good things in your life. This could be stuff people often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, and family. Gratitude is taking a moment to reflect on how lucky you are when something good happens, whether it's small or big.

You can use lots of words to describe feelings of gratitude: thankful, fortunate, humbled, appreciative, and blessed.

Why Does Gratitude Matter?

Being grateful feels nice, and making a habit of it is good for you. Like other positive emotions, feeling grateful on a regular basis can have a big effect on your life.

Gratitude can:

• Boost your ability to learn and make smart decisions.
• Balance out negative emotions. People who often feel grateful are happier, less stressed, and less depressed. Rather than focusing on what you don't have, notice what you do have.
• Lead to caring actions. When you’re grateful for someone's kindness, you may be more likely to be nice in return. Your gratitude can also have a positive effect on someone else's actions. Thanking people can make it more likely they'll do something thoughtful again.
• Help you build better relationships. When you feel and express heartfelt gratitude and respect to people in your life, it creates loving bonds. It also builds trust and helps you feel closer.

When you make gratitude a habit, you become more aware of good things as they happen.

Gratitude Journal – Write about one or two things you are grateful for.

Gratitude Jar – Fill out small slips of paper with things you’re grateful for. It can be as simple as a beautiful sunrise or thanking a friend. Take time at the end of each week/month to review what you added to your jar.

Gratitude Collage – Cut out or print pictures of things you are thankful for. You can also create a digital collage.

Gratitude Nature Walk – Go outside and observe new things, speak about favorite things you see regularly, or reflect on the impact of the environment around us.

Make Thank-You Cards – Write thank you notes to friends, teachers, coaches, teachers, or family members. Get creative!

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt - It’s a great compliment activity to a walk.

International Stress Awareness Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday of November each year. The day is dedicated to raising awareness about stress and its effects on health, and to promoting ways to manage it. Stress is a common human experience that can be caused by many things, including work, personal life, and global events. It can manifest in a number of ways, such as:

• Constant anger or depression
• Feeling unloved or unmotivated
• Sleeping too much or having trouble sleeping
• Racing thoughts or constant worrying
• Inability to concentrate
• Indecisiveness or making poor decisions

The International Stress Management Association (ISMA) founded International Stress Awareness Week in 1998. The day and week are meant to remind people that acknowledging and addressing stress is not a sign of weakness, and that it's an important part of living a fulfilling life.

Cuero ISD is committed to providing quality education to its students. In an effort to achieve this goal, parents/guardians may refer their student for counseling. Please click on the form below for more information. If you would like your child to receive counseling services, please fill out the form and return to your child's campus.

TCHATT (Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine) provides telemedicine or telehealth programs to children within Cuero ISD. TCHATT also helps to identify and assess the behavioral health needs of children and adolescents and provide access to mental health services. Cuero ISD is proud to be part of this program that helps students get access to mental health treatment and resources. If you would like more information about TCHATT, you can visit their website https://tcmhcc.utsystem.edu/tchatt/ or contact Courtney Kalinowski at ckalinowski@cueroisd.org.

Ruby Rodriguez, M.Ed. ~ Director of Special Programs

Courtney Kalinowski, M.S., LPC ~ School Climate Specialist

Lacy Timpone, M.Ed., LPC ~ School Climate Specialist

Kathy F. Scott, LMSW ~ School Climate Specialist

960 East Broadway Street, Cuero, TX, USA

(361)275-1900