PLANO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Counseling and Guidance – Grades Pre K - 8
Presented by Ramona Cartwright, Dooley Elementary Counselor and Elementary Cluster Leader
Cathy Shepheard, Wilson Middle School Counselor and Middle School Cluster Leader
The purpose of the school guidance program is to promote and to enhance the learning process. School
counselors work closely with administrators, teachers, parents, and community to support the Plano ISD
mission and accomplish goals with focus on three strands of guidance:
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Academic Success
College and Careers
Personal/Social Development
The Plano ISD Guidance Plan is an integration of the American School Counseling Association National
Standards and the Texas Education Agency Guidance for Program Development. A developmental guidance
program emphasizes success for all students. This plan will enable all students to achieve success in school and
to develop into contributing members of society. Plano counselors have a Master’s degree in School
Counseling or a Master’s degree in another area with a School Counseling Certificate and minimum of two
years of classroom teaching experience.
Guidance Topics:
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Anger Management
Bullying Prevention
Character Education
Communication
Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation
Decision Making
Diversity
Drug Awareness (Red Ribbon Week)
Friendship
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Test Anxiety
Motivation
Organization
Peer Pressure
Personal Safety
Self Confidence
Social Skills
Study Skills
Stress Management
Red Ribbon Week – The last week in October is devoted to drug abuse awareness and prevention. Schools
offer specific guidance lessons, guest speakers, and motivational assemblies.
College Week – Students participate in guidance lessons promoting college awareness and career information.
The lessons are followed by a week in January highlighted by career fairs and school-wide college awareness
activities.
Yello Dyno – this program addresses bullying and includes lesson plans, videos, and activities highlighting
personal safety and making wise decisions.
WHO – We Help Ourselves – this anti-victimization program also includes a section on bullies and
information on staying safe, child abuse, and getting help from a trusted adult.
R-Time – this elementary program fosters cooperation and respect with an emphasis on manners. Students are
randomly paired and learn to greet one another using names and making eye contact. Activities are designed to
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help students relate well to each other (and thereby, reduce bullying), raise self-confidence, and support
learning.
Other guidance lessons – Many and varied classroom guidance lessons are available to address issues and
situations that occur on the campus. Guidance lessons are also available online. The majority of schools use
the following popular and effective lessons to address bullying, violence, and anger: Don’t Pop Your Cork on
Monday (Anger Management), Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids, Kelso’s Choice (Conflict Resolution),
Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain, and No More Teasing.
Negotiate - The philosophy of Negotiate is based on the principle that by placing students in a well-defined and
supportive situation, they will develop inter-personal skills and positive relationships. Negotiate is an extension
of R-time, the elementary school relationship program, for middle school students. Each 15-20 minute weekly
session requires cooperation with a randomly chosen partner. Fundamental to Negotiate is the expectation and
use of good manners, appropriate body language and courtesy, while students are engaged in mutually
respectful and productive dialogue. Lessons cover multiple topics including: self-respect, gossip, cell phone
bullying, friendship loyalty, honesty, and cheating.
Second Step - This program is available in all middle schools designed to promote social skills and academic
success. Students learn the protective skills to make good choices and stay engaged in school despite the
pitfalls of substance abuse, bullying, cyber bullying, and peer pressure.
Be EPIC – Educated, Pro-Active, Influential, and Changed - Trained presenters from The Turning Point make
classroom presentations about appropriate and inappropriate social interactions and sexual harassment. There is
a focus on this form of bullying.
Be Cool – This video based program presents the paradigm of self-control and assertion training. The modules
uses real-live, everyday classic situations to model the effective use of assertive strategies, as well as the
ineffective use of passive and aggressive styles in coping with difficult feelings and difficult people. Topics
include coping with stress, harassment, anger, and bullying.
Prevention of Bullying - Guidance lessons promote the Golden Rule, encourage empathy, help students
understand the nature and destructiveness of bullying, help students who are bullied cope with their feelings and
with the bullying, as well as encourage those who bully to stop mistreating others.
Plano counselors also conduct small group sessions with students. These may include groups about Changing
Families (divorce, separations), Grief, Social Skills/ Friendship, or New Students. These groups are supportive
in nature and not therapeutic. They are based on an educational model which is part of the educational
curriculum. Participation may be recommended by parents or teachers, and parental permission is always
required.
Plano ISD also offers online parenting classes addressing bullying, cyber-bulling, discipline, power struggles,
and sibling rivalry. Class Series offered are Back to Basics, Help, A Teenager has Moved Into My Child’s
Body, Parental Authority, Parenting the Strong-Willed Child, Building Bright Futures – ADD/ADHD, and
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.
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