Counselor Chronicles

Mrs. Reyes

January/February

HAPPY NEW YEAR! OK, so I am a little late with the greeting but the sentiment still applies. I hope that your 2023 has been positive so far. The month of January usually brings a sense of renewal or new commitment. Those New Year's resolutions we make with every intention of following through and beating ourselves up when we don't. Renewal is great and intentions help us set new goals but remember it is OK to re adjust and even change our goals. One thing I teach kids is that something is not always "all good" or "all bad". Negatives are necessary so that we can recognize the positives. The trick is to try to focus on the positives and not dwell on the negatives. There are so many positives, sometimes they are small, even tiny, but they do exist if we look for them. For example, I am still loving the cold weather. It is perfect for warm soothing foods and beverages (Hot cocoa with marshmallows please). I find that the more I help kids look for positives the more I recognize my own. You too can help your kids start to recognize and be grateful for the good, no matter how big or small. I am sure I have mentioned it before but an attitude of Gratitude has so many life long health benefits. I know that I am surely grateful to all of my John Adams families, teachers, and staff for continuing to support me and my counseling program! Thank you all and here is to a happy and healthy 2023! Continue reading to see what is happening in school counseling in January and February.

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Language Warriors

I am continuing to meet with our "language warriors", which are some of our English Language Learners. We will continue to explore the ELPAC website and work on motivation and test day stress up until the ELPAC test taking window, which is fast approaching. The ELPAC test will be administered in February. "Go Language Warriors!"

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CTE

February is Career Technical Education (CTE) month.
Throughout the month I will be presenting in the morning announcements the career technical pathways at our local high schools. I will be emphasizing the pathways offered at Corona High (our feeder high school). Toward the end of the month students and staff from those programs will be on campus. They will be here so that our students can begin to explore options for High school and beyond. I have linked some CTE videos from our local high schools so that you can see what is available district-wide. These videos can be found on each school's website as well as the district website. https://www.cnusd.k12.ca.us/student_programs/careertechnicaleducation

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Random Acts of Kindness week (Feb.13-Feb. 19)

Random Acts of Kindness week is February 13th-19th, with Random Acts of Kindness day falling on February 17th. I will be out at all lunches one day during this week to give kids an opportunity to practice a random act of kindness. There is a great deal of power in acts of kindness. So many reasons to be kind. "The positive effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnessed the act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to "pay it forward".-Jamil Zaki (Professor of psychology at Stanford University) Take a look at the videos below on the benefits of kindness as well as some videos to watch with your kids. The random acts of kindness foundation website has some great ideas for spreading kindness. https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

HOW TO REACH ME!

John Adams Elementary 736-3313

mrreyes@cnusd.k12.ca.us