Spring is in the air (even if it's not officially spring)!  The snow was nice, but please bring on the warmer weather.  Hang on, folks!  We are finishing up the 3rd quarter and starting the 4th quarter.  Spring break is just days way.  The final round of MAP testing will be here before you know it.  But the most exciting event coming is Easter!  That is my favorite holiday.  I have said before that Easter is the continuation of the Christmas story.  At the time of writing this, we are venturing into week 2 of Lent.   I hope everyone is experiencing a meaningful Lenten season.  I am attaching Matthew Kelly's Best Lent Ever link.  www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/best-lent-ever.html. This year, he has a book study as well.  I Heard God Laugh, written by Kelly, teaches us how to pray in very simple terms.  Yet the book is so much more than that!  He discusses the "why" and the "how" of praying and how to create the habit of praying.  It is a very easy read and several local parishes have copies of these books if you are needing one.  It's not too late to join!

   Friendship is the focus for guidance lessons this month.  I have often found the school year to resemble a "stay the night" experience.  When kids have a friend spend the night, usually everything goes great at the beginning and hopefully into the morning (barring no tears, missing mom and wanting to go home).  However, as the second day goes on, there is a little more arguing or irritability, which usually signals that it's time for someone to go home.  The month of March, in a school year, tends to be very similar.  There tends to be more conflicts between friends.  This is nothing out of the ordinary and nothing to be overly concerned about.  It just is the ebb and flow of things.  With that in mind, the focus will be on learning how to be a good friend.  The kindergarten, kindergarten transition, K/1 class and first grade classes will be reading the story Crazy Hair Day and completing a worksheet about the qualities/actions of a good friend.  The 2nd grade classes also will be reading Crazy Hair Day, but they will be doing a socially distanced activity about having many friends according to their likes and dislikes. The 3rd grade students are doing my favorite activity of the year-a friendship escape room!  The students are divided into groups to solve puzzles about friendship.  They have to finish each puzzle successfully in order to move to the next puzzle, gaining clues for the final puzzle as they go.  The students love this activity!  It encourages cooperation and grit.  (I am all about grit!). 

     As always, Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you and your family.  I can be reached through email at Kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or by calling (270) 684-7583.  I hope that everyone has a meaningful lenten season and then has an amazing Easter and spring break!

      Hello February!  We are moving along in this school year and the kids are doing great!  It has really been a blessing to be working with the younger students.  The kids at the K-3 Campus (for the most part) are still so happy to be in person, in school!  I can't help but wonder how this entire pandemic situation is affecting our students.  While I am sure there will be some negative effects, I am hoping that the positive effects will outway any of the challenges.  We can choose to focus on the great strengths and strides we make or we can wallow in the difficulties.  Let's just say nothing good comes from the later!  I frequently tell the students that there is strength in the struggle.  Their happiness about being at school is one of those positive effects.  Let's hope it stays that way for a little while longer!  

     For the month of February, guidance lessons are focusing on kindness.  In a world where you can be anything, be kind!  Mr. Tinius talks to the students about kindness frequently.  With the Valentines Day holiday, it seems only fitting to be focusing on this characteristic.  The kindergarten class, kindergarten transition class, K/1 class and the first grade classes will be reading two different books.  The first is Recess Queen, by Alexis O'Neill.  This is a story about a young lady who dominates the playground.  She gives us a great role model of how NOT to be when we play with others.  While reading the book, we will be folding and wrinkling a large paper heart to show how being unkind hurts others.  The next book, Be Kind, by Pat Zietlow,  gives us wonderful examples of how to be kind to others. The students will then make heart band aides to put on the wrinkled heart to make it feel better.  I have done a similar activities with classes in previous years.  It was a powerful and meaningful activity that students remembered.

      The second grade class will be watching a "Kid President" video called "How to Change the World."  I will include the link to the video below.  Head on over to Youtube and watch it. You won't be disappointed!  The students will then be making a snow man craft that will help them think of ways that they can be kind to others.  Hopefully, they will get inspiration from "Kid President!"

     The third grade students will watch the same "Kid President" video.  They will be working on a 3-Way Agamograph Collaboration Poster.  Each student will have a "tile" to color.  When all the "tiles" are colored, they will be pieced together to make a large poster.  It will be 3 different images spliced together.  From one direction it will read "In a world," while the center view will say ""where you can be anything."  Finally, the other side will say"be kind."  I can't wait to see them all pieced together making these awesome pictures.  We might just talk about cooperation during the process!

