b y CHRIST I N A J OHN SON DIRECTO R OF COU N SEL IN G & GUIDA N C E A N D EL EM EN TA RY & MIDDLE S C HOOL COUN SELOR
We’re All In This Together
Moment of truth. Have you ever been tempted to read the last chapter of a story to help alleviate your curiosity or angst around the ending? This illusion that a journey is easier if we know the ending in advance is a powerful one. Not knowing how things will work out is partly why the COVID-19 pandemic has caused fear and distress across the globe. And yet, in my 22 years as a counselor at St. Martin’s, I have yet to see a challenge that our students and community could not overcome. In my role as the Director of Counseling and Guidance at SMES, I work closely with Early Childhood Guidance Counselor LaToyia Hawkins and school leadership to ensure all students receive the support they need as they grow up at St. Martin’s. We do this through dedicated guidance classes, special programs such as “Lunch with Ms. J,” (as I’m affectionately known) and small group or one-on-one meetings to address specific needs.
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WINTER 2021 | ST. MARTIN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
Social and Emotional Learning This year, with an added dimension of trust and care, we are teaching students to embrace this new and very different reality of attending school during a pandemic and discussing how they feel about it. Through open and honest discussions and creative adaptations of guidance lessons and programs, it’s obvious that masks, social distancing and Plexiglas barriers have not kept our students from connecting, bonding and expressing themselves this year. When COVID-19 upended school life as we knew it, the topic of social and emotional learning (SEL) became top of mind for educators, child psychologists and even parents. SEL, which involves creating positive relationships
