Winter Musings 2019

Winter Updates

We hope everyone is enjoying the new year! The student support blog has taken a hiatus this fall, as the office has been incredibly busy.  However, we still want to send out updates about what is happening in our offices, as well as some pertinent information students, parents, and teachers may find valuable.  With that said, let's begin!

Meet StuSup!

We posed a couple of questions to the student support staff in order to get to know them better.  Check out their answers below:

Ms. Schmidt, administrative assistant

1.  Favorite Food: Shrimp

2.  Favorite Movie: Sweet Home Alabama or Elf

3.  Favorite Book: Twilight series

4.  Favorite Vacation Spot: Kona, Hawaii or Turks and Caicos

5.  Favorite Band/Musician: David Bowie

Ms. Schowalter, school psychologist

1.  Favorite Food: Thai or Pizza

2.  Favorite Movie: Anything in the Marvel or DC universe

3.  Favorite Book: The Four Agreements

4.  Favorite Vacation Spot: Southern Mexico

Ms. Norris, school counselor

1.  Favorite Food: pineapple

2.  Favorite Movie: Clueless

3.  Favorite Book: The Alchemist

4.  Favorite Vacation Spot: San Diego

5.  Favorite Band/Musician: Tom Petty

Mr. Brown, school counselor

1.  Favorite Food: Anything Italian

2.  Favorite Movie: the Lord of the Rings trilogy

3.  Favorite Book: 100 Years of Solitude 

4.  Favorite Vacation Spot: Glacier National Park, Montana

5.  Favorite Band/Musician: Pearl Jam

Ms. Hoffman, school counselor

1.  Favorite Food: Wy'East Pizza

2.  Favorite Movie: Love Actually

3.  Favorite Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

4.  Favorite Vacation Spot: Laguna Beach

5.  Favorite Band/Musician: Sara Barreilles

Stop in and get to know the student support staff!  You may walk away with a great book or movie recommendation;)

Mental Health Updates

Most community members are now aware of the fantastic partnership between the Shorewood School District and Children's Wisconsin.  Through various grants, the district will have access to consultation and mental health training.  A therapist will also be seeing students at the high school; this person is now working at the high school a few days each week, spending some time at Shorewood Intermediate School in addition to the high school.

Therapeutic services will be provided during the school day and after school, but they will function as they would at any outpatient clinic, in that insurance will be billed.  If parents/guardians are interested in looking into these services, they should contact their student's school counselor, who can facilitate the process and connect parents and students to Children's Wisconsin.

Here is the bio for the therapist working at the high school:

Alecia A. Corbett, MSW, LCSW, RYT-200

Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Children’s Wisconsin

Ms. Corbett is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked in the field for over 10 years.  In the past, she was a School Social Worker with experience working with families and students in grades K-12.  Currently, she delivers school-based mental health services at Shorewood High and Intermediate Schools.  She has a variety of experience including crisis team facilitation, suicide assessment and prevention, and evidence-based practices.  She looks forward to working with families and students here in our district.

Signs of Suicide, a research based intervention was reviewed in all Integrated Wellness classes in grades 10 and 11.  We also will be doing a full lesson on this program for all freshmen soon. The program discusses the warning signs of suicide, as well as how students should react if they are concerned about a student or themselves.  The full lesson will be provided to freshmen in the coming weeks.

Counselors also presented a lesson about stress and balance to all freshmen students.  In addition, we talked about career clusters, and students took a survey to gauge what clusters (business, healthcare, etc.) might match their interests.  Login with your child to review these results.

Regarding stress, we spoke about some basic stress relief techniques that students can use, including paced breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization.  We also gave students a list that included ways to reduce stress.

Here is the link to the sheet we shared with students: Stress Coping Strategies.

In addition, we plan on screening freshmen students this spring for potential mental health issues; look for information about that coming soon.

As always, please be sure to reach out to your child's counselor should you have any concerns regarding mental health.

Resources:

1. Check out this great blog from Rogers Memorial; a number of topics are discussed that may be of use to parents and students.  Click on this link.
2. The Center for Healthy Minds out of UW-Madison has a number of good resources, as well as a solid description of why mental health problems are increasing.  The bulk of the website is focused on college students, but many of the ideas contained on the website can be applied to high school students as well.  Here is the link.
3. Watch this short TED Talk about the importance of being more mindful from Richard Davidson, a professor at UW-Madison.  The TED Talk focuses on finding ways to promote mental well-being through exercises that involve the mind.  
4. Two new informational resources from Rogers regarding screen time and social media are below.  Studies have long documented a correlation between screen time/social media use and negative mental health effects.  Limiting both can be important for teens.  Screen Time. Social Media.

