Part of the job of being a middle school and high school counselor is offering student discussions as well as teaching students the skills that are needed to be able to cope with everyday life as they navigate the current world as adolescents. There are three different topics that will be the focus of this school year’s small groups. The topics include Pause & Reflect, G.I.R.L.S. and Resilience Alliance. The topics for the small groups were offered based off of the data that Andes Central school counselor Synorra Wilbur collects as well as staff member observations. In addition to the data, she also asked the middle school and high school students what topics they would be interested in talking about in a small group setting. Synnora also utilizes Facebook in order to receive feedback from parents/guardians on important topics that the school staff may not see or be aware of.

The goal of having these small group discussions is that by discussing sensitive topics in a smaller group setting, students will hopefully feel more comfortable opening up about their own experiences. The overall goal of any small group is to begin a conversation and, in this case, build a connection between students. As the moderator for each group session, Synnora is hoping that if nothing else, the students will at least learn one more skill that they can use in their everyday lives.

The ideal number for a small group would be eight students, but a small group may contain up to 12 students. The closer the number of students gets to 12 though the more it feels like a class and not group conversation. For the Pause and Reflect sessions, which is a group that focuses on impulse control there will be five students participating. There will be 11 students split into two groups for the middle school Girls In Real Life Situations (G.I.R.L.S) groups. Finally, the Resilience Alliance lunch groups are starting off with five high school students and two middle schoolers. The lunch groups will evolve and fluctuate with anyone encouraged to join as long as Synnora has parental/ guardian permission. Each group will meet once a week with the Pause and Reflect and G.I.R.L.S. groups meeting for eight weeks in total and the Resilience Alliance meeting until the end of the school year.

The first small group session usually starts with an icebreaker followed by talking about the group norms and then some introductions depending on the group’s topic. The main standard group norm that Synnora sets is that confidentiality is expected when it comes to the topics and experiences that other students share. What is unique about how students were signed up for the different groups is that they could receive referrals from their teachers and parents or sign up for the group themselves. Students ranging from 7th grade through sophomores have signed up to take part in the small groups this semester.

Small groups are not a punishment, instead they are a way to offer a targeted intervention to help a select group of students with certain skills. The main components of the groups are discussions, worksheets and skill building. Synnora definitely plans to offer more small groups next year in hopes of normalizing this type of student activity and being able to offer small groups more often. Synnora feels that “Each year brings different struggles and small groups can help alleviate some of those struggles when [these groups] are intentionally planned.”