At each start of the school year, the counselors at Blendon Middle School hold “minute meetings” with every student as a way to get a pulse on how they are feeling, what concerns they have, and if they have a safe and trusted adult to talk to while at school.
As Amy Weinrich and Marcia Childs wrapped up their conversations with students this month, they found a common concern among the sixth-graders: They are struggling with stress and anxiety.
The students talked about starting the year in a new school with fewer students and everyone socially distanced. They haven’t seen their friends who are in a different cohort or in the virtual academy. Students are struggling to make new friends because the desks in the classroom and lunchroom, which align with health and safety guidelines, haven’t made it easy to start conversations.
Weinrich and Childs initially planned on hosting small virtual groups for students. However, they later determined it would be more beneficial to have the sixth-graders spending time during their Flex period on Tuesday outdoors with a mask break together, introducing them to yoga and teaching them calming breathing exercises.
“Remember those minute meetings we had?” Childs said to the dozens of sixth-graders who were spread out across the field behind the school. “One thing we found out was that a lot of people were feeling a little bit nervous about sixth-grade, a little bit anxious about things, maybe at home, maybe in our state, in our city, in our country or in our world because there’s a lot of things going on. So Mrs. Weinrich and I wanted to make sure we had time with you to help you with some things that we use, things we think are good for kids to be able to help themselves calm down when they need to.”
For the past four years, Weinrich and Childs have started the school year with “minute meetings,” checking in with seventh- and eighth-graders and starting a relationship with sixth-graders. They meet students by class period, pulling them out individually for a quick chat outside, in the hallway or a quiet space away from the classroom or office.
“Students like it because they can talk about themselves and let us know what they need help with,” Weinrich said. “We try not to make it scary. (We tell them:) ‘It’s all questions about you. There are no right or wrong answers. We’re here to help you.’”
Questions cover a variety of topics, from how they are feeling about their classes to their career interests. Weinrich and Childs ask students to share who in the school can they go to when they need to talk, fun facts about themselves and things they’d want their teacher to know about them.
The students’ responses have been revealing:
“Sometimes I try really hard to get all my assignments done and be perfect.”
“I really struggle with math.”
“If I don’t have my hand up, I really don’t like to be called on.”
“I have a hard time sitting in the classroom.”
Childs said they share that information with teachers to help them better understand their students.
“For us, it’s building on that relationship because they might not come to the office, they might not tell somebody else that they feel anxious in math or in science,” she said. “It’s a good building block for us.”
Some students have gotten emotional during their meetings. A few have said something that compelled Weinrich and Childs to shift their focus on the students’ needs.
“There have been times where I’ve met with a student and they answer it in a certain way that I really need to follow up with that student then and there,” Weinrich said. “So we had to pause in that class and finish the meetings the next day so we can focus on that student. We might not have known about that situation unless we had that conversation with the student that day.”
Childs and Weinrich adapted their questions this year, asking students about how they are managing their school work remotely and if they need food and other supplies. Among their discoveries from the conversations: Many students said they need help finding friends.
“Making friends has been a higher need than it has been in the past because of the environment and the way school has been operating this year,” Weinrich said. “Because there are fewer students in the classrooms and everyone is socially distanced, you’re not sitting at a table or having a group project in class so you’re not building that relationship with others like you normally would. Kids are struggling to build relationships or make new friends.”
Childs and Weinrich are developing plans to support students. And with students out of the building so much this year, the counselors are also working to ensure all of them, especially sixth-graders, have a safe and trusted adult they can turn to.
On Tuesday, Childs and Weinrich launched the first of their efforts to address one of the concerns students raised during the minute meetings: managing stress and anxiety.
Sixth-graders spread out across the school field with their masks off as Childs and Weinrich led them through some breathing exercises and yoga poses from the Youth Yoga Project.
The counselors, as well as others across the district, received training during a district-wide professional development day on implementing the Youth Yoga Project at their school. The project, which empowers youth through yoga and mindfulness with healthy coping skills to manage their stress and making healthful choices, features a curriculum that runs throughout the school year.
Weinrich led students through breathing exercises while Childs introduced students to some basic yoga stretches to help them calm down. To reinforce and encourage students to keep breathing deeply, the counselors gave students bubbles to blow before they returned to the building.
For Claire Reynolds, doing yoga at school was a novel experience even though she has done it with her mom before. She appreciated the opportunity to take a break outside.
“It was fun,” she said. “I’m glad I got to do it.”