     Here is the link to the Kid President video.  These videos are so cute and inspirational.  https://youtu.be/4z7gDsSKUmU

     As always, please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you or your family.  I can be reachers through email at Kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or by calling (270)-684-7583.   

      This phrase just may have more meaning and emphasis than ever before!  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful beginning to the new year, as well as having a wonderful Christmas break.  Even though somethings have not changed, this is the fresh start to a new year.  A mantra that I am trying to keep in the forefront of my thoughts is the following: "I may not be able to control the world around me but I can control how I react to the world."  In that control, I am working hard to choose gratitude and joy!  So many of my devotionals have recently talked about God wanting you to reach for your dreams and succeed at achieving them.  So again, I am choosing gratitude and joy, and that is my response to this world! 

     So what are we doing in guidance this month?  It's all about feelings!  Different types of feelings, how can you tell what a person is feeling, feelings are not good or bad, how you react to a feeling can determine whether or not you get in trouble and much more.  It's all the things about feelings, with a little winter theme sprinkled on top!  The kindergarten and first grade classes are discussing various feeling by looking at the facial expressions on some penguin and snowman friends and then practicing drawing those feelings on snowmen.  The second grade and third grades are discussing the various facial expressions on snowmen and then doing some feelings identification boom cards on the Chromebooks.  My goal is to help them in identifying the feelings of others as well as themselves.

   This blog is short and sweet but I do want to leave you with a prayer that I love for this time of year.

May the Lord bless you and keep you;

May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

     As always, please let mew know if I can be of help to you and your family.  I can be reached at kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or by calling (270)684-7583.

     Hello December, as the year of weird comes to an end.  We are certainly not where we want to be, in many situations.  I'm sure those situations vary from person to person.  It could be health, employment, school and the holidays just to name a few.  I think it's pretty safe to say that this pandemic has touched every part of our lives.  I am trying to be hopeful and think of the positives situations that have occurred since this entire mess began.  Several people have talked about how the pandemic has increased our time spent with family, which I hope has been a good thing.  It has made us slow down and take a break from the world of run, run, run unless your are in the medical field!  Hats off to all those in that field who have been running a marathon with no end in sight!  Here's another thought to ponder: I am glad that this pandemic happened in the year 2020 and not in 1980, when there was no internet (that we knew of anyway!).  Education would have been an even bigger challenge.  Can you image getting all your children's lessons by snail mail?  Also, working from home would not have been an option for many types of jobs, meaning that several businesses would have shut down completely.  Don't get me wrong,  I am not thankful for the actual pandemic.  I am thankful for some of the results of the pandemic.

     It is very interesting to me that we are faced with the pandemic, while going through the season of Advent.  Advent is a time of preparation and anticipation.  Could the words Advent and pandemic be switched in that previous sentence?  It would read as "The pandemic is a time of preparation and anticipation."  I think they could be switched.  We hear a lot about patience during Advent, as we learn to prepare and wait.  So I choose to think about the preparations for Advent.  By diving into ways that can build our relationship with God, the season we are in seems more bearable and worthwhile.  The line from the original Star Wars movie repeatedly comes to mind: " Almost there, almost there."  Hang on to your faith, or as I say, "Tie a knot at the end of the rope and hang on."  God is that knot.  This is easier said than done at times so don't go it alone.  Reach out to your family and friends.  Another positive from the pandemic is people helping other people.  Take care of your self, which may mean something as small as a 5 minute walk or a quick journal entry.  Focus on the Advent preparations.  My favorite is the Dynamic Catholic devotions.  Here is that link: https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/best-advent-ever.html  I'm sure your church has other Advent resources, and there are endless possibilities when you search Advent activities on Pinterest.  Although Christmas will look very different this year, Jesus' birth and His promise to us has not changed, not even the tiniest bit!

      On the education side of things, we are moving along with adaptations in education.  If your child/children are struggling, please let us know.  I can arrange zoom meetings with students/families if they want to talk.  Obviously there are no guidance classes this month, but I am still available to help.  The best way to reach me is through email: kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org  or you can call (270)-684-7583.  

      I hope everyone experiences a beautiful season of Advent, a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and stays healthy!

