DOUGLASS

School Social Work/Counseling Program and Activity Information

Please feel free to contact Brittni Sills, LMSW or Kacie Schoenthaler if you have any questions about the items listed below. 

Watchdog/Pup Program

The development of the Watchdog/Pup programed stemmed from the Big Brother/Sister School Mentor Program. During the 2016-2017 school year the Big Brother/Sister Organization discontinued the Bigs In Schools program. However, the idea of allowing high school students to mentor our middle and elementary school students was valued, therefore the creation of the Watchdog/Pup Program was developed.

The purpose behind this program is to provide school selected middle and elementary students with an approved high school mentor that demonstrates positive characteristics in hopes that a bond is created that initiates positive feelings of self and school.

The implementation of the program is different based upon each students’ schedule and needs. The matched students will meet weekly at the Pup’s school for 30 minutes working to create a friendship while keeping positive characteristics such as respect, integrity, grit, responsibility, and kindness in mind. The high school Watchdogs contact Mrs. Houser if they are interested in the program. The Pups are chosen by middle and elementary school staff members. Parents are welcome to express interest in the program, but based upon the needs of the students and the amount of students are in the program it does not mean that the student will be automatically placed in the program. Students that meet significant “at-risk” criteria will be given priority and recommendation to be considered at Watchpup. 

Food 4 Kids Backpack Program

The Kansas Food Bank offers a program called Food 4 Kids Backpack program. This program provides free weekend food packets for school aged children. In order to receive this resource, the regulations are that the students need to be considered chronically weekend hungry, have little to no food on the weekends and receive free lunches at school.

Student Intervention Team (SIT)

This is a team made up of different educators that teach and provide support in the school setting. For example, primary and secondary teachers, MTSS coordinator, principal, special education teacher, speech and language pathologist, and school social worker. Students are typically referred to this team by the classroom teacher based on the student’s performance in the classroom. The team will meet to discuss areas of concern and look for additional interventions to try and address the identified needs/weaknesses.  The SIT will implement and monitor these interventions and collect data on your child’s performance for a minimum of 30 days. Following this 30-day period, the team will reconvene to review the success of the interventions. This team also addresses gifted referrals, which again, typically comes from the student’s teacher based on classroom performance.

Skill based groups

Each year a few small groups are organized to work on specific skills that promote social, emotional and behavioral growth. The plan is for the groups to meet on a regular basis. However, please be aware that some situations or school functions occur that interrupt the schedule. The groups may focus on skills such as, but not limited to, self-awareness, how to get along with others, grief, mindset, understanding emotions, situations that occur in life, etc. Students are chosen for groups by staff members based upon the student’s school performance. Parents are welcome to contact me to express interest in these groups.

Individual Sessions

There is a wide variety of reason I may meet with a student. Some of these include but are not limited to: crisis situations, situations that occur at school, teacher referral, parent referral, skill based sessions, assist the student to work through different emotions, conflict resolution, or to address needed items. Please note that school counseling services are not therapy based services. If your child is in need of long term services or is struggling outside of school, outside services may be beneficial. If you need resources for outside counseling services, please contact me and I will help.

Lunch Bunch

I plan to eat lunch in my office with every student, in a group setting, so that they are aware of my office location, and are able to discuss what they are enjoying about school.

Love In a Lunch Box Summer Food Program (LILB)

USD #396, Hope Connections and Douglass Ministerial Alliance work together to provide a summer food program for Douglass students. One day a week,during the summer months, students are welcome to come to the Douglass Library to enjoy lunch and take a lunch home for the weekend. Please refer to the Growl for program details.

Mystery Bash

A Mystery Bash Reward Party will be held bi-monthly to celebrate the success of students that demonstrate positive behavior throughout the school building. Please refer to the Seal Elementary Behavior Plan for more information. 

B3-Building Better Bulldogs

Seal Elementary students will continue to be taught social emotional/character development skills. These skills play a large part in creating a successful future. Some resources that are used in Building Better Bulldogs class (B3) are:  Lions Quest curriculum, Mind Up curriculum, 7 Habits of a Happy Kid, and locally created lessons. These resources focus on teaching interpersonal skills such as setting goals, teamwork, conflict management, self regulation, social skills, etc. 

Ministerial Alliance Christmas Food Drive

Every year around Christmas time USD #396 holds a food drive to assist our Ministerial Alliance with food boxes that are distributed to local families. Details about the drive will come home in student’s folders or be available in the Growl.

Safety Week

The state of Kansas requires and/or recommends that schools provide specific training on certain topics to our students. These topics will be discussed at age appropriate levels. 

The required/recommended topics are, but not limited to: Anti-bullying, Sexual Harassment, Suicide Awareness, Safe Touches/Reporting and Drug Awareness.

Anti-Bully Week

This week is celebrated nationally. We work to bring awareness to the proper definition of bullying, distinguishing what is rude, mean versus bullying, identifying ways to address bullying and other topics that pertain to bullying.

Career Day

To bring awareness to guidelines addressed in the 21st Century Skills-College and Career Readiness we explore different careers and become aware of what skills it takes to sustain a career.

Service Learning Day

Being selfless and serving other is a soft skill many value and enjoy receiving. Although our school provides many un-named opportunities for this, our Service Learning Day is an opportunity for our school to participate in serving our community as a whole. Service learning is a skill addressed in the KSDE adopted Social Emotional Character Development Standards. In the past, our Service Learning day has consisted of using proper safety gear and supervision while helping clean our town of trash and debris. We want to encourage our students to value our community while recognizing the perceptions outsiders may have of our community if it appears clean and safe.

Leadership Advisory Council (LAC)

This group is made up of 5th grade students who exhibit leadership qualities. This group assists in sharing ideas that could result in positive changes to the school, assist with large activities such as Gold Card Parties, Thanksgiving lunch, etc. 5th grade students must meet certain stipulations, which are outlined on the leadership application. Mrs. McCune and I will speak to the 5th grade students towards the beginning of the school year about the expectations of this group. After our meeting applications will be made available to 5th grade students. Typically,  5-6 students are chosen for the LAC. After the application deadline, Mrs. McCune, 5th grade teachers and I meet to discuss the candidates for LAC.