Early Warning Tool Training
The Early Warning Tool is now available for all grade levels (K-12).
If you are interested in attending a one-hour virtual training, review the options below and save the training date/time and Microsoft Teams link in your Outlook calendar.
I will send out a recording of one of these sessions in the near future.
Need a Lesson?
I recently created this tier 1 lesson for the Commissioner's Student Advisory Council. They identified the need for coping strategies during the pandemic.
Here is a Nearpod that you can use in your own comprehensive school counseling program in order to offer these strategies to your students. Keep in mind whether you want students to participate anonymously or if you want names to be visible if doing the live session option.
This lesson connects to the following ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success:
- Mindset 1: Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being;
- Behavior-Self-Management Strategies 6: Demonstrate ability to overcome barriers to learning and 7: Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem.
School Counselor Use of Time Survey
Counselors:
Every superintendent recently received a survey that is mandated by law to be completed by Nov. 1 of each school year. The local school district superintendent shall report to the department the number and placement of school counselors in the district. The report shall include the source of funding for each position as well as a summary of the job duties and work undertaken by each counselor and the approximate percentage of time devoted to each duty over the course of the year.
Please make sure you are speaking with your district's central office and communicating your data to ensure the Kentucky Department of Education receives accurate information. You also may choose to work with your district in order to create a districtwide system to collect this data.
CASEL's Reintroduction to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Check out CASEL's reintroduction to SEL webinar to learn about their new definitions and framework.
How a Teenage Hockey Player Is Working to Destigmatize Mental Illness Using #Samehere
Let's work together to destigmatize mental health. Check out this story from ESPN about how a teenage hockey player from Chicago is doing just that using the #Samehere platform.
Infinite Campus Training Week Scheduled for Nov. 16-19
Infinite Campus is offering a week-long national virtual training opportunity for customers in lieu of the traditional state-specific in-person training. The national training event includes a variety of topics, as detailed in the National Training Week Session Booklet.
Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff are invited to attend sessions of their choice at no cost. Additional details on the event, sessions offered and schedule are included on the Infinite Campus Virtual National Training Week webpage. To register for sessions, follow the instructions on the webpage.
KDE staff who don’t have access to Infinite Campus will need to complete and submit the KDE access request form requesting access to Campus Community/Passport, which allows users access to Infinite Campus training resources, but not student-level data.
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This free, one-hour self-paced course is a guide for school-based or community-based mental health professionals to train school staff to lead Kentucky’s suicide prevention course for students in grades 6-12.
The course also reviews the comprehensive suicide prevention training used with students in Jefferson County Public Schools, how to involve parents, and how to use the tools available for risk assessment and other resources. Topics include how to give students a voice in the training, how to recognize signs of suicidal ideation, how to deal with social media pressures and how students can find help for themselves or their peers in distress.
The course also examines how schools can support student well-being by taking a strength-based perspective on mental health. This course is designed to be a mid-year refresher offered prior to going into winter break.
We recommend schools offer this course in November in an effort to prevent suicide and normalize anxiety, depression and more for their students prior to winter break.
The Kentucky Department of Education would like to thank Sara O'Keefe from KET, Dr. Michelle Sircy from Jefferson County Public Schools and Beck Whipple from the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities for their partnership and contributions to this project.
KDE Seeking Nominations for 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. This is not a scholarship; however, all scholars will be honored for their accomplishments during the National Recognition Program scheduled for Washington, D.C., in June.
Presidential Scholars will be guests of the U.S. Department of Education commissioner during the National Recognition Program and enjoy an expense-paid trip to meet with government officials, educators and other accomplished people. To commemorate their achievement, the scholars are awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House. An in-person ceremony is planned at this time.
Each school may nominate two high school seniors: one male and one female. Educators are encouraged to nominate students who, while demonstrating outstanding scholarship, might not otherwise be nominated through the current ACT/SAT or arts recognition processes.
For the arts component, students must participate in the National YoungArts program. In addition to the general nominations, educators also are being asked to nominate additional students from your jurisdiction to be included as candidates for excellence in career and technical education.
It may be helpful to consider the following questions:
- What about the student makes him or her stand out as having outstanding scholarship?
- What special challenges or hurdles has this student overcome while still achieving success in academics, technical education or in the arts?
Students who apply should complete the first page of this application form. The second page must be completed by a counselor or teacher who is most familiar with the student. Email the completed application for the male and female candidate from your school to Kathie Anderson by Oct. 30.
KDE will select 25 students for the 2021 application and submit these to the national selection committee who will determine Presidential Scholar winners.
NCAA Eligibility Center COVID-19 Updates
Click this newsletter for updates from the NCAA. Important information your senior student-athletes should be aware of is below:
Given the continuing impact of COVID-19 on the educational environment, the NCAA Eligibility Center has partnered with the NCAA membership to identify the following changes to the initial-eligibility certification process for students who initially enroll full time in a collegiate institution during the 2021-22 academic year. The Eligibility Center will continue to monitor the environment and make necessary adjustments to prioritize health, safety and fairness for all prospective student-athletes.
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