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St. Joseph Catholic School is excited to announce the launch of a new school-wide program of social-emotional learning, called
. This program will be implemented by our school counselors with the support of faculty, staff and parents!
The current global pandemic has highlighted the need for strong social skills and emotional management. Now more than ever our students need to be equipped to navigate the uncertainty in their lives with a deeper sense of faith and community. Social skills such as self-awareness, responsible decision-making, self-management and relationship-building are some of the tools that make this possible.
This new program, which begins in October, complements our current social-emotional learning curriculum which explores the ways in which our Catholic faith, faith-filled actions, and prayer help our students to develop strong social skills and deeper relationships with each other and God. As we continue to learn about Catholic virtues and saints each month we will also work on building healthy relationships, developing empathy and strengthening our school community.
As part of this program, each SJS student will receive a student workbook that will be used in class along with lessons led by our counselors.
“Friendzy is a comprehensive program designed to change school culture by offering vital social emotional learning lessons (SEL) to proactively address aggressive behavior, reduce stress, equip with healthy relationship skills, and improve focus and academic performance, which will increase resiliency for success in school and in life.” Joy Roberts and Julie Widman, Friendzy founders
May Catchphrase: Friendship is a Gift!
“There is nothing on earth more to be prized than true friendship.” ~~St. Thomas Aquinas
Dear Parents,
Our guidance counseling classes this month will focus on our last Friendzy unit for the year---Friendship is a Gift!
In April, we talked about the unique and special gifts each child has within them. In appreciating these gifts and not comparing our gifts with those others have we build friendships and encourage each other.
This month we are looking at how we give the best of ourselves to each other in the gift of friendship. This is a celebration of all of the friendship skills we practiced this year----kindness, selflessness, teamwork, caring words and forgiveness!
We hope that that journey through these units has been helpful to your children in developing their friendship skills.
“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.” Douglas Pagels
Continue the Conversation--discuss the following at home:
1. Friendship is a gift. - Friends teach us, strengthen us, and help us. Friendship is fun.
2. Friends are special and valuable. - We can look at our friends as gifts and celebrate them!
3. Everyone needs and deserves friends.-To have good friends, you should be a good friend.
CHOSE TO SHARE
Take a moment and think back to some of the fondest memories you have of growing up. Many of them may be memories with one close friend or a small group of friends with whom you shared great experiences. These experiences are formative and build a strong foundation for building healthy and lasting friendships for years to come. That is why we are taking the time to emphasize that friendship is a gift. Share some of your fondest memories of friendship with your child.
When kids learn friendship, they learn it for life!
April Catchphrase: I Am Valuable
Dear Parents,
This month our classroom guidance counseling lessons will look at how we are chosen by God and given wonderful, unique gifts. We will talk about what an incredible gift it is that Jesus chooses us!
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. .” John 15:16 (NLT) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
Continue the Conversation at Home:
1. God uniquely made you, and you are valuable. Each and every person was created in the image of God. You have value, and the unique characteristics and gifts you possess were given to you by God, on purpose, so that you can fulfill His purposes for your life.
2." I am valuable and so are you!" Our cathcphrase this month reminds us that every person is valuable and that we need to treat each other accordingly.
2. Avoid comparing yourself with others. When you compare yourself with others you either are happy because you are better than them, or sad because you are not as good. This mindset hurts friendships.
3. Each person has been given unique strengths and gifts. The strengths that God has given to you may look different than your classmates and friends. Celebrate your differences. Your differences make you a stronger team.
4. When you recognize your value, you can recognize the value of others. It’s often easier to think about the things you wish you were better at. Today, stop to consider the things that you like about yourself. The reality that Jesus chooses us to be His friend helps us with every friendship challenge we encounter.
THE MAIN POINT
Students who know they are valuable act and respond very differently than students who do not know their value and worth. Take some time over the next few weeks to remind your students that you value them.
CHOSE TO SHARE
What do you value about your student? We will be talking about our value and worth as a class and we hope that you will remind your child of all the wonderful gifts you see within them and those that they are beginning to develop each day!
March Catchphrase: Friends Forgive
Dear Parents,
This month we will be talking about forgiveness and how forgiveness is something we practice every day in our attitudes and in our relationships with each other. We will explore how to forgive one another, and how freeing forgiveness is.Our 2nd graders were able to experience how wonderful it can feel to be forgiven when had thier First Penance just a few weeks ago.
