ORANGEVIEW JUNIOR HIGH

COPING SKILLS FOR WORRY & STRESS

Summary Mindsets & Behaviors

At Orangeview Junior High School, there has been a M1
significant decrease in attendance following the Belief in development of whole self,
return of students post-pandemic. Moreover, staff including a healthy balance of
and administrators feel students associate school mental, social/emotional and
attendance as "optional". Upon return to school,
physical well-being
students face many stressors that can impact school
attendance. Based upon attendance data and a B-SMS-7
school-wide needs assessment, we identified 7 Effective Coping Skills
students with attendance issues (chronically absent
B-SMS-6
or approaching chronically absent) who wanted to
meet in small groups to discuss positive coping skills Ability to identify and overcome
as related to anxious thoughts. barriers

Needs
Many students who are consistently truant from
school lack the coping skills needed to handle
their difficulties (Ek, 2013).
Coping skills training is a recommended Tier 2
intervention for students with comorbid
attendance issues and internalizing concerns
(Kearny, 2020).
Competencies
Learn and implement mindfulness-based
techniques
Identify stressors and use a positive coping
skill to address the source of stress
Identify positive versus negative coping skills

Lessons
Session 1: Self-Love & Affirmations
Session 2: Mindful Breathing
Session 3: Noticing & Releasing
Tension
Session 4: Mindful Movement
Session 5: Art & Creative Outlets
Session 6: Gratitude

 Results Outcome Data

When I am feeling overwhelmed or nervous, On average, there was a 4.26%
I know what I can do to feel better. improvement in attendance for

Post Test attendees.
Pre Test
100 6 of 7 students showed an
improvement in attendance (based
on percentage of days present)
75

Reflections
50
Feedback was received by one of the
parents, who believed the small group
helped their child develop better
social skills. This was an unintended
25
impact, but we will be mindful to keep
implementing community building
activities in future sessions.
0
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree
We will better associate the learned
coping skills with school attendance
% of Chronically Absent and academic performance.
Students
Key Collaborators
28% 0%
Thank you to the Orangeview students
participants, teachers, parents, and school
% of students who can identify counseling department. Special thank you to
mindfulness-based techniques my fellow counseling intern, AJ Dizon, for co-
Pre-Test Post-Test
facilitating this small group with me and for
100% being a continuous support.

75% School Counseling Team

Diane Roberts, Counselor
50% Michelle Swanson, Counselor
Lana Nguyen, Counselor
25%
AJ Dizon, Intern
Alex Tilley, Intern
0%
Lahee An, Practicum Student