BUENA PARK, CA – Buena Park School District is celebrating National School Counseling Week, recognizing the impact counselors have on academic and personal success, and expanding its counseling services to provide additional resources and support to students and families.

Since the start of 2021-22 school year, the District has augmented its counseling services, employing an on-site counselor at each of its schools to ensure students are healthy in their bodies and minds. For National School Counseling Week, Gordon H. Beatty Middle School spread kindness, anti-bullying messages and learned about the dangers of drugs and alcohol during assemblies and in the classroom.

Beatty Middle School Counselor Jodie Reddingius said the District is focusing on supporting student’s social-emotional learning, teaching them about self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making – improving student’s self-esteem and poise.

“It can be hard being a middle school student who is trying to find their place socially, academically, at home and individually,” Reddingius said. “Having a school counselor provides students with a safe person who will listen to their problems, help them come up with informed decisions, communication skills and learn coping skills to help deal with the various emotions they may be feeling.”

Beatty Middle School’s student-led Club Live focuses on promoting wellness through drug and alcohol prevention and mental health awareness while also teaching how to develop positive coping skills and stay away from negative ones.

For National School Counseling Week, students performed random acts of kindness to create a positive school culture by sending kindness cards to each other, learning about the importance of standing up to bullying.

Other new District programs such as Saving our Students (SOS) are helping boost grades, while Community Building Activities is addressing harmful bullying through discourse instead of strict discipline.

Reddingius said that the updates will not stop after National School Counseling Week – she and other school sites will be inviting doctors, horticulturalists and other professionals to talk about healthy sleep habits, the benefits of gardening and forming positive body images.

“We are so proud of the work our counselors are doing each day, making sure our students are healthy and learning to be productive, kind scholars,” Superintendent Dr. Ramon Miramontes said. “National School Counseling Week is great for highlighting the importance of counseling in schools, but our counselors’ work goes far beyond one week – their work makes our District and community shine all year long.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

COUNSELING1: Gordon H. Beatty Middle School Counselor Jodie Reddingius meets with several students at her school’s WellSpace Center. As National School Counseling Week starts, Reddingius and all of Buena Park School District’s other counselors are beefing up counseling services with programs that spread kindness and anti-bullying messages while teaching the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

COUNSELING2: Two Buena Park Middle School students unwind at their school’s WellSpace Center. Buena Park School District has continued upgrading its counseling services to include activities to improve kindness between students, new ways to deal with bullying and learning about healthy coping mechanisms to deal with stress.