Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #40-Sarah Berg, Middle School Counselor

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Episode #40-Sarah Berg, Middle School Counselor · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Alan Spacotti, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: The Recess Podcast gives me an opportunity to share some of the great things happening in the district.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: We have amazing staff, amazing kids who you get to hear from soon, and just programs that support our students and our families.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: And each episode we try to just shine a light on something a little different and something that as a parent or community member, or maybe you work in the district, you probably don't get a chance to see very often or learn about.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: So today's gonna be a fun episode.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about school counselors, and I have a great one here to help uh kind of be a spokesperson for our great Auburn School District counselors.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: And at this time, I'd like to welcome Sarah Berg from Mount Baker Middle School.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sarah, welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, thank you.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we are great to have you here.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and before we get to your path into counseling and uh get to hear about all things counseling and counselors, we're gonna start with a favorite question of mine, which is who is your favorite teacher and why?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: I would have to say it was my sixth grade counselor, which I went to in elementary school, or sixth grade was part of elementary school.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, Mrs.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Anderson.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I remember her, I loved her, and when I think about why I liked her so much and why she, you know, sticks in my mind, it was really because she cared about us.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: She really cared about her students, and I knew that because she would just the simplest things, it was nothing major, but she would come out every day at lunch and we'd get to sit out there outside.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or she'd come outside her classroom door, she'd sit there, she was never too busy for us.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: She'd sit down with us, talk with us, ask us about friends, and she just genuinely cared about her students and and what we cared about.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: We never, you know, felt like we were in the way or yeah, she just always I always felt like she genuinely cared about me and and the other students in class.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So she stands out to me.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: What a great memory.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we talk so much about you know, caring and making students feel welcome and like they belong.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's that's really wonderful.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to note, uh, many, many times the person in the guest chair uh shares a a teacher or an educator who made a difference for them, and lo and behold, they end up uh in some way doing uh either what that person did or their their life kind of is influenced.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe Mrs.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Anderson helped uh you make the decision to be here today.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, I think so, definitely.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, tell us about your career path to becoming a middle school counselor in Auburn School District.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so this is my 18th year in Auburn, and I started at Alpac Elementary.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was there for five years with Diane Collier.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then when she retired, I also had the opportunity to move buildings and um went to Olympic middle school from there and um was there for nine years and then just recently uh moved to Mount Baker, and this is my fourth year there.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I I um always saw myself, I think, at the you know, middle school level.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um I enjoy the I guess you say the issues that kids have in middle school are a little different than elementary.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: I like the mix of work that we have there at that level.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you've done elementary and middle.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Do you specialize like when you're getting your certification?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Do you specialize in a certain level or you just gravitate to that naturally as who you are?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the you know, my degree's in K-12, so I could do any level, but I gravitate towards, I just love the middle school.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: I thought about what you know, what it might look like at high school, and um, you know, talk to counselors at that level, and I think at middle school, I just love the mix, the good variety of things we get to do at middle school level.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: I always salute our middle school level educators, uh, because I think it's a unique part of the developmental process.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think of myself as a student, how pivotal middle school was in putting me on a trajectory uh for what came next and really for the rest of my life.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we know middle school students, like I'm sure not a day is the same as the one before or after.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and they're they're really fun and probably uh trying, but uh anyway, I'm grateful to middle school educators and the the the ones who identify with the energy of that age, uh, just do such a great job with our kids.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's such a hard, I think, three years, and I remember that as well.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think most of us when we think about middle school, uh, I would uh say most of us maybe didn't enjoy it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I just think there's just so much change and kids are figuring out who they are and you know where they belong and who their people are that it's uh it's a fun age to work with.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I really like it.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're glad you're at middle school.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're glad you're in Auburn.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and we're glad you're a counselor.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about the counseling role.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: And let's start with how does a counselor support students and their success?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I have a great team.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Love, love my team at Mount Baker.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Tina McGowan, Chrissy Brubaker.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: We had Bruce Votney there who just retired, and I just I love our team.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: We work really well together.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's just so many areas.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think it's academically, it's you know, socially, it's you know, having them look.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think in middle school it's so important for them to start thinking about their future and what they want to do so that they have a purpose in what they're doing now.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it's just supporting them through that, supporting parents, working with parents and teachers, and you know, helping the kids find their their people, their friends.