Welcome+Students!

Dear Middle School Students,

Welcome to the Student Section of the WD Middle School Guidance Wikispace! This section is for you!

I hope you took a few minutes to read the **Meet the Counselor** page (if not, go check it out & come back). It is really important that you understand my role in the school and that I am here to assist you in your Academic, Personal, Social, and Career Development. My role is different because I'm not your parent, guardian, teacher, principal, close friend, etc. I am your school counselor!:)

I'm sure most of you have met with a school counselor at some point (we're also called guidance counselors, but that term is a bit outdated so we prefer not to use it), but I still want to teach you about me because I am unique! Think of it this way, if I meet one middle school student, do I know what all middle school students are like? No way! You're all completely different, unique and special in your own way. Please reread the last sentence...do you believe that you are different than others? Unique? Special in your own way? Well you are, and it is my job to help you realize that so that you can make good choices, be responsible, and graduate from high school and be ready for the real-world! (Sounds scary, but it won't be so scary when you get there!).


 * Some important things for you to know about me as your school counselor:**


 * If you want to meet with me, please know that I am solution focused. My office is a safe and happy place for you to feel comfortable sharing, but we try to steer clear of complaining, whining, or otherwise being mean and nasty. In my office, you can honestly and openly share things with me and I will do my best to help you learn how to cope with tough things going on. I want to hear your thoughts and feelings, but just know that the goal is to understand the situation and then help you more toward a solution rather than stay "stuck on a problem"!:)


 * To make an appointment with me, just stop down in the Guidance Office before or after school, study halls, between classes, etc. and pick up a Guidance Appointment" slip. Fill it out completely (name, date, urgency of need, brief overview of concern) and return it to the Guidance office. I will then find an appointment time to meet with you.


 * There are times that I'll need to cancel an appointment with you because of something urgent that might arise. Please know that you still super important and I will try to reschedule you as quickly as possible! If I don't get to you fast enough, stop down again and fill out another slip.


 * IMPORTANT!! Before you share anything, I always start a session with my ethical and legal obligations of confidentiality. Sound confusing? Don't worry...read on and I'll explain!


 * Confidentiality means that anything you share with me will remain confidential (between us) unless I feel concerned that you may be a danger to yourself or others, you're being neglected or abused, or that there is something illegal, unethical, or dangerous going on. Just to clarify, confidential doesn't mean that it is a secret. It means that ou can trust that I won't go blab/gossip your story to others.


 * If I am concerned about what you've said and need to break confidentiality, it means that I'll need to share the important information with appropriate persons (administrators, parents, etc.). Don't worry, if I have to break confidentiality, I will let you know and we'll talk about it before I talk to anyone else. In many situations, we can role play conversations in my office and then I'll assist you in talking to parents/administration, etc. This might sound scary, but I promise that I will do my best to support you in handling the situation and it almost always works out for the best! Trust me when I say that confidentiality is VERY important to me and I want you to have a safe place to talk about things.

Some common reasons that students want to meet with me are because they want help with: study skills friendships organization sad/angry feelings siblings step-families low grades leadership skills handling a conflict personal problems making friends social skills loss of a loved one or pet new student concerns future planning (college, work)
 * There are a lot of other reasons, these are just a few!

Have questions? Please ask!