The role of counselor is to serve the children, parents, and community members of Sequoyah Elementary through a guidance program which is created to teach to the “whole child”. This means that not only will the guidance lessons focus on academics, study skills, and career choices, but the lessons will also consist of teaching compassion, friendship, life skills, and family relationships.
The school counselor meets with the students in whole classroom guidance lessons every other week for a 30-minute lesson and activity. School counselors also offer individual counseling, counseling for immediate needs, and counseling for two-three students who are experiencing difficulties as a friendship group or are in need of conflict resolution.
In addition to whole group lessons, our school counselor also provides small group guidance lessons for students based on parent and teacher recommendations. Small groups meet once a week for 30 minutes, for six weeks, and then a new rotation of students begins. They are organized by grade level and provide students with an opportunity to build stronger friendships with classmates who are experiencing the same challenges they are. Some of the topics of small groups include divorce, anxiety, anger management, grief, self-esteem, friendships, and building stronger social skills.