Don't forget 'Excuse Me' and 'I'm Sorry'
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Michele Buzzell (right) of Proctor Elementary School has been named 2009 Vermont School Counselor of the Year. Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald |
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By CRISTINA KUMKA Rutland Herald Staff - Published: October 5, 2009
PROCTOR — Michele Buzzell's office affords a panoramic view of the mountains from a Proctor hilltop.
But Buzzell, Proctor Elementary School's counselor and the Vermont counselor of the year, says she hardly ever takes in the naturally breathtaking view.
That's because she's too busy improving on the inside — the inside of a school she and other educational leaders are aiming to turn into an example of social reform.
Students are saying "excuse me" and "thank you" more often than not.
They're learning when to say "no" and how to make the right decision when.
The basic principles of social and emotional life are being taught through the implementation of a new curriculum in kindergarten through sixth grade, where students learn reading, writing, arithmetic and science and teamwork, cooperation, reasoning and goal-setting at the same time.
Students are working in teams to figure out the right answers and are learning to write, then how to apply those words as an act of service — such as drafting letters to new pen pals in senior-living homes or troops overseas.
Kindergarten students are learning to give to one another by sharing oranges or other tangibles while sixth-graders are learning how powerful a compliment can be, according to Buzzell.
Buzzell, recently acknowledged as the state's school counselor of the year after receiving the James F. Cawley award by the Vermont School Counselor Association late last month, is at the center of the effort by teachers and school administrators in Proctor to educate students better in two ways — in academics and in how to make the world a better place by caring for others.
"Where else in school can they learn better?" Buzzell said in a recent interview at the school, clad in a spotless navy-blue sweater with a pink pressed shirt underneath.
"The evidence is there … we want kids to be better human beings."
Her attire only added to the air of serenity that seemed to already exist in the room, created by the small inspirations hanging on the walls.
A laminated note hanging on a coat hanger read: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
A wooden banner was painted with the Mother Teresa quote: "Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless."
On the table sat another craft with yet another life lesson: "Laugh, sometimes it's just the medicine you need!"
Buzzell says her main goal as a counselor is trying to help students find hope and fun in their day no matter what's happening at home or on the playground.
She says she has little time to do much else (like take in the view) because that's what she aims for every day.
"Hopefully, what I have to offer will provide a little bright light in their day," Buzzell said. "I have to believe that's the best I can do."
According to Buzzell, the school's newly implemented social and emotional curriculum — teachers integrating lessons of sharing, giving, reasoning and cooperation into their regular classroom work — will help make her goal more attainable.
For the past 20 years, Buzzell has seen it all.
She's worked in eight different schools and with numerous different children — with issues ranging from abuse at home to bullying at school and having a hard time concentrating in class.
Buzzell has attained therapeutic placement for abused students, held child protection team meetings and has convinced parents that counseling is not an option to shy away from.
In her nominating letter to the school counselor association, Proctor Principal Nancy Erickson said "behavior issues coupled with mental illness have dramatically increased among our student population … Michele regularly seeks and attends professional development opportunities to expand her knowledge to work successfully with these concerns."
For Buzzell, part of that development is keeping track of the latest studies by national research groups, one of them being CASEL or the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning.
A December 2008 summary of 317 studies involving 324,303 children published by the nonprofit group of education researchers reported that academic achievement was improved when the students were taught social and emotional lessons.
Tagged "The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to 8th-Grade Students," the report found not only did students feel better about themselves and their school environments but social and emotional programming yielded an average gain on achievement test scores of 11 to 17 percentile points.
Interventions worked in rural and urban schools and the effects of it were lasting, the report showed, and "SEL programs were effective when conducted by school staff, suggesting that these interventions can be incorporated into routine educational practice."
That research, coupled with a push by the Rutland Central Supervisory Union under the direction of former Superintendent Karen White to stop bullying in school before it starts, precipitated the new curriculum.
"People believe kids come naturally with these skills and that's a misnomer," Buzzell said. "Each student needs to learn with one another and tolerate individual differences."
Words of advice
The school curriculum piece at Proctor is prevention.
Buzzell says there's also intervention — working with students who are faced with a whole new world of stress and distraction.
In Proctor alone, parents have been laid off at local companies while others are heading to Afghanistan with the National Guard.
Then there's financial problems and the Internet, Buzzell said.
And "some children just need to feel safe," she said.
"School is predictable … they have people here they can count on and love."
With two daughters of her own — one of them a school counselor — Buzzell says she understands the multifaceted problems children today face.
Her next move is implementing stress reduction and mindfulness practices — having teachers incorporate healthy and active living and breathing exercises every day to reduce stress and clear students' minds for better learning.
Buzzell's best advice to counselors and anyone helping young students — "don't worry about the numbers, deal with one child at a time."
"Do no great things, just small things with great love. Always work with possibility," she said.
For more information on CASEL's research on social and emotional learning in the classroom, visit www.casel.org.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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