Hello Evergreen Families! 

Welcome to our last quarter of the school year!  We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing spring break.  This month's counseling corner will focus on understanding stress and learning healthy ways to manage it.  Based on our school wide needs survey from the beginning of the year, we know that stress and grades are two of the things that our students worry about the most.  To help students learn about managing stress, the counselors will be visiting all 6th and 7th grade science classrooms and discussing the definition of stress, the positive and negatives aspects of stress, healthy coping skills, and how to identify a support system.  We encourage you to discuss this topic with your student and we have provided some questions and ideas for some coping skills below. 

  

To begin a conversation about stress and anxiety with your student try asking some of the following questions:

* What does stress mean to you?

* What are the things that cause you stress? (homework, friends, grades, tests)

* What can be good about stress? (It helps motivate you)

* What can be bad about stress? (It can worsen your performance or cause health issues)

* What does stress feel like?

  

After identifying the feeling, discussing the effects of stress, and labeling some of the triggers for your student's stress, try to help them identify some healthy coping skills.  Some great ideas that we heard in our classroom discussions include:

* Listening to music

* Making a 'To-Do' list 

* Taking a break and going outside

* Having a snack

* Taking a nap

In addition to these coping skills, the counselors practiced some relaxation and breathing exercises with the students during these presentations.  One of the exercises is called 'Square Breathing' and the directions are listed below.

'Sit comfortably and close your eyes.  Breathe in through your nose for a count of four and hold your breath without straining.  Continue holding your breath for a count of four and then slowly exhale through your mouth for four counts.  Hold the air out for a count of four and repeat the pattern four times or as many as needed.'

For other relaxation exercises and more information about supporting your student please visit the Evergreen Counseling Haiku page.  If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to reach out to your student's counselor.  Thank you!

  

The Lake Washington School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, gender, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran, military status, sexual orientation, including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability, in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.

 

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies:

Director of Human Resources

16250 NE 74th Street

Redmond, Washington, 98052