Connect with Counselor Collins

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! I hope your family is safe, healthy, and have everything you need as we started this new year. I an thrilled to serve as your school counselor again.

You and your students are Big Deals to me! I don't take the privilege of supporting your student's social emotional growth lightly. I cannot promise to fix all problems, but I can absolutely try my best to ensure your child will not have to face them alone.

If you are new to Line Creek, and need a better understanding of what a school counselor does, check out this link: The Role of The School Counselor.

I'm here to help you and your student(s) every step of the way. We are better together.

Mrs. Collins

As a school community, we will continue to utilize principles of PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support). You have probably have heard your child talk a lot about the Big 3-Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible, which are our school wide expectations. We use these expectations across all school environments (classroom, lunchroom, restroom, playground, library, hallway, and bus). We are committed to teach, reinforce, and acknowledge appropriate behaviors to create a safe and effective learning environment at Line Creek.

Student's will also receive lessons from their classroom teacher throughout the year that will teach them how to follow the Big 3.

To learn more about PBIS, visit the PBIS Website.

Every classroom at Line Creek will include a morning meeting in their daily schedule to engage students at the start of each day. Morning meetings are to help build a strong sense of community, and set children up for social, emotional, and academic sucess. Some morning meeting content will come from Park Hill's social emotional resource, Character Strong/PurposeFull People (elementary edition). During the first two weeks of school, we started wtih kindness. Kindness is acting with understanding, generosity, and care. To continue your child's learning on kindness, below are conversation starters.

Conversation starters

1. What does kindness mean to you?
2. What is something kind you did for someone else today?

All new students to Line Creek received a counselor introduction the second week of school. Kindergartners will receieve an introduction lesson in September.

We will continue to use Character Strong and Second Step as curriculum resources. Character Strong is a research-based social emotional learning and character education curricula. It's focus will be on fostering the whole child. Second Step is an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum that fosters students' emotional intelligence, empathy, and problem-solving.

Students can receive up to 2-3 counselor lessons each month. Lessons and dates are subject to change anytime during the year.

Topics you can expect your students to learn about from me this year are:

• Empathy
• Emotion Management
  
• Personal Safety
• Social awareness (friendship skills, conflict resolution, cooperation)
• Safety Education

Empathy (Assertiveness, What is/isn't Bullying, Friendship, and Respecting Differences)

• Weeks of September 3rd, 16th, and 30th: Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade
• Weeks of September 9th and 23rd: 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade

One skill students will re-visit throughout the year is assertiveness. Being assertive is a form of communication that helps us get what we want or need, respectfully. Grade levels will practice the following skills to understand what assertive looks and sounds like:

• Face the person you are talking to.
• Keep your head up and shoulders back.
• Use a calm, firm voice.
• Use respectful words

You can build on these skills at home by having your student practice the skills mentioned above with the example question.

Accepting differences allows for students to practice empathy. Having empathy helps us to understand things from someone else's perspective. It develops a sense of acceptance and appreciation of others'.

To help your child apply empathy practice:

1. Have them focus their attention on facial, body, and situational cues to recognize how an individual is feeling.
2. Listening to or asking another person for their point of view.
3. Asking to help someone in need.
4. Saying a kind word to someone.
5. Encourage your student(s) to report behaviors that make them feel uncomfortable at school to a trusted adult.
   

Small group and Individual counseling are available for students to support their social emotional skill growth, and/or academics. Some students who worked with the counseling department last year, have already begun individual sessions.

Small group and individual counseling are arranged upon teacher, administration, student and/or parent referral. School counseling is not intended to take the place of therapy, or outside counseling. It is short term, 4-8 weeks, and uses a solution-focused strategy.

Goals are developed in collaboration with parents, students, and teachers to support student's resilience.

Individual and small group counseling is led by Mrs. Roederer (School Social Worker); Ms. Mary Kate (Synergy Resilliency Specialist); and or me (Mrs. Collins, School Counselor).

If a student, needs to check in with me to discuss a problem or feeling they are experiencing, I am available. Students can request to see me by asking their teacher, parent or emailing me. Please remind your student that if what they want to speak to me about an emergency and someone is in danger, to tell an adult immediately.

If you are concerned that your student needs individual and small group support, please let me know. Feel free to reach out to me via phone or email; information is below.

I am thrilled to welcome Mrs. Roederer. She will serve as our new School Social Worker this year. Laura Roederer, MSW, completed both her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in social work at George Mason University in Northern Virginia. Mrs. Roederer has worked in other realms of social work including therapeutic foster care, transitional living programs with youth, and as a school social worker in North Carolina. During her previous time in educational social work, she worked closely with elementary students, as well as high school students at the alternative learning high school.

