November 11-15th is School Psychology Awareness Week. This year’s theme is “Find Your Focus”. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) notes that “this year’s theme can have a variety of meanings such as paying attention, being able to see an idea more clearly, identifying an area of interest, or being persistent and determined in one’s effort.” NASP indicates that school psychologists may also find their focus by honing their leadership skills, helping improve school climate, advocating for systems-level change or enhancing a specific area of their practice.

School Psychology Awareness Week recently was recognized by Ohio’s Governor DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Husted to express appreciation for the many contributions made by school psychologists.

Here are some of the amazing school psychologists serving the school districts of Warren County who seek to find their focus every day in the services that they provide to the staff, students and families with whom they support.

WCESC hosted the third of six sessions planned for this school year regarding Cultural Competency presented by a team from Did You Know Publishing (http://didyouknowpublishing.com/).  In 2018, WCESC launched a diversity and inclusion initiative with the purpose of educating our staff and other educators in Warren County about the importance of understanding diversity in general. The main objective is to create an environment where different cultures, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc. are better understood and appreciated.  To date WCESC has hosted 200+ educators including WCESC staff.

Last week, a teacher and the paraprofossional switched places at the Warren County Learning Center.  Mr. Kennedy worked with the students to teach them basic woodworking skills.  Mr. Kennedy wrote lesson plans, taught the students woodworking vocabulary, and worked with the students on measuring the pieces of wood and on critical thinking when assembling the pieces.  In the end, the students built a cornhole set for the school.  The students will practice their social skills as they collaborate to design and paint the top of the boards.  After the boards are done, Mrs. Black will teach the students how to use a sewing machine to make the cornhole bags.

The students of Mrs. Black’s class have been busy learning about conducting job searches, filling out applications, writing resumes, writing cover letters, and learning interview skills.  To give the students practice that was more realistic, students were asked to participate in a panel interview as if it were totally real.  Students asked for the panel to include someone that they didn’t know, to make the role-playing more realistic.  The panel consisted of (from right to left) Speech Pathologist, Ms. Hunter, Paraprofessional, Mr. Combs, and Police Officer, Mr. Black.  The students were nervous, but they did a great job and learned so much!  They even asked for another round in the future!

On November 4, 2019, the students and staff at the John Lazares Alternative School were honored to welcome Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell. Mr. Fornshell gave a presentation titled "Juvenile Decisions, Life-Long Consequences." He spoke about topics such as school threats, texting, social media, and sexual crimes. Several students asked questions and reported learning valuable information. Thank you Mr. Fornshell for your visit.