is guidance counselor's first goal

By DIONNE GLEATON--T&D Staff Writer

Leaving familiar faces and places is not always easy, particularly if you're a 4-year-old entering school for the first time.

Academic challenges are often met with the fear of leaving parents, adjusting to foreign sleep schedules and learning to interact with other children who are perfect strangers.

The first week of school for one guidance counselor is spent adjusting four-year-olds and their kindergarten and first-grade peers to their journey into a new frontier.

"Most of them come back excited. The little ones, especially the four-year-olds, come back a little scared because they say to themselves, 'I gotta leave mommy.' Mommy is not even sure if she wants to leave them or not," said Sharon Huffman, guidance counselor at Rivelon Elementary School in Orangeburg.

Huffman said reading and playing games with the children are some of the preliminary ways she tries to adjust attitudes and actions of young students coming to school for the first time as well as those returning to school.

"The first week or so, I'm really focusing in on the smaller kids from pre-K through first grade because most of the kids are coming here for the first time. The kindergarten students have been here, but we're adjusting them to coming back to first grade after being out for the summer. I then go in and do my orientation for the second- through fifth-grade students the following week," Huffman said.

"I talk to them about leaving home and coming back. I tell them, 'This is a new environment, but you're here to learn,'" she said. Huffman spends the first seven days going about the business of designating times to play and work, stressing, "It's a certain time to play, but it's also a time for you to listen and learn some new things."

Playing hands-on games and reading back-to-school stories are among the tools Huffman uses to acquaint young students with their new environment.

Beginning students are stressed the fundamentals, including the importance of knowing their name, address and telephone number.

"In case they get lost for some particular reason, they'll be able to tell someone their name. We're then going to make sure they know their teacher's name that first week. We try to make sure that those little ones have their name tags on for the entire week. If they wander off, someone will be able to direct them back to the right class," Huffman said.

Older students, including seven- to 10-year-olds, are also helped in getting in the right state of mind for the first day of school. With stricter educational requirements, including the administration of the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, Huffman said study skills are stressed along with making sure students are adequately equipped with school supplies.

"Even though PACT is a big thing, we tell students, 'You're here to learn.' You don't want to just focus on April and May with them stressing out for PACT. You let them know that learning is important from day one all the way to the end of school. If they come to school focused with a positive attitude, then they can get through it," she said.

Rivelon Elementary School has equipped local stores, including K-Mart, Roses and Wal-Mart, with a back-to-school supply list which its students will need for the first day of school and beyond.

"We do have several kids that come back without any, or very few, supplies. I wait until the first day of school and ask the teacher to spot check with the kids to make sure that they have everything that they need on the list. If they don't have it, I make sure that they get it," Huffman said.

She is thankful for the several community churches which have donated school supplies, with three-ring binders and composition notebooks being among the most needed items for students.

"Most kids come with book bags, pencils and a notebook or two. The older kids are not coming with dictionaries and thesauruses, so we try to make sure that we have those. The Elks Lodge is real good in donating dictionaries and thesauruses to our fourth- and fifth grade students," she said.

Huffman said teachers disseminated activity packets for students to take home for the summer to get a head start on optimizing student's study skills while on vacation.

"Most kids say, 'It's summer and I don't even want to see a book.' Teachers try to make sure that there are a lot of fun, hands-on activities that the parents can do with the kids like measuring, cooking and playing with play dough," she said.

She said encouraging students to read with the school librarian summer reading program, through which students are awarded for their reading at the beginning of the school year, is another tool in preparing them for the first day.

Parents play an integral part in getting students in the right frame of mind for school, including helping them get on proper sleep schedules and making sure they get a balanced breakfast. The school sends out a letter before the Aug. 11 opening day to encourage parents to also make sure they have their child's school uniforms.

A "Meet the Teacher Night" is also being held on Aug. 8 in the cafeteria, where parents will get a chance to talk to their child's teachers and receive information "to get them back to where they need to be," Huffman said.

"The first week of school will really be a refresher course ... for students to brush up on some things from their previous grade before starting with new activities," she said.

She said community and parental support is the key in preparing children of all ages for the first day of school. Equipping students with encouragement to be able to survive challenges from the classroom to the playground involves teamwork.

"If we can get parents to support the children and school teachers, then things can run a little smoother. The community has been very good with helping provide what we need to get for the students," Huffman said. "We just encourage parents to come in ... to visit with teachers, with any concerns that they have. If there's anything that the teachers and administrators can do to help make things better, we'll try our best to do that."

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 533-5534.

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