Counselor | Nurse | Bots | Just for Parents

Pandemic Flu Action Plan

District Bullying Policy

Kansas Immunization Form

Counselor's Connection
Lisa Tyler, Counselor

After food, shelter, and safety, nothing is more important than good communication with your child.
Good communication is not simply a way to build a relationship, it is the relationship. Work at sharing your teen's life by keeping in constant touch with his or her thoughts, feelings, accomplishments, disappointments, and relationships. Good communication comes from constant and regular interaction.

Teens are predisposed to reject you and your values. You wear dreary clothes. You have a dumb job. You listen to geeky music. But good communication can change that impression. Chat about things they find "cool". Leaf through their CD collection and play a few tracks. Get involved with things that they like. Don't let other commitments prevent you from having a conversation with them at least once a day. Keep the lines of communication open and take turns talking. Listen without judging. Talk about whatever is going on in your lives. The most important part of what you say is just sharing with your child. Taken from How to Say It to Teens, by Richard Heyman, Ed.D.

The months of October and November are busy months in the counseling office! More than ever before, we have many Goddard families in need of school supplies, food and clothing. As the loss of jobs and financial burdens increase, so do the levels of stress and depression. This directly impacts all of our students.

The annual Goddard food drive was conducted during the week of November 14-18, and we collected over 10,000 items from just our school alone! We hope to win the league award, but even more important is that students learn to help those in need. Also, our Student Council is adopting 12 mittens from the Goddard Area Mitten Tree and buying $100.00 worth of clothing and toys at Walmart for 12 kids.

As the holidays approach, I would like to encourage all of our Goddard families to do one thing together as a family that will help someone in need.

Hints from the Health Room
Deb McClanahan, Nurse

It's time to think about getting your flu shot! Every year, the flu strain is just a little different and requires a different formula. This year, the flu shot includes resistance to three different strains! As usual, you can get your flu shots through the Health Department, Walgreen's, Dillon's or your personal physician. There are usually many other advertised locations offering shots throughout the flu season.

Simple things that you can do at home to prevent the spread of flu and other diseases include:

• Cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing – use the crook of your arm or upper arm to cover your mouth so that your hands stay clean!
• Wash your hands often – especially after a sneeze or cough, or taking care of someone who is sick.
• Try to get eight hours of sleep every night.
• Follow a healthy diet.

These things help cut down on the spread of germs and keep your body healthy so it has a better chance of fighting off any infections. Take care of yourself!

Parents, please remember: If your student has a fever (99.6 or higher), he/she MUST stay home for 24 hours after the fever breaks WITHOUT the use of fever reducing medications.

In upcoming news, I will perform vision screenings on all 8th graders in January during science classes. If applicable, please make sure that your child's glasses/contacts are in good working order for this screening! I will send a letter to the guardian of any child who does not pass this state mandated screening.

Have a great Holiday Season!

Medication Policy - Medication Administration Record
Medication Policy - Diabetic Flow Sheet
Permission For Self Administering of Medication
Food Allergy Form You must fill out a new form EACH school year if your child requires substitutions to his/her school lunches due to allergies or intolerances. The form must be signed by a recognized medical authority to be accepted. Return to your school office or send to: Goddard Public Schools Attn: Nutrition Services 201 S. Main PO Box 249 Goddard, KS 67052

Click the logo to download the form.

Bots
Bots (pronounced “Boats”) is the dog at Goddard Middle School. He is a Golden Retriever that is a certified, trained therapy dog. He was purchased for the students of Goddard Middle School by the PTO. He was purchased from CARES (Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services) in Concordia, Kansas. He lives with Mrs. Tyler, the school counselor.

Bots is short for Boatswain, which is a Navy term for a deck foreman of ships and vessels. Each litter of puppies is named using a theme to better track them. The theme used for Bots and his siblings was “military terms.” Other dogs in the liter include Tank and Gunner.

