By Bradley Zint
One of the many fears of the pandemic has been the mental health of students as their ways of learning and interacting have been disrupted.
The counseling staff at Capistrano Unified School District has gone above and beyond to address those fears head-on and develop ways in which they can meet students’ mental-health needs and face the unique challenges of the 2021-21 school year.
For both distance learning and with schools reopening, counselors have all been hard at work implementing a comprehensive curriculum of mental health practices and lessons that will keep students engaged and focused on their studies, said Rebecca Pianta, the district’s coordinator of counseling and student support.
The programming is particularly relevant as Orange County continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected educational practices, learning and social interaction.
Before the new school year started, the counseling staff underwent training around mindfulness and how to incorporate those practices with themselves and their students, Pianta said. They also worked on recognizing the signs that students have experienced trauma, how that can impact them, and how teachers can help.
The counselors are also working harder to build relationships, which are more difficult to come by in a distance-learning scenario.
“We recognize that this virtual form is difficult,” Pianta said.
One way to bridge the virtual gap has been the creation of virtual counselor rooms using fun Bitmoji characters. The rooms are highly personalized for each counselor and offer various student and parent resources.
Capo Unified is also doing its best to listen through gathering feedback from students and parents, using what’s known as a “check-in form.”
“The check-in form allows the counselors to find out which students may be in need of more support,” Pianta said.
At the various school levels, the district has a comprehensive plan to address the social-emotional needs of the campuses. There are also resources for parents available.
Those plans include:
High school
• Two counselors staffed at each comprehensive high school
• Self-paced lessons about various mental health topics, such as stress management and how to deal with burnout
• Curriculum addressing social justice, diversity and multiculturalism
• Career exploration
• Help in identifying college campuses of interest to students, and how to apply for financial aid
Middle school
• A full-time counselor at each campus
• Self-pace lessons on study skills (including how to effectively study online), emotion management, stress management, social justice, maintaining motivation, embracing challenges
• Bully prevention techniques
Elementary school
• Minimum of one part-time counselor staffed at each campus
• Lessons on emotion regulation, skills for learning, social justice
• Bully prevention techniques
To learn more about the district’s mental-health resources, go to the School Counseling Program page.