Best Practices to Support Student Wellness in Low-Income Communities
Presenter: Vanessa Arzola Olea
Research shows that basic human needs must be addressed before learning can occur. Hunger, for example, threatens students’ development, learning, and future potential. The collaboration between school counselors and administrators is critical to identifying areas that can help support students academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. To create effective student intervention programs to support students and families, counselor-admin teams must review various data sources, including data provided by the school nutrition program. This research will showcase how one school provides direct food assistance and supports the need for physical and cognitive development that helps students learning and productivity.
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Elevating Highly Mobile Students
Presenters: Adriana Navarrete & Savannah Chatton
Transferring schools can be a challenging experience for students but with the right support and preparation, it can also be an opportunity for growth and new experiences. Previous research shows that youth who transfer schools are more likely to have negative behavioral and educational outcomes. The purpose of this research is to examine the effects that transferring schools multiple times has on a student’s social life, grades, attendance, motivation, and mental health in order to learn how to better support students. Students who have transferred to and from schools two or more times were surveyed and interviewed to gather in-depth data about their experiences. Valuing student voices in these interviews provides insight into interventions that can help support students in their educational journey.
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Incorporating Play Therapy in Tier-2 Academic Support
Presenters: Aislinn Seibel & Carmelita Herrera
Based on the trends observed in our school site data, we identified a need for foundational academic skills. We incorporated play therapy with academic skills to improve 9th grade academic performance. We wanted to prioritize our student's engagement through the use of play therapy. Over a 6-week period we met with a group of 7 students. Based on our findings, we found that incorporating play therapy interventions had an impact on students' focus and engagement with the content. We measured this through our pre and post tests.
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Into the Looking Glass: Student Perspective
Presenters: Kiara Prak-Perry & Renisa Stanfield
The goal of our research is to learn about the student perspective and what improvements or highlights students have about their campus. Many students have expressed some areas of concern around their experience at school and we want to look into what specific areas of growth there are. Data showed students need more support from their home environment, school connectedness, and peer relationships. We will be using California Healthy Kids Survey data, empathy interviews, small group data, and DataQuest information to learn more about the climate of the school and what students think about their experience. We want to be able to come up with action items to bring back to staff that they can work on to improve the student experience on campus.
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McKinney-Vento Act: How School Counselors Can Support Students Experiencing Homelessness
Presenter: Priscilla Silva
This presentation is for school counselors who wish to improve their knowledge of the resources and support for students experiencing homelessness through the McKinney-Vento Act. School counselors will learn tips on how to connect students and their families who are experiencing homelessness to outside agencies, and work to remove barriers for children experiencing homelessness. Attendees will increase stakeholder awareness and understanding of the McKinney-Vento Act, ESSA and the rights of homeless students.
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Moving Beyond the Barrier: College Success for First-Generation Students
Presenter: Tania Quintero
This presentation will further explore the role of school counselor advocacy in supporting First-generation students throughout the college navigation and application process. First-generation students face unique barriers that challenge and stop them from applying and attending college. These barriers may include a lack of social, cultural, and economic capital. Such as limited parental knowledge about the college application process, confusion about which courses to take to prepare for postsecondary education, and financial strains regarding paying for higher education (Brookover et. al, 2021).
As school counselors/educators understanding these barriers will inform the services that need to be provided for students, how to advocate for them, and be bridge makers in providing them with resources. This presentation will further understand the resources that need to be provided through the experiences of first-generation students themselves with the purpose of engaging in transformative college readiness. This will further inform the interventions needed to be incorporated into counseling programs to center and support first-generation students on their track to college.
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Navigating the Unknown: A First-Gen Perspective
Presenter: Gabriela Ibarra Aspe
First-generation students are trailblazers in their families, navigating the unknown path of higher education. However, many of these students face significant barriers that hinder their academic success. Institutional and personal obstacles, such as difficulties in creating a sense of belonging, making connections, and accessing resources, can discourage first-generation students and make higher education seem impossible. As school counselors, it is essential for us to actively engage with our first-generation students, listen to their stories, and create equitable interventions to support their academic journey.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of first-generation small group intervention in improving students' knowledge and confidence about post-secondary education. Specifically, the study examines changes in students' knowledge and confidence levels from pre- to post-assessment, as well as their perceptions of the intervention's impact on their post-secondary plans and goals.
We hope to shed light on effective interventions and strategies that can enhance the support provided to first-generation high school students and contribute to their academic success.
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Planting the Seeds of the Information in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Presenter: Maria Isabel Alquiciras Albarran
The Deaf program at Madison High School serves 30 Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Half of them are on track to get a certificate of completion. Some of them are unsure if they will receive a certificate of completion or a high school diploma upon their graduation and/or do not have basic information about the transcript. With two valuable lessons provided, they will gain knowledge about the difference between a certificate of completion and a high school diploma, and the importance of understanding a high school transcript.
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Strengthening Healthy Relationship Building Skills Through Emotional Literacy Among High School Students
Presenters: Siria Flores & Krystina Andrade
Research shows that unhealthy relationships have a devastating impact on students academic performance, including poor attendance. Nearly 20% of students in unstable relationships have underperforming grades in comparison to only 6% of students in stable relationships. Shipley et al. (2018) found that effective relationship education has a positive influence on adolescents' relationship knowledge, beliefs, skills and promoted communication, negotiation and conflict resolution skills. Because of the devastating effects of unstable relationships among students, the objective of this study is to analyze the connection between emotional literacy and its role in strengthening healthy relationship skills. This presentation will provide participants with the knowledge on how to incorporate emotional literacy development in small groups. As well as provide participants with pre and post data on the positive effects of being emotionally literate and succeeding in healthy relationships including romantic, friendships, familial and professional.
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Strengthening Healthy Coping Mechanisms for At-Promise Teens
Presenters: Teresa Silvestre & Amy Tran
During Spring 2023, a six-week small group regarding healthy coping mechanisms was conducted with the youth in JCCS South County. This small group focused on providing youth with healthy coping skills they can practice in school and at home, as well as providing them with the space to be creative and destress. The youth participated in different activities ranging from scribble painting, creating soothing lava lamps, and creating essential oil rollers and calming bath salts. Throughout the six-week group, youth were taught about emotional literacy, self-expression, and its connection to mental health. A pre-mid- and post-test were administered to evaluate the emotional literacy and understanding of healthy coping skills of the youth before, during, and after the six-week group.
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The Value of Athletic Participation on GPA's
Presenter: Gary Taylor
Involvement in extracurricular activities, specifically sport, has been related to better cognitive functioning in children and greater outcomes academically including higher grades, test scores, engagement in school, satisfaction with school, aspirations and rates for attending college, as well as lower absenteeism and drop out rates.
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