Advocate : a newsletter from school based service specialists.

              Spring 2011
Legislators visit Clinton Middle School
The Tulsa County Child Protection Coalition hosted a legislative visit Jan. 14 at Clinton Middle School.The purpose of the visit was to inform Tulsa-area legislators about work being done by School Based Social Workers/Service Specialists through the Check and Connect Program. The program is a cooperative effort between the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau, Oklahoma Department of Human Services and Tulsa Public Schools.
A number of legislators attended, includingRepresentatives Wade Rousselot, Pam Peterson, Jeannie McDaniel, Sue Tibbs and David Brumbaugh.There was a great turn out. Also attending was April Merrill from the Schusterman Family Foundation;Lael Engstrom, Director, Check and Connect; John Selph, CEO, Volunteers of America; Claudette Selph, Tulsa County Child Protection Coalition; Margaret French, Check and Connect Program evaluator. Michele Kelly, Anthony Taylor and Jeff Isenberg, all Check and Connect Social Workers at various schools, attended as well. Hosts were Charity Clark, Check and Connect School Based worker at Clinton Middle School, and Shelly Holman, Clinton Middle School principal.
Engstrom began the morningÕ s visit with an overview of the program. Clark then shared stories of some of her students at Clinton and invited one of her eighth grade students to speak. After the student told her story, she sang a very emotional song called ÒB roken,Ó for which she received a standing ovation. This was the first of two scheduled legislative visits for Clinton Middle School. The second was held in late January.
Clinton Check and Connect students Brianna Carson, Jaden Weir and Malia Factor. Brianna and Jaden served as hostesses for the legislative visit, and Malia gave a speech and sang.
Charity Clark (third from the left) with legislators and community partners.
Over winter break, Charity Clark, school based worker at Clinton Middle School, and Michele Kelly, school based worker at Eugene Fields, took 28 kids ice skating at Winterfest. Time does flfly. Seems like a short while ago we were
Greetings from
Booker T. Washington High School
2011 SCHOOL BASED SERVICES NEWSLETTER
Social Worker Helps Establish East Central GSA
As East CentralÕ s school based social worker, Schel-londa Jones has the opportunity to help develop many new organizations for the school. One of those is the Gay-Straight Alliance.
The Gay-Straight Alliance Network is a youth lead-ership organization connecting school-based GSAs to each other and to their community resources through peer support, leadership development and training.
The GSAÕ s goals are to:
1.
Create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions.
2.
Educate the school community about homophobia,gender identity and sexual orientation issues.
3.
Fight discrimination, harassment and violence inschools.
East CentralÕ s GSA students are in the process ofcreating posters for the school to promote aware-ness. They also had a very successful fund raiser tosupport this cause.
Greetings from
Booker T. Washington High School
fly. welcoming back our returning students and greet-ing our new freshmen. Reflecting back, it has been a busy time.
With the help of Youth Services, OKDHS employees and Booker T. Washington Parent-Teacher-Student Association members, many resources have been available to our students in need this year, including donated school supplies, hygiene items, food pack-ets, housing needs and clothing.
During the Christmas season we coordinated with the BTW-PTSA to identify students for the Adopt-a-Hornet program. Participating students were pro-vided not only a Christmas gift, but also received gifts to help meet their school needs, including itemssuch as an upcoming school yearbook, class dues payments and participation fees for student events. Generous PTSA members were also able to secure four computers for students as well as a new bike for a studentÕ s transportation.
We also addressed our studentsÕ emotional needs by providing a listening ear and aligning their needs with available community services. As BTWÕ s Safe Team coordinator, I have provided forums through the services of DVIS and Palmer for the studentsÕ participation with topics like ÒWh at Makes a Healthy Relationship?Ó and ÒM anaging Stress.Ó Upcoming topics include ÒT ime ManagementÓand ÒA nger Management,Ó all subjects chosen by the students and addressed by community services representatives.
These forums are held during the schoolÕ s activity period in the Safe Team room and are open to any BTW student who wants to attend. We also partici-pated in the Tulsa Mental Health Association Youth Outreach Listen-Up Conference in February at the Greenwood Cultural Center. This conference al-lows students to tell the Òm overs and shakersÓ of the Tulsa community what they see as important issues needing to be addressed. Columbia Teen Screen returned to the school in January for depres-sion screening for any students whose parents de-cide to allow them to participate, concentrating on the freshmen class.
