Page 11 - Priorities #48 2011-January/February

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L_R: Matthew McWright, School Counselor, Brother Edward, Director of Guidance and Counseling, Sandra Martignetti, Academic Resource Counselor
the presented matter. This
allowed students to partici-
pate in deeper, small group
discussions and make a
more personal connection
to the ideas involved. For
example, following Marc
Elliot’s profoundly engag-
ing assembly talk last Fall
on living with Tourette’s
Syndrome, the following
week’s Advisory session
encouraged students to talk
about the tendency to judge
others without fully under-
standing their circumstanc-
es. Here too, our Golden
Gate Bridge metaphor is apt, in that our efforts are now also trying to connect and get more value from the excellent wisdom put forth across our campus experiences.
In Middle School advisory, two changes were implemented. The irst was to have advisors follow and stay with their students from 6th grade through 8th as has been done in the high school. The second was to
reinforce certain grade relevant themes, such as new beginnings in 6th grade and developing lead- ership in the 8th.
For the current school year, we expect to continue to paint away, and develop new and compelling content for all grade levels. For instance, we are exploring con- tent that would be speciic and relevant to our sophomore and junior classes. We are also look- ing to implement more Social Emotional Learning concepts into our Middle School curricu- lum. And we will continue to seize upon the messages our
outside speakers bring to our attention, as well as be ready to get a campus-wide dialogue going on any subject or hot topic that should arise. And when we do all this.
.we’ll go back to the beginning and start again!