Our catchphrase this month is "Friends Forgive."
Continue the Conversation at home:
1. Friends forgive first. They know that the friendship they had with the person was important. The only way it can truly be repaired is if forgiveness is extended. When we choose not to forgive we could be losing a good friend forever.
2. Forgiveness is an attitude not just an action. You can decide that instead of holding grudges you’ll learn to automatically forgive.
3. Saying “I’m sorry” first isn’t weak. It takes strength to own and take responsibility when you’ve hurt someone.
4. Be supportive. Show support to others as they are rebuilding their friendships.
As adults, the way we model the act of forgiveness teaches just as much, if not more, than our words. Having decades of experience living on the earth and dealing with relational difficulties is time enough for us to know that forgiveness is not easy.
February Catchphrase: Watch My Words
Dear Parents,
This month we are beginning the 5th unit in our Friendzy curriculum. In class we have been talking about friendship, community and caring. We are practicing active listening, teamwork and building social skills.
The students are listening, growing and exemplifying their learning in class as well as on the playground. We hope that you are seeing positive changes at home as well. The title of this month's unit is Watch My Words.
All month we will be talking about communcation and the power of our words to life each other up and model God's love in the way we speak to and about each other.
Some of the key ideas we will be discussing are embodied in this quote from Mahatma Ghandi: “Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.”
There are moments in our lives where we all have opened our mouth and said words we wish we could retract. By modeling to your children how to course correct when a mistake is made, you are showing them the power of how to THINK before we speak.
January Catchphrase: Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
In January, our counseling classes will be talking about teamwork. Our Friendzy focus for this month is "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work." We will reflect on what an incredible gift it is when we learn to work as a team and serve one another with our gifts! We are so much better together.
As a parent, the challenge you face is to have your nuclear family work together and to show love to one another and to work together towards a common goal. And the reality is that unless we first receive love FROM God, it is almost impossible to be able to love those around us, and this includes our children.
Try this at home: In family life it is easy to not notice the gifts that each member brings to the table because we are so familiar with each other and we spend so much time together. If we are not intentional, we can miss the amazing gift that each member of our family is to the team (family unit). In an effort to connect the teaching your students are learning at school and incorporate it into home life in a practical way, we suggest that one day this week you have time together as a family where each member is affirmed for the unique gifts they bring.
Take time to celebrate each other!
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10
December Catchphrase: You First
“Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
Philippians 2:2-5 (NLT)
This month our students are learning the importance of considering the needs of others, not just their own needs and wants. God’s Word challenges us to not be selfish. Thinking of others first is a life skill that equips us for real and long-lasting relationships. It’s not that we can’t have needs, it’s that we need to consider the needs of others as well as our own.True JOY comes from practicing “You First”
One way to continue the conversation at home this month is by posing this simple question at the dinner table over a meal: “What are some ways that we can practice not being selfish around the house?” The responses to this question can open up meaningful and honest dialogue among members of your family. What a powerful opportunity for your child to share what they are learning, put it into practice, and see the positive effect it has in your home. When students learn friendships they learn it for life, and this includes the friendship they share with each member of your family. Over the next few weeks, we hope your student will begin to use this unit’s catchphrase: “You First”. This is the main point that we want the students to catch on to and use over.
November Catchphrase: Be Kind All the Time
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
We will be talking about what it means to be "kind all the time" and how we can try to be a little kinder each day.
Our students will also learn about H.A.L.T. (Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired) and how it is hard to be our best selves when there is something going on physically that we need to address.
Ways to "Continue the Conversation" at home this month:
Discuss these ideas with your children:
1. A friend loves at all times. God’s Word calls us to love others all the time.
2. All means all. Loving friends when they are nice is easy. Loving friends who are annoying, or mean to you, or act differently than you is really hard.
3. Show love through your words. We show love by the words we say. Words matter and affect those around us. Choose words that reflect the love that is in your heart.
4. Show love through your actions. We’ve all heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”. Our actions are the exclamation point to our words. Don’t just talk the talk - walk the walk!
October Catchphrase: We Need Each Other
Each month our SJS students will learn a catchphrase. These simple sentences are a way for us to remember our goal of building up each other in a community of faith and caring.
