Happy National Social Workers Day! This day is used to celebrate and appreciate the numerous contributions our school social workers make within our community. Social work, like many professions in education, is constantly changing. And because of these changes, our social workers wear many hats throughout the year as they help support the unique needs of our students. “We have to be flexible to meet the ever-changing needs of our students and community,” said Middle School Social Worker Kathy Durivage. “Every day, week, and month provide new opportunities for us to support our students.”
Social workers are critical to our school climate and utilize many techniques to support our students. They provide individual and group interventions to help students develop specific coping skills and techniques, educate students about mental health, and, most importantly, provide them with a safe space to be heard. They work closely with our students, but also with our administrators, staff, parents, and teachers to gain an understanding of the whole picture that is our student's world. They advocate for equity and inclusion so that every student is heard and supported in a way that is best for them and our school community.
“Helping students to overcome the effects of things like trauma, depression, and anxiety is crucial. My goal is to help students work through feelings and obstacles so that they can feel good about themselves, thrive socially, achieve their potential as students, experience joy in their lives, and feel hope and excitement about the future,” said High School Social Worker Jessica Doerr.
The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone these past few years and has changed some aspects of the job for our social workers. The pandemic has increased mental health challenges for students and families. Students have experienced much more isolation, stress, and loss because of the pandemic. Social workers have utilized creative strategies to help work through these new and unique challenges. Pre-pandemic and throughout, our social workers have helped create and support a number of programs here at RCS, including, but not limited to backpack and food pantry programs, restorative justice, conflict resolution, holiday gift programs, diversity clubs, and helping to connect families with community resources.
Our social workers know that the time they get to spend with our students now will help give students the skills they need later on in life to live healthy, fulfilling, and stable lives. In speaking with our social workers about their jobs and why they mean so much to them, they all had a sentiment similar to this one…
“I cannot stress enough HOW inspired I am by the students I am able to work with,” said High School Social Worker Kimberley Mathias. “Their creativity, resilience, kindness, and ability to come together and create change is the reason I come to work each day. I feel incredibly grateful when I am able to be even a small part of a student's success story. I also absolutely love working with a team that understands the significant impact we are able to have on the young adults we work with.”
Thank you, Social Workers – for all you do for our community yesterday, today, and every day!