      I am so excited to teach the guidance lessons this month!  They are all focused on gratitude, a subject about which I am passionate and trying to incorporate into every aspect of my life.  Gratitude is mentioned in the Bible 173 times, and there are countless studies showing the positive outcomes of having a attitude of gratitude.  When someone has a grateful heart,  kindness and joy will follow.  With so much turmoil in the world today, I think a little kindness and joy could be refreshing for the soul!  It is so easy to complain.  I know.  There have been countless times that I have complained.  It just rolls off your tongue so easily, as does the negative feelings that follow.  When everything shut down back in March, the Bennett household had to have a serious conversation about attitude and what their choices would be.  We could complain which always led to discontent, sadness, anger or frustration.  Or we could be thankful for what we did have because while were were inconvenienced, we did not have it nearly as bad as a lot of people.  My kids really thought I had lost my mind when I asked them to say what they were grateful for, while we were eating dinner, at the dinner table!  (It was like an out of body experience!  Who were these people eating at the dinner table voicing their gratitude?)  Yet from that point, attitudes did slowly start to change.  I'm a firm believer that gratitude is a game changer.  Does that mean I am always the poster child for gratitude?  Nope, but I do practice and that is a step in the right direction!  Here is a post that discusses the importance of teaching our kids gratitude and ways to do it.  https://www.mindfulmazing.com/the-best-gratitude-activities-for-kids/. 

     In November each grade level will have a lesson on gratitude.  The kindergarten students will participate in a presentation explaining what gratitude looks and sounds like.  They will also play a game about gratitude.  The first grade classes also will participate in the same gratitude presentation and complete a worksheet identifying three people they are thankful for, two things they are thankful for and one way they show gratitude.  The second grade classes will be completing a gratitude flip book and watch a Kid President video about gratitude.  The third grade classes also will watch the same video but will be completing a "grateful gobbler" project that uses the letters in their names to determine for what they are grateful.  

     I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  As always, if you need any assistance, I can be reached through email: Kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or by calling (270) 684-7583.

     Happy Fall Yall!  At this point in the year, I usually make some comment about how I can't believe how the year is flying by.  But in 2020, my thoughts are quite different (in fact it's more like "keep on going").  With that said, I do want you to know how well all of the students are doing with the many, many safety precautions put in place.  They really are troopers, doing what they need to do to stay safe and healthy!  It certainly has been a year of adjustments and we are rolling with it!

     Fall break is just around the corner.  While some families are choosing to travel, others are choosing "staycations."  If there is one thing we have gained form this pandemic, we have developed the skill of thinking outside of the box.  There are still several creative things to do for the staycationers, to have a fun fall break!  The following is a small list of options:

    *Boo Festival at Diamond Lakes  https://visitowensboro.com/listing/boo-fest/

    * Artland at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts  http://www.omfa.us/ (scroll towards the bottom of the page for information)

    *Trunnell's Farm Market Family Fun-Acre & Cornmaze  https://www.trunnellsfarmmarket.com/index.php

    *Reied's Orchard Reidland Play Acre  http://reidorchard.com/reidland-play-area/

    *Trails at Yellow Creek Park

    *Trails at Panther Creek Park

*Please note that at the time I was writing this, the above events were not cancelled.  I apologize if anything cancelled by the time this was read.

     The following link is to a neat, family friendly, fall bucket list for those inspired to create activities at home.  The list contains things such a make a scarecrow, drink apple cider and make smores to name a few.  www.chelseasmessyapron.com/fall-bucket-list/  Whichever you choose, I hope everyone has a fun and relaxing break.  Please remember to be safe, wear masks and socially distance when possible.  I know this can be difficult to do.  Everyone struggles with this at times, my family included.  However, it does help keep our school open and going!

     All the classrooms participated in guidance classes in the month of September.  I will continue to visit classrooms one time a month for this school year.  Last month, all the classrooms learned about the role of a school counselor, which included helping students, teachers and families.  We talked about the various topics that will be covered in guidance class, and we talked about the "weird year" of 2020.  They truly are learning valuable lessons from this time of trial.

     In October, we will be reviewing good listening skills and how those skills are used and greatly needed in the classroom.  We will also be reading the story Spookley the Square Pumpkin.  The kindergarten and first grades classes will be learning about telling verses tattling.  The second and third grade classes will be learning how each person is made to be unique and appear different even though we are all the same on the inside.  We will also discuss how teasing, because of differences, can be hurtful.

     Again, I hope that everyone has a great fall break.  Please contact me if you have any questions or need any assistance.  I can be reached at kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or (270) 684-7583.  You can also submit a request for assistance through the OCS webpage.  Here is the link Request For Contact From the Counselor

Have a great month of October!

 

      Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year!

