Come and visit room 57!

Parents, when you’re visiting Love Hall, please stop by room 57 to say hello! Over the summer, I moved to be closer to the front office, the lunchroom, and the infirmary. I love hosting students in my room for lunch, but our time always goes so quickly! Now that I’m closer to the Hamilton Room, less time will be spent traveling in the hallways during the initial journey and during trips back to the line for more delicious food.

I hope you’ll stop by when you’re in Love Hall! My door is always open… except for the day I took this picture…

My #1 priority as the school counselor in Love Hall is to help every student feel safe, supported, and loved at school. I believe it is of the utmost importance that all children — and adults — walk into school feeling like they belong. People should be welcomed by name. (Cheers had it right!) So that everyone spending time in Love Hall feels welcome in my room, I’m on a mission to visit every class and ask the students to write their names on a leaf that will be added to the cardboard tree on the wall. I’m tracking down special area teachers and other staff members, too. On the first day of school, two classes completed this task and accompanied me to my room to tape the leaf on the wall. They enjoyed seeing my new space, and I’m excited that they’ll know where to find me when they need me. I’m looking forward to watching the green leaves grow!

When you visit my office, you’ll see my tree of names! The name of every student and faculty/staff member in Love Hall will be on a leaf. Stop by and see the progress!

Let the 2015-2016 school year begin!

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! In Love Hall, we are READY. We’re ready for your children, first-day nervousness/excitement, summer stories of travel and Tooth Fairy visits and family adventures, friendship changes and expansions, and so much more. Bring on the Wildcats!

I can’t let the year begin, though, without sharing about our busy, engaging week of faculty forum. How lucky Westminster teachers are! Last Tuesday, the entire faculty spread out and visited 11 leading organizations in Atlanta. I spent an unforgettable and moving morning at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. We returned to campus to dine and converse with colleagues who had toured different places; we made connections between our experiences and what we’ll teach in our classrooms. There is no doubt that the experience of Westminster students throughout the year will be enhanced by the impactful experiences we had that day.

Center for Civil and Human Rights

Center for Civil and Human Rights

On Wednesday, our professional development workshop options included an opportunity to paint outside on studio panels made from recycled materials. Faculty and staff from all three divisions gathered to use the new materials and provide feedback to the art teachers. Our feedback? Very, very positive! Hopefully students will enjoy an outdoor painting studio on the Pre-First playground this year!

Students will LOVE this outdoor painting studio

Three divisions combine for paintingstravaganza

After feeling a sense of adventure throughout last week’s workshops, meeting new students in grades 1-5 last Friday, seeing many parents at orientation meetings, delighting in today’s breakfast-that-morphs-into-lunch courtesy of PAWS, and shopping for spirit wear at the bookstore… we are READY.

I look forward to blogging about the school counseling program in Love Hall, happenings around campus, and the inspiring things your children say and do. Thank you for the honor of serving your children as their school counselor. Let’s make it the best school year yet!