Bots is very smart and knows many commands. While Bots is often seen lying around and sleeping, he actually does “work” when at school. Students walk Bots to various classrooms during Homeroom. He attends group and individual counseling sessions with Mrs. Tyler. He works with the administration to calm upset students. He assists students in our Structured Learning Program and our Positive Behavior Support Program. Students can earn “Bots Time” as a reward.

Bots loves to attend PE classes. Bots loves balloons, bubbles and stuffed animals. Most importantly, he loves students and they love him. He has been a wonderful addition to GMS!

Click on any photo to enlarge.

Just for Parents

It's not easy to raise a young teen. Many outside influences distract our children and complicate our efforts. But whatever the challenges, we share one aim: to do the best job possible as parents. During the early adolescent years, parents and families can greatly influence the growth and development of their children. We sell our children short if we expect little from them and we sell ourselves short if we believe that we have no influence.

The Kansas Parent Resource Center, federally funded under Title V of No Child Left Behind, is the official ParentInformation Technical Assistance Center for the state of Kansas. The KPIRC works hand-in-hand with the KSDE State and Federal Programs office in providing parents with information and resources on early childhood through high school parent involvement. We hope that you find the articles being reproduced in this newsletter helpful, and we encourage you to explore all the resources available to you as parents at www.kpirc.org.

Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen

As parents, we all want our children to grow up to be responsible citizens and good people. We want them to learn to feel, think and act with respect for themselves and for other people. We want them to
pursue their own well-being, while also being considerate of the needs and feelings of others. We want them to recognize and honor the democratic principles upon which our country was founded. We want them, in short, to develop strong character.

Research has shown that children who grow up with strong, positive values are happier and do better in school. On the other hand, if children do not learn proper values and behavior when they are very young, problems can develop that can mushroom with serious consequences as children grow older—dropping out of school, drug use, teenage pregnancy, violent crimes— and the list goes on.

The most important thing we can do for our children is to help them acquire values and skills that they can rely on throughout their lives. In doing so, they will have the best chance to lead good lives as individuals and as citizens of their communities and of America. "Character" is a set of qualities, or values, that shape our thoughts, actions, reactions and feelings.

People with strong character exhibit many of the following qualities:

• Compassion means identifying with and being concerned about other people's feelings and needs. Compassion allows us to be understanding and tolerant of different points of views and beliefs. It provides the emotional root for caring about other people.
• Honesty means being truthful with ourselves and with others. It means caring enough about others not to mislead them for personal benefit. It means facing up to our mistakes, even when we have to admit them to others or when they may get us into trouble.
• Fairness means acting in a just way and making decisions, especially important ones, on the basis of evidence rather than prejudice. It means "playing by the rules" and standing up for the right of everyone to be treated equally and honestly.
• Self-discipline is the ability to set a realistic goal or make a plan—then stick with it. It is the ability to resist doing things that can hurt others or ourselves. It involves keeping promises and following through on commitments. It is the foundation of many other qualities of character.
• Respect for others is based on self-respect and is summed up in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. It is the value that makes the world a more decent and civilized place.
• Self-respect means taking satisfaction in appropriate behavior and hard-won accomplishments. People with self-respect also respect others. They do not need to disparage others or build themselves up by bragging or exaggerating their abilities or talents. They do not need lots of money or power to feel good about themselves.
• Courage is the ability to overcome fear in order to do what is right, even if it is difficult or risky. Courage can mean facing physical danger, but it also can mean standing up for beliefs and making hard decisions on the basis of evidence rather than on what is the easy or popular thing to do. It means being neither reckless nor cowardly but facing up to our duties and responsibilities.
• Responsibility means being dependable, keeping promises and honoring our commitments. It is accepting the consequences for what we say and do. It also means developing our potential. People who are responsible don't make excuses for their actions or blame others when things go wrong. They think things through and use good judgment before they take action. They behave in ways that encourage others to trust them.

As parents, we may need to set aside particular times or create special activities to teach our children certain things. But this is not true when it comes to helping them learn about character. Everyday life is filled with opportunities for helping our children learn about values we prize and want to encourage.
Research indicates that children take values seriously only when they see that the adults they espect agree, at least in general, with those values.