September is Attendance Awareness Month 

Annual Hot Chocolate Treat!

It's National School Counselor Appreciation Week!

Each year, I like to provide a hot chocolate bar for teachers, support staff, administration, front office staff, and custodians.

Usually, I set this up in the workroom for ease of access since most visit that room at some point during the day and it's centrally located. However, this year, I decided to move it to my office so I could keep it fresh and full throughout the day. This gave others a reason to visit my office and provided a clear pathway to make connections and 

chit-chat a little. 

Self-Regulation Skills

2nd Grade students spend the year learning about 

self-regulation. This lesson gives them the opportunity to explore Expected and Unexpected Behaviors in various situations. It also fosters self-awareness as they complete a short survey that helps them identify their triggers.

2019 RAVE and 2019 Alabama School Counseling Program of Distinction Awards

Woo! Hoo!

Hard work and dedication really do pay off!

The FES Counseling Program received the 

2019 RAVE Award

and the

2019 Alabama School Counseling Program of Distinction Award!

Leadership Day

Our FES Student Lighthouse Team led educators visiting our school on Leadership Day around the campus, showing them how we incorporate Leader in Me into our daily life at school. Here, they are showing them the front atrium where the 7 Habits are hanging on all sides.

Types of Communication

3rd Grade students spend the year focusing on Conflict Resolution. Often, conflicts arise without us intending for them to happen and without us understanding why.

We spend time learning about different types of communication - passive, aggressive, and assertive. These students are thinking through different ways to respond to a situation.

I Love These People!

FES has the #1 Custodial Staff!

Pictured with our principal and one of our assistant principals, the custodial staff shines their light!

Every Christmas, this group of fabulous ladies and gentlemen select a few students to adopt for Christmas. They make me smile every time I talk to them!

Good School Habits

Attendance Small Group

At the elementary level, it might be thought that students have no control over whether or not they get to school on time or even come to school at all. While that may be true sometimes, it is not true all the time.

Students in our attendance small group took time to learn what they can do to help get to school on time each day possible. 

Play-Doh?

Who would have ever thought Play-Doh could be such a powerful motivator?

When we read A Walk in the Rain with a Brain, we learned that our brains learn best when we play. So, I decided to leave a few minutes at the end of each lesson for play. The class earns that play time by listening carefully and helping us get through our lesson with enough time left to play. 

They love it!

My Brain is Unique!

This is one of my favorite books to read with students at the beginning of the school year!

After we spend some time learning about the brain and how each person's brain is made just for them, students imagine what their brain looks like and draw a picture.

Then, students identify three things their brain is already pretty good at doing. 

After a discussion about how what we say to ourselves really does matter, students write down three things they can say to themselves during a test to help them feel more confident.