I am excited to welcome Mary Kate Concannon back to our Line Creek family! Mary Kate is a Resiliency Specialist with Synergy Services and will begin coming to Line Creek part time end of August/September. Mary Kate will work closely with Mrs. Roederer and I to meet with students individually and in small groups as needed for social emotional learning.

The role of a Resiliency Specialist is to help create classrooms where children can regulate their emotions and behavior in a way that is conducive to learning. Prevention services focused on resiliency are available to full classrooms, small groups, and individual students. The classroom curriculum, MindUP For Schools, is an evidence-based program that has been shown to increase pro-social actions and improve academic achievements, by teaching children about their brains and how to regulate, through calming practices and coping skills.

Line Creek, we have a wonderful opportunity this year. For the first time, we will sponsor a practicum student. Ms. Galloday, is in her 9th year of education, 8th year teaching music, and 2nd year at her current elementary school in another district! She holds a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance and in K-12 Music Education with an emphasis in Special Ed. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree

in Counseling at UMKC. When she is not in the classroom you can find her performing around the city, working her side-business, cooking, playing board games, or hanging with family and friends.

Ms. Galloday will be with us until Decemeber. She will observe Line Creek's Comprehensive Counseling program and have field experience with small groups, individual counseling, and possibly counselor classroom lessons.

Please welcome, Ms. Galloday!

As you go through this year and your child(ren) experiences big emotions, Park Hill has created a virtual relaxation room on our website for students to access anytime. You can access this link by simply clicking on the blue wording, "virtual relaxation room."

In addition, Line Creek is continuing to implement physical calming corners in every classroom this year to help promote a safe, comfortable environment. Calming corners are a place in a classroom/room that provides students with soothing “tools” to help them regulate their emotions when upset. Students received a brief review on expectations of the calming corner on Wednesday, August 25 from me.

When we are upset, something significant happens in our brains. We cannot think clearly, and are quick to react. The myth that calming corners are a place for students to play with toys, and get out of a bad choice they have made, is simply not the purpose of calming corners. The purpose of calming corners are for students to get out of the fight, flight ( run away), or freeze part of their brain and engage the thinking part. Once the thinking part of their brain is in control, we can process with students and teach them why their behavior was not the expectation. Calming corners are not meant to be punitive, but a place to soothe. It is a proactive support to prevent a negative/unexpected behavior from happening.

If your student struggles with managing their emotions at home, creating a calming corner with them in your home could be beneficial. To learn more about creating a calming corner at home, read this article: "Setting up a Calming Corner at Home."

If you or someone you love is struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, don't be afraid to ask for help. The resources below are free. In case of life threatening emergency, please call 911.

• National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988
• National Crisis Text Line: 741741
• Community Care Crisis Line (LOCAL KC): 1-888-279-8188
• Compassionate Ear Warmline (4pm-10pm): 913-281-2251 or toll free: 866-927-6327

• Mrs. Roederer's (School Social Worker) Confidential Resource Checklist Form
• Community Therapy, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Health
  
• District Student Family Support
  
• District Calendar
  
• PTA Clothing Center

This session will inform parents and caregivers about the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program utilized by middle and high schools for suicide awareness and prevention. It will be held on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024, at 6:00pm on Microsoft Teams. Our presenter is Taylor Cline, Youth Suicide Prevention Specialist, Beacon Mental Health Services.

Click here to register.

Visit the Student and Family Support page (scroll down to Mental Health and Healthy Living Resources, expand the Family Webinar Series section ) to view past webisodes in the Family Webinar Series.

Click the picture on the right to connect to Camber Mental Health for tips on supporting your students mental health through better sleep.

Park Hill School District continues to offer all families the opportunity to enroll their student(s) (Pre-K through 12th) in a low cost, district approved insurance program. Direct all questions to KidGuard Insurance, the school district is not involved in the information, coverage, or application process.

Parents can purchase additional insurance protection for accidents that may occur during school classes and while students are away from school, at home, during weekends and vacation periods, including the summer months. For information regarding this optional coverage, visit www.kidguardinsurance.com for additional benefit and on-line enrollment information.

Jessi Connor, Park Hill's transition teacher, is hosting a series of information nights to support families of students with special needs.

All meetings are held at District Office, Room 230, unless otherwise noted.

If you have questions regarding your student, the information shared in this Counseling Connection Newsletter, or need help finding a mental health professional in the Kansas City area, please reach me at either of the contact options listed at the bottom of this page.

You are also welcome to reach our School Social Worker, Laura Roederer at 816-359-5913.

We look forward to partnering with you and your student!

Email: collinst@parkhill.k12.mo.us
Website: https://linecreek.parkhill.k12.mo.us/
Location: 5801 Northwest Waukomis Drive, Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone: 816-359-6953
Facebook: facebook.com/ourschool
Twitter: @ourschool