Love.

This week was certainly an interesting one throughout schools across our country. I cannot help but write about the wide range of emotion shared among students off all ages. Depending on location and situation, there were feelings of elation, happiness, relief, sadness, fear and anger flowing through the veins of schools due to the election of our new president. Some school counselors saw the jubilation while others worked with tearful, scared students. The range of emotion can be mind-boggling, yet we always have the option to choose to love and care for all of our students, no matter what. We can continue to stand up for what is right and what is just. We can continue to protect all of our students, no matter what. We can continue to fight the good fight against bullying and we can also continue to choose love. Our students are our tribe.

It hurts my heart to hear about the pain that many counselors had to help deal with. Pain and fear in the eyes of our students is valid; their feelings are their reality and we honor that, always. What a time this is to be able to help and impact our schools in a positive way. We have the ability to teach students how to disagree respectfully, how to lose gracefully and, especially, how to love. We are all in this together; we are grooming the next generation of trend-setters, fighters, lovers and policy makers just the same.

Let's do this. <3

It's what's on the inside...

This year has been an interesting one in terms of making a lot of fun changes. With one quarter (YES, I said ONE QUARTER) of the year done already, we are getting into the full swing of the changes. One neat lesson I learned this week from my therapy dog, Winnie, who is new to our school this year was in regards to the message at the top of today's blog post. It truly is not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside that matters most. Why do I need such reminders like this? It almost makes me feel stupid to write about because it seems like it is common sense. It is something I teach regularly, and preach often in my personal and professional lives. Why then, is it so difficult to remember sometimes?

This week I had to take Winnie to the groomer. In the past, she had a poor experience with a groomer, so I was a bit skeptical, but had good recommendations for this new one. I spoke with the groomer about keeping her hair long, especially because the kids love her fluff! Well, when I went to pick her up, she was hardly recognizable! I could not stop laughing... she looked so awful, in my opinion. I was fretting over it until I got to my next guidance lesson where my third graders reminded me of this important lesson. Their loud, excited responses went something like this, "WINNIE GOT A HAIR CUT! YAY!" and "WINNIE LOOKS SO CUTE WITH HER HAIRCUT!!"

Wow, was I surprised! Here I was worrying all about her darn hair, when it really does not matter! It's just hair. It grows back. What matters is that she was happy with the groomer, she was clean, she was expertly cut and groomed. The students looked past the hair thing far easier than I did. Such a good reminder that the things in life that truly matter are not things like this. Not at all.

Step back. Breathe. Reflect.

Happy Friday!