Nipmuc School Counseling Center News

Wellness Week: One of the goals in both the School Counseling Center and Student Health Office is to work with students to create individualized wellness plans and live healthy lifestyles. Recent Metro-West Health data shows that school-related issues (grades, homework, and tests) are the biggest source of stress for Nipmuc students. This year’s wellness programming got underway with our first Wellness Week, which was a huge success! From December 7 - 11, students and faculty participated in a variety of activities to promote wellness practices, including a “no homework day.”

Take a look at the video below to see Wellness Week in action!

Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. Over 90% of the students surveyed believe that wellness programming in school is important. We’re all looking forward to the next Wellness Week in March. If you have any ideas or want to get involved, please get in touch with one of the school counselors or nurse by calling 508-529-2140.

Coming up in January…

January 6: Scholarship Presentation for Seniors: During Advisory, seniors will attend a presentation to learn about college scholarships and how to apply for them. Some scholarships are already available on Naviance (“colleges” tab → “scholarship list”).

January 12: Incoming 9th Grade Informational Night: The evening will begin with a 30 minute presentation highlighting key points about our school. After that session we will introduce students and parents to Nipmuc through a fair, tours, and a feature of student work.

January 13 & 20: Counselors Begin College Search Process with Juniors: Counselors will meet with juniors on their caseloads during two advisory sessions. We will discuss how to start the college search process and what goes into applications and decisions for next year. A similar presentation for parents will take place on February 2nd (more information to follow).

Wellness Happenings Around Nipmuc

Wellness Week starts on Monday (Dec. 7) and 

The School Counseling Center and Student Health Services

 are buzzing with excitement and anticipation! 

We would like to give you a quick overview of what to expect next week so you can share our excitement about all the wellness happenings around Nipmuc...  

This Wednesday (Dec. 2) during advisory sessions, students will take a quick survey that will gauge how well students are managing their stress and what wellness practices they are currently using. One of the goals of Wellness Week is to help students identify one or more wellness practices that they can use to help manage their stress and regulate their emotions.

Students will be using Sched.com to sign up for an activity of their choice which they will attend during advisory sessions on Wednesday and Friday of next week (Dec. 9 & Dec. 11). The School Counseling Center has worked hard to organize sessions that include a wide range of wellness practices that highlight art, exercise, finding inspiration, music, nutrition, and relaxation/stress management. 

Activities in these categories include:

Making a Worry Stone

Regulation Emotions with Glitter

Relaxation through Coloring

Cardio Dance/Active Stretching

Weight Lifting

Recreational Games

Walking Outside

Yoga

Zumba

Motivation Speaker: Michael Wilson

TED Talks

Listening to Music

Jam Session

Singing

Making Healthy Smoothies

Therapy Dogs

Meditation

Reading

Video Games

and Writing

 To gain more information on these activities, please visit our Wellness Week website!

Along with attending these activities on Wednesday and Friday there will be wellness events happening other days of the week:
Monday: Peer leadership will be starting Wellness Week with a Positivity Day where positive post-its will be placed around the school.
Tuesday: Free granola bars will be provided in the lobby during breaks as a healthy snack option
Wednesday: No homework day!
Thursday: A guided meditation will be offered during both breaks in the Gathering Room.

Students should be on the lookout for an e-mail asking them to sign up for Wellness Activities on Sched.com and as always, please feel free to contact/visit the School Counseling Center or Student Health Services with any questions! 

Be Well! #WarriorWellness

Nipmuc Schooling Counseling Center - December News

For a short month, we have a lot going on in the School Counseling Center this December!  There are college application deadlines, resume work, Wellness Week, Breakfast with the Counselors, and more.  Read on for the details!

December 1: ASVAB: Nipmuc is administering the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).  Students thinking about joining the military should definitely take the test, but any other students are welcome as well.  Interested students should see Mrs. Grady in the School Counseling Center by November 24th.

December 5: SAT

December 7-11: Wellness Week: The School Counseling Center and Student Health Services at Nipmuc have joined forces to help students and faculty reduce stress, improve health, and learn about wellness.  This week we will have an additional advisory session as well as a number of other small activities dedicated to wellness.

December 8: Breakfast with the Counselors, 8am-9am:  This workshop is for parents of sophomores.  We will focus our discussion on supporting healthy decisions.  Katherine Ware from Family Continuity will be joining us to give a clinical perspective.

December 9: Transcript Request Forms Due: Any seniors who are applying to colleges with a January 1st deadline must submit Transcript Request forms by December 9.

December 12: ACT

December 28: Deadline to register for January SAT (January 23rd)

Ongoing in the month of December:

Resume building for juniors: On November 18th, counselors met with all juniors to talk about the importance of creating a resume.  Student can use the resume builder on Naviance to help them get organized.  Mrs. Hennessy in the 21st Century Learning Center is available by appointment to help perfect completed resumes.  By the end of junior year, students should have their resumes ready for use.

