December 2016 Newsletter

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December 2016

Wishing for Peace, Hope and Renewal

By Shelly Ellis
Happy Holidays! I hope that your fall semester went well and that you accomplished all that you set out to do. I hope that this Holiday Season will provide you time for rest and renewal and time with friends and family. I hope that you return in 2017 with a new sense of purpose and excitement. I hope Santa brings you all that you wished for! Thank you for all that you do everyday for the students of Oklahoma. I appreciate you all and wish you Happy Holidays!

OSDE Executive Director of Counseling Shelly Ellis and Director of Prevention Services Michelle Sutherlin met with school counselors from Oklahoma City Public Schools on Dec. 15. They worked on counselor self portraits, alignment, setting SMART Goals, learning about resources and self care. The counselors shared their many successes and inspired everyone at the training.

Shelly and Michelle’s Top 10 Counselor Holiday Gifts

10. To never have to do another mediation with 6th grade girls upset over who is the biggest fan of their beloved boy band.

9. A pass from lunch duty.

8. One whole day without having to remind an adolescent the importance of wearing deodorant.

7. A robot who does testing preparations for you.

6. An opportunity to eat lunch sitting down, without the phone ringing, or someone knocking at your door.

5. To see your students successful and get their holiday’s heart’s desire.

4. An uninterrupted hour to watch the next OSDE webinar.

3. A handwritten thank you note from a colleague, student or parent.

2. Gifts from students that involve self care: mani/pedi gift certificates, lotions, bubble baths, etc.

1. A peaceful, conflict free holiday season and a Happy New Year!

10 Training Dates Available for Crisis Team Training

We have added THREE more training dates for Crisis Team Training. The new dates are

Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Autry Technology Center in Enid
Tuesday, March 7 at Kiamichi Technology Center in Durant
Tuesday, June 6 at Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Portland Campus, in OKC

To see ALL of our training dates and to register, go to http://sde.ok.gov/sde/training-counselors.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you attend this training with your entire team because you will be working together the entire time. If you have members of your team who have registered for another training date, please talk to each other and agree to attend the training on the SAME DAY. They should register for the new date and email me to cancel the former date.

You will also notice that we have scheduled a third OKC date in June. This will be the last training we will offer this school year.

Space is limited in each training session, so be sure to register as soon as possible. Here are all the dates and links to register.

SW OK
Tuesday, Feb. 7
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Great Plains Technology Center - Lawton
Waitlist

NW OK 1
Wednesday, Feb. 8
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Autry Technology Center - Enid
Waitlist

Central OK 1
Thursday, Feb. 9
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Reno Campus - OKC
Waitlist

SE OK 1
Monday, Feb. 13
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Kiamichi Technology Center – Durant
Waitlist

NE OK 1
Tuesday, Feb. 14
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Tulsa Technology Center - Owasso
Register

NE OK 2
Tuesday, Feb. 21
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Tulsa Technology Center - Owasso
Register

NW OK 2
Wednesday, Feb. 22
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Autry Technology Center - Enid
Register

Central OK 2
Friday, Feb. 24
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Portland Campus
Waitlist

SE OK 2
Tuesday, March 7
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Kiamichi Technology Center – Durant
Register

Central OK 3
Tuesday, June 6
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Portland Campus
Register

I thought you would like to know that we have the following represented to date at this training:

Training Dates: 10
Districts Represented: 179
Registrants: 887

Don't be left out! Register today!

This group of counselors and principals worked with Shelly Ellis, OSDE Executive Director of Counseling, in Drumright at Central Technology Center recently. Ellis traveled also to Pryor, Joplin, Norman, Edmond and Oklahoma City to work with counselors and learn from other experts.

Webinar Schedule Set for Spring

Fall webinars are complete, and the result is that hundreds of Oklahoma counselors and other educators have been trained in Mental Health Concerns and Your Students, Drugs and Alcohol in Schools, Building a Crisis Team and Bullying in 2016.

Registration for our webinars was thrilling to our staff! We are so glad you all are interested in the webinars. We have also received great feedback from our surveys after the webinars. To watch the presentation online for any of these trainings, check out our new Training for Counselors page. All former presentations are archived there, and future presentations are also there for registration.

We are now planning our spring semester webinars. To sign up for any of these webinars, follow this link. Participants should expect the training to last about an hour. Each participant who signs in at the time of the live webinar will receive a professional development certificate, and licensed professionals will receive CEUs.

We have dates for our next webinars. Here is our Spring Schedule:

Wednesday, January 18, at 11 a.m. - Working with Students Returning from a Mental Health Crisis
Monday, February 6 at 11 a.m. - Teen Dating Violence and Sexual Assault
Monday, March 6 at Noon - How to Build Empathy in the Classroom and Beyond
Tuesday, May 2 at 11 a.m. - Community Collaboration: How to Work with Your Community to Serve Your School
Thursday, May 11 at Noon - Engaging Parents in Prevention

Contact Information

Shelly Ellis, M.Ed.
Executive Director of Counseling
(405) 521-3549
shelly.ellis@sde.ok.gov

Michelle Sutherlin, MHR
Director of Prevention Services
(405) 521-2106
michelle.sutherlin@sde.ok.gov

Resources

Website

Both our counseling site and prevention site are always changing with new updates and information! Check back often to see the updates!

