Messages from Marian
 
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PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR MESSAGES FROM YOUR COUNSELOR, MS. MARIAN ILLINGWORTH

Dear Parents,

On October 14th (Juanita El) and October 16th (Samantha Smith), I will be administering the state-wide, Healthy Youth Survey to sixth grade students.  This important health and safety survey is used to identify and monitor factors that affect the health and safety of youth in Washington State.  The survey is anonymous and voluntary.  Students do not write their names on the survey nor do they talk about it during the survey (takes about 20 minutes). I collect the surveys (I am not allowed to look at them), seal them in an envelope and mail them to the RMC Research Corporation in Oregon for analysis.  The state-wide results are released to the Governor's Office (usually March or April) and the results are mailed to individual schools.  I will be sharing the results to parents and teachers via the Counselor Advisory Council, a PTA meeting and a staff meeting.  Below are the topics of the Healthy Youth Survey:
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Student demographic information (e.g., age, grade)

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Unintentional and intentional injury (e.g., seat belt use, helmets, fighting, depression)

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Physical activity and dietary behaviors (e.g., fruit & vegetable consumption, exercise)

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Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use

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Related risk and protective factors (e.g., neighborhood, school, friendships)

I administer this survey every two years.  It has been helpful in planning my counseling program as the survey measures our school climate and areas in that I need to modify/improve.

Below is a link to the brochure describing the Healthy Youth Survey.  I will be speaking to the sixth grade students about the survey in the month of September.  I will also leave a copy of the survey in the office for parent review.  If you have any questions, please call/email me. 

 

Healthy Youth Survey: Link to Parent/Student Information Brochure

Message for Parents

I am excited to announce that the Life Skills groups will continue for the 2008-09 school year.  These small groups were successful in helping selected students to develop and increase social skills that will help them throughout their years.  This year, there will be two groups....... one group for students in grades K/1 and  one group for students in grades 2/3.  These two groups will target the the Life Skills of following rules, accepting responsibility for personal actions, attending and following directions and cooperating with others.  The third group, grades 4/5/6, will focus on the Life Skill of putting forth effort in school.  There will be 5 students per group totaling 15 students.  I will focus on classroom strategies to support the above life skills as defined in the LWSD framework and on the report card.  Teachers will select the students for the groups and I will facilitate the lessons.  Groups will be on Mondays for Smith students and Fridays for Juanita El students.  Each group is  approximately 40 minutes, for six weeks.  If the classroom teacher recommends your student for a Life Skill group, and you do NOT want your child to participate,  please let the teacher know. Keep in mind, these are education-based groups, not therapy-based groups.  My goal is to support students' academic and personal/social development so they become better learners and citizens.