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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 5, Issue 11
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Each year during this holiday season Dr. Stephen Sroka, keynote presenter for the ACSSW January School Mental Health Institute, has kindly forwarded his "Gift for a Toxic Society." This activity--which you may also do yourself--has been known to open hearts and heal wounds from long ago--as well as elicit a chuckle or two! Check it out and let us know how/if it changes your life or that of those you love and care about.
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Time is running short!! Join ACSSW in New Orleans next month, January 26-27! This is an informative and enjoyable national professional event spent among colleagues in a wonderful, exciting city. There are many free or low-cost things to do in New Orleans. Make your hotel, plane, and conference registrations now. Space is limited! (See below for more information).
If you have been unable to make hotel reservations for ACSSW's National SSW Mental Health Institute in New Orleans, please try again. A glitch in the reservation system has been corrected. There are rooms available. Hotel deadline is January 2nd!! If you run into problems, please contact me or call Sally Carlson at 414-659-5853.
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Please note that School Social Work NOW! will not be published the weeks of Christmas and New Year's.
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ACSSW wishes you a joyful, peaceful, and relaxing holiday season no matter what you are celebrating--Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or just enjoying the company of family and friends.
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Standing Up for Children's Mental Health in Schools
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
ACSSW 4th National SSW Institute on School Mental Health
Deadline for Drury Hotel Reservations is January 2nd.
$124.99 single thru quad; $165 for queen suite
Call 800.325.0720 or 504.529.7800.
Use group reservation #2209303.
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Have you ever been called a narcissist? Have you heard it said about someone else? The tone with which that term is flung can be heavy with disdain.
Public awareness of the word and its implication of self-absorption and ego-tripping is on the rise, making it a popular putdown for the overtly vain. It is understandable that anyone on the receiving end of such an accusation would react defensivelyin the moment, at least. But do you ever wonder, "Am I a narcissistic person?" What does that actually mean? What can I be doing to warrant that accusation? Find out!
Spark: Integrating Mentoring and Connected Learning
...Connected learning is learning that is interest-driven, socially-embedded, and academically-oriented. In this post, I wanted to highlight Spark, an innovative program serving middle school students that is integrating mentoring and connected learning in an apprenticeship model...I was particularly impressed with the way that mentees were asking their mentors questions about themselves and their work and sharing responsibility for the conversation at a level rarely seen in middle school students. Upon speaking with the program director, I learned that this was in part due to the Spark Leadership Curriculum which supports the apprenticeships and includes lessons on meeting new people, making conversation, and active listening, within larger units on career readiness and identity development. More.
Sample Program Evaluation Tools and Performance Outcomes from the WI Department of Public Instruction Website
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has posted sample program evaluation tools and performance outcomes from various resources and from several related service providers, including school social workers. If you are in the midst of developing one of these tools, you may find the information, sent by Nic Dibble, Educational Consultant for School Social Work, quite useful. Tools. Additional info.
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Participate in a brief, anonymous survey on the inclusion of eating disorder services in school mental health. Please complete the survey now. It will take only 10-15 minutes.
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With seemingly endless lists of competencies and too many books, blogs and experts to count, how can you tailor your leadership development?
One approach is to use experience as a starting point. CCL's [Center for Creative Leadership] Lessons of Experience research (involving 40 years and several countries in various regions around the world) has found that there are 15 types of experiences that teach valuable leadership lessons. Read more.
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Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development - be it having their parents divorce, a parent die or living with someone who abuses alcohol or drugs - increasing the risk of negative long-term health consequences or of falling behind in school, suggests new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study reports on new data showing the magnitude of these adverse experiences in the child population in the U.S., while also suggesting that training parents, providers and communities to help children with trauma cope and build even basic aspects of resilience may soften the blows and lead to later success, despite the obstacles. Continue.
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Recommended Read for December
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recommended by our reader, Jennifer Meade, school social worker, author &
mother of a child with special needs
Monday Coffee and Other Stories of Mothering Children with Special Needs
"A recent book I've found to be influential in my practice is Monday Coffee and Other Stories of Mothering Children with Special Needs edited by Darolyn "Lyn" Jones and Liz Whiteacre (InWords Press, 2013). It's a collection of stories written by mothers of children with a variety of disabilities/special needs and it brings a much needed human perspective to the work that we do that is also very poignant. I am using it this year in the Exceptional Child course that I teach to aspiring school social workers and they find it gives them a meaningful context that helps them to better relate to the material we are learning, as well as a deeper understanding of the perspectives and needs of the parents we serve. I highly recommend it!"