     Hello to all the returning students and families and welcome to all the new students and families to the Owensboro Catholic School K-3 Campus! This is going to be one school year to remember!  Let me take a quick moment to introduce myself.  My name is Kim Bennett, and I am the counselor at the K-3 Campus. This is my 9th year as the counselor with the Owensboro Catholic School System. Prior to this position, I was a school based counselor/art therapist with River Valley Behavioral Health for 14 years. I have been married to Dan Bennett for 23 years and I’m the proud mom to four children ranging in age from 13 to 21 years old. As the counselor I teach monthly social-emotional lessons in the classroom.  I also work with students individually and in group settings.  I was recently trained in the Love and Logic method for parenting and hope to host monthly parenting groups utilizing this curriculum.  I also do monthly blogs (sometimes bi-monthly) describing the guidance lessons for the month and offering suggestions or extra links to articles that I hope will help parents. Guidance lessons will begin sometime in September so the focus of this blog is adjusting to the new school year.

     As mentioned before, this school year will be like none other! As we all get ready for the first official day of the school year, here are some suggestions for a smooth start!

     *ROUTINE, routine, routine!  In any school year, pandemic or no pandemic, it is so important and beneficial to have a routine in place.  It’s best to begin practicing that routine before the school year actually begins. If you have done that, then you are ahead of the game. If you haven’t, it’s never too late to start! (Unless you are starting really late, like the last week of school late!).  Kids needs routine. It can ease anxiety and help establish trust.

     *Your child will follow your cue on wearing masks. In other words, if you make a big deal of wearing them then so will they.  Kids are smart and pick up on almost all our behaviors.  If you put a positive spin on the situation, then they will also!  For the most part, kids also easily adapt.  While wearing masks can very a hot topic, it doesn't have to be for kids, especially if we put a fun spin on it.

     *Model patience and grace. Now I know that saying this is so much easier than doing it.  I get it!   If I had a $1.00 for every time I had lost my patience in front of my kids, I would probably be able to send us all to Disney World for the week.  With that said, things will go so much smoother if we can all have just a little more patience and offer more grace and mercy.  These are new waters we are exploring.  I have said many times that we are living in a sci-fi movie and we are writing the history books as we speak.  A little more patience and grace will go a very long way with our students and be helpful to all the adults as well. Many many school experiences are going to be a little different from previous years.  One huge difference parents will notice is the drop off and pick up system.  Please be patient as we iron out all the kinks and get the school year running.  Please also remember that the guidelines set in place are there for everyone's safety and well being.  We want everyone to stay healthy!

     *Approach conflicts and concerning situations with a team approach. Your child’s teacher is there for you and they want to help. They want your child to have a wonderful year.  If any problems arise, talk to them about it.  Open communication is essential and beneficial.

     *Be open about your feelings, but not too open.  I know this sounds contradicting, but hear me out.  It's important to acknowledge how a student is feeling and not just dismiss any feelings they may be having.  But it is also important to build them up as well.  Nervous about that first day?  That's ok!  Acknowledge that, but also offer encouragement that they can handle this situation (even though you may be scared, nervous, uneasy, etc.)  This helps establish a growth mindset, which is a topic I love and will be talking about more, later in the year.  One area that may cause a little anxiety for some will be the drop off guidelines.  Parents/grandparents can walk the students in for the first three days of school, but after that time the students will need to be dropped off in the car rider line.  This may be difficult for some families.  But please know that most children who are tearful at drop off time usually settling very quickly (like before the parent leaves the parking lot quick!).  If you have any questions about how your child is doing, feel free to contact me and I will do my best to check on them.  We want the parents to feel comfortable with this process, as well.  

     I hope these few suggestions will help.  It is not an understatement when I say that your child's teacher is so excited to be here and for a new school year!  We plan on having an amazing school year!  If I can be of any help or assistance, please feel free to reach out.  I want to help in what ever way I can.  I can be reached through email, at kim.bennett@owensborocatholic.org or through calling the front office at (270) 684-7583.  I can also be reached through the OCS website.  By clicking on the following link, you can submit a form for assistance:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGkEeGfO7y-DO138HQHqRrmMClozyr9N6KZjK8Sj0yccjw9A/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1 

Happy New School Year!

 

     Back to School: Prayer for the Start of a New Year

Loving God,

Our Creator, our Savior, our companion,

bless this journey of a new school year that we undertake today.

Refresh our souls

and renew our spirits

as we embrace the beautiful ministry you have called us to.

We welcome those who are new to this community and 

ask that you strengthen them to share the wonderful gifts you have given

them.

Lord, make our hearts pure as we prepare for the return of students to this school,

and may you guide them to return with open hearts and minds eager to learn.

We ask this in Your name,

Amen