Bucyrus City Schools hires new Social Emotional Learning counselor

Oksana Kotkina, Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum
·4 min read
1

Bucyrus City Schools, in partnership with Community Counseling and Wellness Centers, introduced Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Awareness and Prevention coordinator Brooke Woodrum.

“Woodrum will serve as an additional resource beyond the guidance counselors and our student advocate already in place to support our students,” said BCS in a Facebook announcement.

BCS Director of Curriculum Jonathan Muro said Woodrum will help facilitate service referrals within the Secondary School Building. Referrals will include food and transportation options.

SEL coordinator tasks

Woodrum, who has been involved with the BCS at Community Counseling and Wellness Centers, knows the students and the school community in general and might have families sharing with her needs, such as food and other services they might not share with the school.

“She works at Community Counseling and is very familiar with our students already in our community,” Muro said.

Woodrum said her responsibilities at the BCS aligns well with her previous tasks at the Community Counseling and Wellness Centers where she performed various duties including case management.

Brooke Woodrum, the Social and Emotional Learning and Awareness coordination for Bucyrus schools, will compile a base of community resources on the school website to give students and families more support options.
Brooke Woodrum, the Social and Emotional Learning and Awareness coordination for Bucyrus schools, will compile a base of community resources on the school website to give students and families more support options.

“Working at Community Counseling, we receive all kinds of resources in regard to food banks, clothing events where people can go and pick up clothes,” Woodrum said.

Woodrum’s work schedule, which includes working three days a week in the afternoons, will enable her to build closer relationships with the students’ families by, for example, being better prepared to reach working parents and even have family visits when necessary.

Woodrum will work closely with, Beth Constantine, the school social worker and family and student advocate, whose work hours fall on the part of the day when a lot of parents are at work.

“A lot of parents are just busy doing other things during that time,” Constantine said. “She can have a window into a family’s life and lifestyle that I don’t necessarily have when I’m reaching out to them from my office.”

How is it better than before?

Constantine said the position will help deliver better support to the students in addition to her own services and student counselors services, whose support is more focused on the educational side of the students’ life.

Some of the community resources she and Woodrum can refer the students to are the Bucyrus Backpack Program or Job and Family Services, especially if families are behind on bills or rent, said Constantine.

In addition, Muro said, one of the Woodrum's tasks will be compiling a base of community resources on the school website to give students and families more support options.

The need for social workers in schools is on the rise as families and teachers are pushed trying to deal with issues such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues, according to Beth Constantine, a social worker and family and student advocate.
The need for social workers in schools is on the rise as families and teachers are pushed trying to deal with issues such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues, according to Beth Constantine, a social worker and family and student advocate.

“We are trying to make it easy and accessible for students and families to get the social and emotional support that they need,” he said.

Enhancing the focus on social and emotional learning among the students, Muro said, is part of the five-year strategic plan of the Ohio Department of Education developed in 2019, as the need for those life skills becomes more and more evident across the state.

Constantine said according to her experience the need for social workers in schools is on the rise, for without them the families and the teachers are pushed to their limits trying to deal with such issues, such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and mental health issues.

More: Bucyrus Schools foster academic excellence, great experiences, and community involvement

“Using these funds in the way we are trying to use these funds hopefully will not only provide our families and our children the support they need to be more successful but will also help lighten the load of our teaching staff in some small way,” she said.

How is it funded, and how does success look with SEL counseling?

The funding for the position comes from federal funds at Secondary School Improvement Title funds, and the district hopes to find ways to sustain the position in the future.

Some of the criteria of success of the program will be higher graduation rates, better grades, and fewer absences, as well as positive feedback from the students' families.

“If we’re taking on more of these SEL issues, the teachers can focus on what they need to focus on in the classroom, and the child will feel supported and hopefully able to succeed,” Constantine said.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Bucyrus City Schools hires new Social Emotional Learning counselor