Mothers of children with special needs feel guilt, sadness, and joy simultaneously, which is hard to understand. The mothers in this anthology don't seek pity; instead, they illustrate a complexity of emotions that start with diagnosis, explore care in both early and later years, and invite us to witness the aftermath of too-early deaths of their children. Weaving together essays, poems, and graphics by mothers of children with a wide range of disabilities, Jones and Whiteacre have edited a collection that highlights the challenges and joys of motherhood, exposing both fears and guilty pleasures as mothers explore their relationships with their children, partners, families, caregivers, educators, and the medical community.
Amazon-Jones & Whiteacre, eds Barnes & Noble-Jones & Whiteacre, eds
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Free 1.5 CEUs for School Social Workers
ACSSW is very pleased to offer an opportunity for any school social worker to earn 1.5 FREE CEUs due to ACSSW's sponsorship of an excellent program:
Plan, Prepare, Prevent: The SOS Online
Gatekeeper Training Module
The SOS Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program is an award winning, nationally recognized program designed for middle and high school-age students. The program teaches students how to identify the symptoms of depression and suicidality in themselves or their friends, and encourages help-seeking through the use of the ACT® technique (Acknowledge, Care, Tell). This course is available free to school social workers. With sponsorship from ACSSW, all learners will receive 1.5 contact hours upon completion. Click to Learn More. To register call 781-239-0071 or email SOS Registration and mention that you'd like to register.
Columbia University Teachers College Press published 4 guides geared to support teachers, administrators, student personnel staff, and parents. For a limited period, and as supplies last, TCP has agreed to provide FREE copies of the guides to social workers and educators working with military kids in schools including: teachers, school administrators, PPS workers, and military parents. School social workers should be aware of this wonderful, time-limited, FREE offer from TCP. Many school social workers will benefit from these guides.
The process is simple. Each individual desiring a free book would need to click on the link, select the type of book s/he desires, and fill out name, mailing address, etc. on the Qualtrix form after selecting the book desired. The book will be mailed in a few weeks.
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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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Schools' Discipline for Girls Differs by Race and Hue
For all the attention placed on problems that black boys face in terms of school discipline and criminal justice, there is increasing focus on the way those issues affect black girls as well.
Data from the Office for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Education show that from 2011 to 2012, black girls in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide were suspended at a rate of 12 percent, compared with a rate of just 2 percent for white girls, and more than girls of any other race or ethnicity. In Georgia, the ratio of black girls receiving suspensions in the same period compared with white girls was 5 to 1, and in Henry County, that ratio was 2.3 to 1, said J D Hardin, the spokesman for the county's school district. And researchers say that within minority groups, darker-skinned girls are disciplined more harshly than light-skinned ones. Read about what happened to middle-schooler Mikia Hutchings.
Best Practices for Schools in Active Shooter and Other Armed Assailant Drills Guidance from the National Association of School Psychologists
and the National Association of School Resource Officers
The National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Resource Officers have partnered to provide this guidance on armed assailant training, with input from Safe and Sound: A Sandy Hook Initiative and the ALiCE Training Institute [Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate]. This document provides guidance on the important factors schools must take into account when considering and conducting armed assailant drills. Neither this document nor the author organizations, NASP and NASRO, endorse a specific approach to armed assailant training or any particular training program. As stated in the document, we believe that lockdown is an essential component, if not the foundation, of any such training and that the hierarchy of training and education offers effective options for how to provide training. Resource Guide PDF. |
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4th Quarter Deadline: December 31, 2014
Grants of up to $500 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the fourth quarter cycle ($500 max per grant) ends December 31st. Funds will be available in February-March.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
Jacqueline Ann Morris Memorial Foundation Grant
$9,000 grant to public elementary/middle schools seeking to improve mental health services
Deadline: January 15, 2015
The Jacqueline Ann Morris Memorial Grant Program, sponsored by the American Psychological Foundation, calls for proposals from applicants looking to improve clinical/mental health services for low-income students in their public elementary or middle school.
This grant is coordinated with APA's Education Directorate. The Golden Psi Award committee serves as the intellectual resource and judges for the grant. The committee will review applications and submit a recommended grant recipient to the American Psychological Foundation Board of Trustees.
Funded schools will receive a one-time grant of $4,500; the program should be delivered over the course of one year, and grantees are expected to submit a final report of the program's effectiveness and/or impact to the APF trustees and grant committee one year following receipt of the grant. See eligibility and details.
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