Counseling

Prevention

Have you checked out our new TRAINING FOR COUNSELORS page? We have put all of our training in one location for you to find. Check it out!

Training

Organizations

American School Counselors Association

Oklahoma School Counselors Association

International Bullying Prevention Association

Oklahoma Counseling Association

Conferences

OSCA Fall Conference

OCA Fall Conference

OCA Mid-Winter Conference IBPA Conference

ASCA National Conference

Bullying, Cyberbullying & Suicide in Today's World

Awareness Calendar

January

Mental Health Month

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

February

Random Acts of Kindness Week – Feb. 14-20

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week – Feb. 21-27

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

March

Self-Injury Awareness Day –

March 1

Kick Butts Day (tobacco free) – March 15

April

National Youth Violence Prevention Week – April 3-7

Day of Silence – April 15

Sexual Assault Awareness Month Day of Action – April 4

Alcohol Awareness Month

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

National Counselor Awareness Month

May

World No Tobacco Day – May 31

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week – May 7-13

Resources Always Available

The office of prevention services has a resource library with about 150 items that you can check out and have mailed to you at any time! There are 66 DVDs, 19 curriculums, and 64 books available. Click the links below to see the list and print the form to check out materials.

Resource Library Check-Out Form

Resource Library List

How Can We Help You?

There are many ways we can serve you as the counseling team at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Here are some specific ways:

We offer webinars at least once a month on different topics. Each webinar is free and offers CEUs.

We are available to come to you to do live trainings in some cases.

We are available to conduct a direct webinar with your site only.

We are planning on hosting training for crisis teams this spring.

We have tons of resources available to you through our web site and our resource library.

We are available to answer your questions or concerns any time. Just call or email us!

We are able to respond to a crisis in your school district. We can help guide you through your process to respond with best practices.

Longfellow Middle School's Love for Lions program provided gifts, turkey, potatoes, and other groceries to more than 100 families this year. (From left) LMS Counselor Beth Whittle (and daughter Magnolia), Teacher Mitch Davis, Counselor Laura Breshears, and Counselor Summer Grace, worked with other staff members to make this project come to life. Students were also involved in helping prepare the bags of groceries for families.

School Spotlight - Love for Lions Serves Hundreds at Longfellow Middle School

By Beth Whittle, Longfellow Middle School Counselor

I am truly blessed to work at a school that wholeheartedly supports the endeavors its counselors propose to support students. One of the programs at Longfellow closest to my heart is our Love for Lions Christmas program. The program began four years ago when community resources were pooled in order to provide gifts and meals to Longfellow families in need during the holidays. Hundreds of students and families have been served in this program since its inception.

Each year we strive to provide all of our in-need families with gifts, a turkey, potatoes and 3 bags of groceries. Last year we were able to sponsor 115 students; this year we sponsored 105 students.

We select students to be sponsored based on their participation in other student assistance programs such as Free and Reduced Lunch, School Bell and our food pantry. Over the last four years we have been able to sponsor every student who visits our food pantry and School Bell as well as other students who may not utilize these resources.

Selected students are matched with a community sponsor. We acquire sponsors through relationships with our PTA, the Norman Chamber of Commerce, word-of-mouth and professional as well as personal relationships. Once a student is selected, we interview him or her for his or her three wants and three needs. We then give this wish list to the sponsor while keeping the student's identity confidential. Sponsors shop for their selected student then deliver the gifts to the school.

Each student's family also receives a turkey, bag of potatoes and three bags of groceries. We acquire the turkeys and potatoes through a $1,000 grant from a Norman Wal-Mart that we apply for each year. Our students also do a fundraiser during November where they donate their spare change to the program. Each year our students raise the remaining $1,200 needed to purchase the turkeys and potatoes.

Through a partnership with a local Boy Scout troop, we receive enough canned food from their canned food drive to supply the three bags of groceries to each family. The last two years Crest has donated the grocery bags. We have our students sort and re-bag the groceries we receive from the food drive.

This year, I am out on maternity leave, and this was one of the hardest programs for me to leave in the hands of others. Luckily as counselors, we have such great support at Longfellow that several teachers, including Mitch Davis, volunteered to help the other counselors run the program in my absence and have done a fantastic job.

This truly is the best time of the year. To know that we are not only helping ease the financial strain of the holidays on specific families, but also that we are also helping our other students embrace the true meaning of the holidays is a pretty fantastic feeling.

Suicide Prevention Conference Proposal Calls

Apply today to be a presenter at the 2017 Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Conference hosted by the Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Council.

The Annual Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Conference is being hosted by the Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Conference which will be held In Norman, Oklahoma at the National Center for Employee Development Conference Center and Hotel. Please open the link here.

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