Things are happening around BTW and I am proud to be a part of aiding in the studentsÕ success, and to be a part of the Hornet family. Until next timeÉ
Currin BradleyOKDHS/TPS Social Services SpecialistBooker T. Washington High School
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Will Rogers High School Òd
Edison Prep Hosts
esentation
--
school based social work
er at Rogers High School, is what I call a
iamond in the rough.Ó She has positively
impacted many of our students and staff
throughout the years. Her title may be a social
worker, but she assumes many roles. She is a
with ease and makes everyone feel comfort
able. Her daily responsibilities may include,
but are not limited to: interviewing students
to determine nature and problem at hand;
assisting family members understand the
clientÕ s needs; and assisting them in working
out realistic functional goals. She also helps
or group conferences to understand, accept
Many times her personal impact may not be
noticed immediately due to different aspects
involved with each individual case, but
when a student or familyÕ s needs are met, the
happiness and excitement illuminates to
others may
otherwise --Shawnee Allen, R.N.
Samantha Checotah serves as a co-chair on
the Edison Preparatory School Safety Com
mittee. This committee is made up of stu
dent, parent and staff participants. Theywork
together to create a safer and healthier envi
ronment for students and staff. On Jan. 28 they
hosted Ò Stand for the Silent,Ó a presentation
about bullying. This presentation was created
by Kirk Smalley and the Upward Bound orga
nization. After losing his son to bullying and
suicide, he has made it his mission to spread
the message of his sonÕ s life and others who
have been affected by bullying. Bullying and
cyber-bullying have become a major problem
in the schools, and with the collaboration of
the students and the staff, this problem can
be eliminated.
Anti-Bullying Presentation
2011 SCHOOL BASED SERVICES NEWSLETTER
Update
By Carrie Fleharty, Librarian/Media Specialist
Will Rogers High School canÕ t live without their social worker! She stays busy behind the scenes keeping the students fed, clothed and in homes or shelters. She is a helpful ear in times of a cri-sis, and is a liaison between the community andthe students in need. Will Rogers High SchoolÕ s social worker, Mary Tippett, is almost everythingto everyone. More importantly, she is appreciat-ed by the students, the faculty and the adminis-tration.
During the holidays, Mary is a liaison betweenmembers of the Tulsa community who want to provide for families in need. She also helps dis-tribute coats and clothing to students who are in need. Mary is a great source of information about the different agencies and their programsand services. She connects the students with the agency that can best help them. Sometimes there are students who, through no fault of their own,become homeless, and she will guide them andhelp them find shelter until they graduate.
TodayÕ s students come from many types ofhomes, from those with a single parent to homes where they are raised by grandmothers, grandfa-thers, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers or sisters. According to Mary, the students of Will RogersHigh are her first priority. Their safety and well-being are first. She will help and guide them to the best of her ability. One thing is certain: shewould rather empower students more than justhelp them.
Teachers and administrators also suffer from similar burdens. Mary has started and imple-mented a support group for teachers. She willlisten to and help all people in education learnthat the stress of educating urban schools can be managed. Will Rogers High School appreci-ates the help their social worker provides in her many endeavors to help the school become a bet-ter place.
Mary Tippett,
worker Òdiamond teacher, student and staff advocate, as well
as a leader. She transitions between the roles
comfortable. theclientÕs students and families through individual
and follow the given recommendations.
benoticed aspectsinvolved familyÕs thehappiness toothers around the school. Mary definitely
helps illuminate hope to those who mayotherwise feel hopeless.
HostsAnti-Pr onthe Committee. student, Theyworktogether environment theyhosted ÒStand presentationabout createdby organization. andsuicide, spreadthe sonÕs whohave andcyber-problemin ofthe canbe SpringSCHOOL S11020 OKDHS Issued 03/2011
This publication is authorized by the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services in accordance with state and federal regulations. Copies have not been printed but are available to view and download at www.okdhs.org/library/pubs.