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Welcome to the Counselor’s Corner. My name is Mrs. Karen Kilby and I am excited to serve the Hillside community as your School Counselor.
Counselor’s Role: While collaborating with other adults in the school community, one of my roles as a counselor is to help create a safe, welcoming, and positive school environment for all students. I also collaborate with school staff to support the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of all our students so that each student can reach their academic and social goals. We are fortunate to welcome back Mrs. Golboro our Mental Health Specialist who supports all five elementary schools and welcome Mr. Hargest to join the Hillside counseling team on Day 5 this school year.
Counseling Program: The counseling program at Hillside is designed to be preventive and developmental. Classroom guidance will take place in all classrooms for all grade levels and will cover some of the following topics: personal safety (all grades), social skills, resiliency, and mindfulness. In addition to seeing students during classroom guidance and individually, we will also hold small group counseling throughout the year. This occurs during Flex core or lunch. The groups generally last between 20-30 minutes for 6-8 group meetings. These groups are offered by invitation due to teacher recommendation or parent concern. If your child is invited to participate in a small counseling group, you will receive an individualized permission form. For more information about school counseling, please visit the district website.
A little about me: I have been supporting and educating students in TESD since 2006! I must say, Hillside truly is a magical place! Helping students identify their strengths while building resilience is a passion of mine. We will work together to make sure your child has a successful school year! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at the number or email below.
Some fun activities at Hillside:
Bucket Filling & Fill it UP Friday: We will continue our use of the Bucket Filling initiative as our school wide positive behavior support program. A few new things: We will be incorporating character traits to focus on each month that are ways we can fill someone’s bucket and build resilience. For example, September is Optimism. Students will be recognized for their effort in demonstrating each month’s specific character trait or recognized when they fill someone’s bucket in any way. Our bucket filling slips also have a new twist! Students will still fill out the slip given by a staff member and place in grade level bucket --but a portion of the ticket can now be taken home! This will create another opportunity to celebrate positive behavior shown at school and create additional reinforcement for the behaviors we want to see. We want to make sure all our students feel celebrated for their great work and kindness even if they aren’t selected as a winner each month. We will celebrate this great work the first Friday of every month – Fill it Up Friday! Be sure to ask your child what the character trait is each month and brainstorm ways this can be shown at school and at home!
Mindful Monday: School wide Mindful Monday is in all classrooms K-4! Teaching mindfulness can help give the tools needed to build confidence, cope with stress, and cultivate resilience. Be sure to ask your student about the mindful strategies they have been learning or ask about some of my favorite strategies- “The Blue Sky”, "Yoda Breaths", and "Belly Breaths".
Where in the World is Gerry from Hillside?
Our favorite giraffe, Gerry the Giraffe, visits classrooms that are showing kindness, working hard, looking for the good (Blue Sky) and being a bucket-filler! When students hear the Gerry song during the morning or afternoon announcements, we know that Gerry is on the move to visit with some AMAZING Hillside students for the week! Be sure to ask your student to sing the song or find out if Gerry has been to their class!
Contact Information:
Mrs. Karen Kilby
she/her
610-240-1504