Scholarships on Naviance for seniors: Although we’re a few months away from the busy scholarship season, there are some scholarships available now.  Seniors should check the scholarship list on Naviance once a week to see updated opportunities.  Mrs. Hefez is the scholarship coordinator and she can answer any questions you might have.

December 24 - January 3: Holiday Break

We hope you all have happy and safe holidays and look forward to a great 2016!

It's Time to Get Excited for Wellness Week!

The Counseling Center and The Student Health Office have been hard at work planning TWO Wellness Weeks for the current school year! The first one will be held December 7-11, 2015 and the second will be March 28-April 1, 2016. We’re getting very excited as the week quickly approaches and we hope you will be too! The purpose of Wellness Week is to spread an awareness of wellness practices, promote healthy lifestyles, and learn ways to cope with and decrease stress. Our hope is that spreading awareness of wellness practices will result in healthier minds and bodies for our Nipmuc community. The Center for Disease Control's Division of Adolescent and School Health provides evidence that shows a strong link between the health of students and academic success. Healthy students are better learners, and successful students create healthy communities in the future!

During the week, different activities will be available for students to attend during advisory sessions and teachers will be able to do a quick wellness exercise at the beginning of their classes. The activities will cover aspects of wellness such as nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, relaxation, and more! The Counseling Center and Student Health Office want to offer a wide range of activities so that every student can find something they are interested in or that they will find helpful towards improving their individual

wellness. In order to do this, we need your help! We are looking for enthusiastic and creative students to sign up to be Wellness Week Ambassadors. Ambassadors will be responsible for advertising the December Wellness Week, and creating, implementing, and running activities during advisory sessions. If you are interested in becoming a Wellness Week Ambassador, please stop by the School Counseling Center to sign up on Thursday (11/5) or Friday (11/6) during breaks.

Wellness Week is an opportunity to relax and have some fun while learning skills to improve individual wellness. If you have any ideas for activities or a wellness practice you would like to share with students and faculty during the December Wellness Week, please contact the Counseling Center or The Student Health Office. 

College Planning and Financial Aid

Throughout the past few weeks, the School Counseling Center has hosted sessions for both senior students and their parents regarding college planning and the financial aid application process. Below is the presentation we gave to seniors.

There is also a more detailed document available about the Nipmuc College Application process.

For more information about financial aid, please go to www.mefa.org.

Breakfast With the Counselors

On September 22, the Nipmuc School Counseling Center held our first “Breakfast with the Counselors” with the parents of freshmen students. It was a great success! Not only did we enjoy some delicious muffins, but we also enjoyed great conversation. The Breakfast with the Counselors series is a great opportunity for parents to connect with their students’ counselor and to discuss some of the joys and challenges of parenting a student in high school. Here are some highlights from the discussion during the breakfast…

·         Keep communication open
Even a simple question such as “How was your day?” can result in a one word response from your teenager. Teenagers are striving for independence and are naturally turning to peer relationships for social interaction, advice and connection.  It’s very easy for teenagers to feel as though their parents are pushing for information or being intrusive in their lives. Although it is sometimes hard to connect and talk to your high schooler, finding your own way to communicate with each other is key to keeping a close relationship. Strategies that may help with keeping communication lines open include asking open ended questions, talking about your own day,  offering advice or problem-solving suggestions sparingly while validating their experiences will show them you’re interested in what they’re saying, but not hungry for information or wanting to take charge.

·         Create meaningful time with your teen

 Learning about their interests and their passions can help strengthen your relationship with them. Find a TV show you both like or let them plug their IPOD into the car radio so you can rock out to some songs together. These little moments are meaningful to them, even if they don’t show it!

·         Your kids want to please you!

Generally speaking, kids want to please their parents.  When mistakes and disappointments happen in high school, kids are managing not only their responses to the situation, but they are worried about their parents’ response as well.  As parents, we can model how you can grow from these setbacks so students recognize failures and challenges are not the end of the world.

·         Collaborative Problem-solving

The adolescent brain goes through a tremendous amount of development during the high school years. Cognitive skills and capacities often develop in fits and the last part of the teen brain to develop is the pre-frontal cortex; the part of the brain responsible for planning, prioritizing and other executive functions. The good news is that the neural connections responsible for these activities can be strengthened by active use. Parents can support this process by staying calm, listening and when collaborating on problem solving, ask questions to stimulate your teens decision-making and critical thinking skills.  Telling your student the “right” decision will often go in one ear and out the other, so support them to work through decisions and develop these skills independently

·         Encourage your student to get involved

Engagement in school or community activities offers opportunities to build competence, connections with others as well as a variety of college and career readiness skills.  There are many opportunities to join such activities throughout the year. Students can learn about different opportunities at the Nipmuc High School through their counselors and peers or they can stop by Mrs. Hennessey’s office, our Career and Community Coordinator, to see what opportunities are available outside of school.

These are just a few of the discussion points from the workshop on September 22. Please do not hesitate to contact your students’ counselor at the Nipmuc School Counseling Office, with any additional questions or concerns.