Academic and College/Career Updates

A number of academic updates occur mid-year; take a look below!

Scheduling:

• Students will register for courses between February 5th and February 12th on their own.  Information regarding this process will be passed out in homerooms, as well as instructions regarding how to register.  
• This month, students should speak with teachers, counselors, and parents/guardians concerning what choices best match their career and academic plans.  Counselors will be presenting graduation requirements in Integrated Wellness courses throughout the month of January.  Counselors will also present this information during lunch to any students who opted out of Lifetime Wellness on January 30th.  This will occur in the Think Space.  
• More information about specific courses, as well as course descriptions, can be found on our website, under the course selection tab.  
• If students are interested in courses not offered at SHS, they should see their counselors soon, as deadlines for other programs come quickly in the Spring.

Academic and Career Planning:

• Counselors will be in Team Concepts and Lifetime Wellness classrooms in March or April to present on college and career planning.  Sophomore students will be taking an in-depth career survey, while juniors will dive into the college search.  Be sure to log on to Naviance with your child to view the results and see all that Naviance has to offer when it comes to college and career planning.
• Naviance, unfortunately, is requiring all students to change their passwords in order to access the site.  Counselors can no longer control this.  Please continue to use your Shorewood email (just the first part, not the @shorewood.k12.wi.us) as the login.  However, we would like students to create new passwords that follow this pattern: birthdate and initials capitalized.  For instance, a student named George Greyhound who was born on January 15th, 2001, would create the following password: 01152001GG.  The password MUST be 10 characters in length, so it is important for students to put the zero before single digit months.  It is also important that they list the full birth year.  If students have trouble doing this, they should see their counselors.  
• Junior conference are wrapping up for all of the counselors.  This hour long meeting with students and parents to discuss post-secondary options and planning is a great opportunity to learn about next steps and how to plan for life after high school.  Contact your child's school counselor if you still have not signed up for a conference.  

College Applications and Scholarships:

• Mid-Year transcripts will be sent to all colleges on Monday, January 27.  This provides an important and required update to all colleges regarding student progress.  
• Financial aid awards should arrive in the winter and spring for colleges.  If students or parents need help making sense of these documents, please stop in.  Students have until May 1, 2020 to decide where they want to attend.
• For students interested in the MATC Promise, please be sure to apply to MATC by February 7th; you must also file the FAFSA and complete the Promise application for free tuition.  Check out this website for more information: MATC Promise.  
• After February 1, most colleges with set deadlines for fall admissions will have passed.  However, many universities with rolling admissions will still accept applications.  See your counselor with any questions.  
• Some tips for future college graduates: 15 Tips for High School Graduates
• Seniors should consider creating an account at fastweb, to search for private scholarships.
• The College Opportunity Scholarships offer a chance to win money simply for doing things like creating a college list.  Check them out here: College Board Opportunity Scholarships.
• Don't forget to apply to SHS scholarships.  The application can be found here: SHS Scholarships.  

Grades:

• Semester grades have posted!  If students struggled in any of their classes, they should see their counselors and meet with their teachers to develop a plan for second semester.  Counselors will be crafting plans for students who failed a course.  
• Some great study tips for students can be found here: How to Study Better in High School.
• And some great tips about how to be successful in high school: Successful High School Students.

Testing:

• The state ACT occurs on March 3 at SHS.  Only juniors will be on campus that day for what is always an ideal testing environment.  Be sure to check out some practice questions at ACT.org.  If you want to prep further, see your counselor for ideas.
• ASPIRE testing for freshmen and sophomore will occur on April 14th and 15th--this is a pre-ACT test and can provide valuable information regarding how a student might do on the ACT test.
• AP testing will occur the first two weeks of May.  Students have already signed up for this test.  The schedule can be found here: AP schedule. Be sure to check out this site regarding test prep: Preparing for the Exam.

Thanks everyone!  Don't hesitate to reach out.

Molly Norris (A-G) anorris@shorewood.k12.wi.us
Scott Brown (H-O) sbrown@shorewood.k12.wi.us
Jennifer Hoffman (P-Z) jhoffman@shorewood.k12.wi.us