Counseling

News From the Counseling Office

We are really looking forward to working with our students and families this year! We encourage you to contact us anytime you have a question or need support with a situation at school, at home, or in the community. This is a great school – a great place to learn and to work. Our students are always most successful when we work together as a team, and that is something we should all try to work towards. What follows are some strategies that we’ve found to be helpful in the past.  Take a look and see if there’s something you might find useful. We hope you and your child have a happy and successful year at Burger!

During middle school each year students have opportunities to explore their interests and begin learning ways to explore careers. In this process students begin to realize how planning ahead can pave a smoother road for their future and how their work today will impact the choices they will have later in life. Please look for the following opportunities in the near future to help us help your child with their planning for their future.

Introducing Naviance!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The Rush-Henrietta Central School District would like to introduce students and their families to the Naviance Family Connection. For the past two years we have been using this new tool to assist students in grades 6-12 with career development and college planning. This web-based program complements the annual guidance reviews, classroom presentations, online educational videos, and college information sessions offered to students throughout their time at Rush-Henrietta.

During this school year, 6th grade students will set up with their own account and will be introduced to Naviance in their Literacy Plus class after February break. Students will work through a short assessment identifying their own learning preferences. We are encouraging you to take time with your child to browse through and get a better understanding of the capabilities of this tool in helping your family plan for the future. You may access this tool using your child’s access code.

What is Naviance Family Connection?

Naviance Family Connection is a program that will assist students in planning their future past high school. Once students have registered on Family Connection, we encourage them to do some exploring on the site. Family Connection will be essential in exploring careers, majors, colleges, scholarships, and so much more in the high school years to come.

• While moving through middle and high school, students and parents will be able to:
• Explore career inventories, personality profiler, and learning styles (middle school).
• Contact counselors directly by e-mail (high school).
• Select classes for ninth grade and high school year to year (middle school and high school)
• Begin to construct their activities resume (high school).
• Access scholarship applications, application websites, and college-related links (high school).
• Access a comprehensive college search engine (high school).
• Learn about college visits and fairs, events at the Senior High School and Ninth Grade Academy, or upcoming news (high school).

How do I log on to Naviance from home?

Here is how you can gain access to Family Connection through your student’s Naviance account.

1. Go to https://connection.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login/?hsid=henryv
2. Enter student username (last name, first initial, last two years of graduation date), ie. Smithm19
3. Then, enter password (your student’s six-digit student number).

The counseling staff is excited about Naviance Family Connection. Students have found it very useful in looking ahead, and we hope that you take the opportunity to find out more about its capabilities. Please contact your school counselor if you have any questions.

How Parents Can Build Self-Esteem

It’s patience and tolerance that count!
“You seem discouraged. Let’s go over your mistakes together so that you’ll be able to avoid them
next time.”
Emphasize what your youngster does right.
“Until now you’ve been doing just fine. Let’s see if we can get you back on track.”

Support self-expression and creativity.
“You’ve prepared your report in an unusual manner, but you’ll want to make certain that you have
adequately supported your findings with the proper research.”

Success with new learning experiences often calls for a well-developed plan of attack.
“Let’s break this project down into smaller, more manageable components so that it doesn’t seem
overwhelming.”

Make time to communicate with your youngster.
“How did school go today? What did you learn?”

Positive, constructive criticism is the way to go.
“Great! This report has many good ideas. You might want to arrange your thoughts a bit better,
though.”

Compare your youngster’s progress to his/her own record.
“Let’s not worry about your friend’s test grade. It’s you and your achievement that I care about.”

Avoid labeling!
Off handed comments can seriously damage self-esteem. DON’T say: “Jim never takes time to
read the directions.”

Focus on the here and now.
“I’m happy to see that you’ll be turning your report in on time.”

Continue to expect an increase in accomplishment.
“It looks like a tough assignment, but with all that you have accomplished so far, I know you can do it.”

Burger Middle School is staffed by three school counselors. Each counselor is responsible for a grade level, and follows that grade as they travel through Burger Middle School.

All responsibilities and programs are based on the National Standards for School Counseling Programs as written by the American School Counselor Association. To that end, the program facilitates student development in the three broad areas of Academic Development, Career Development, and Personal/Social Development through counseling, consulting, and coordinating (New York Standards).

National Standards for School Counseling Programs