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: We got at recess, lunch, intramurals, and um find these kids who are by themselves and trying to pair them up with other kids that are by themselves.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so they feel like they belong.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like in middle, you know, you go from elementary where you have a single teacher, you have maybe the same group of friends or kids that you've moved up for five years, you know, for a lot of these kids, um, and then you merge with all these other elementary schools, and it's really easy to feel lost and get lost.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so just really helping these kids figure out who they are and where they belong.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's fun, it's good.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's fantastic.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do you do that?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and I'm gonna get at that with with this question what does a typical day look like as a middle school counselor?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, there is no typical day.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of knew that was coming.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I that's what I actually love about it is it's just you don't know what you're gonna get from one day to the next.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But I would say, you know, you start the day by greeting kids and um making sure I'm a sixth grade counselor this year, so at the beginning of the year, making sure they get in their lockers.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very stressful thing, you know, getting into their lockers.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, making sure they're they're getting where they need to go.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then um, you know, there's usually kids you got to check in with.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know if you're familiar with the expert grant that the middle school levels have.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So um I'm actually just finishing up with that, really finding kids who need that extra support and checking in with those kids.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: You have the kids that just come in because they're needing a break and they're needing some support academically.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they had a rough morning at home or a rough night at home, parents calling, you know, returning calls, you know, supporting teachers and doing that, having some, you know, writing up some 504 plans, some, you know, uh bulldog time.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's our, you know, our um advisory, not advisory, you know, time and writing up some supporting teachers for that, you know, going into some classes and teaching lessons during that time.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we have, you know, lunch coverage where we get to go outside and watch the kids interact with each other and see what's happening out there.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then you come back and do some more, you know, check-ins.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think at this time of the year too, I'm really starting to get to know my students, um, these new sixth graders, and just responding to whatever needs they have.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we go out to buses and see them, see them home and go sit in on an IEP meeting or a 504 meeting or returning calls to parents.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that I would say that's a typical day, you know, but again, there's just you never know what you're gonna get from one day to the next.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And again, that's why I love it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, helping each other, supporting, you know, my colleagues, the other counselors and teachers, um, really seeing, you know, working with teachers to find out, you know, why these kids are falling behind academically, why they're not coming to school.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe we do a home visit or you know, calling families, see how we can sport them to come come to school.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we have a couple families living in their cars, and you know, how we can sport with food and clothing and um and just getting them to school.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: So lots of lots of good stuff.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that covers a lot of student needs.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: You touched on family needs.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so first of all, thank you for the work that you do, Sarah, and all of your colleagues.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, before we go on, I I'm interested to share with our listeners um how are like how does a student get to the counselor in middle school?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: And um when you have students in you know various situations, um, I know that we have software that is on our uh all of our devices securely that flags uh if if sometimes it'll pick up the students making a search that is unsafe.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and we might get an email.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you get them directly.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I know your principal Greg Brown said he gets like 20 a day, and most of them are innocent, and you know, but uh at times that that's a tip.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I know that we have um a working relationship with law enforcement where if a if a student is impacted by something that's happened in the community even overnight, that they will give the school uh knowledge to check in with the kid, and then we take it from there.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so how do students get to you as a counselor?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's so many different ways.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: You named a couple of them.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Securely, um teachers, teachers will notice things.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they see them every day, right?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: For an hour every day.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they email us to say, hey, check in on the student.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I notice a change or they're struggling.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um this is my first full-time year.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I've actually job shared the entire time I've been in Auburn.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so both Tina McGowan and I, we went full-time this year.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I this is my first year being every day with the same group of kids starting in sixth grade.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I've been really um trying to be intentional about making sure these students know who I am.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um so going outside at intermarals, being there at the beginning of the day, trying to be in passing time too when they're passing classes.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It gets harder as the year goes on because you get busier, but trying to be out in the hallways.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I already noticed they're knowing who I am, going into classrooms, um, introducing myself, letting them know they can email me to see me, they can um ask their teacher to see me, they can come in between classes and fill out a form to see me, um, all the different ways that they can access um supports from me.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: You are obviously passionate about your job.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: What do you love most about being a counselor?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I love the people I work with, I will say.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I love Auburn School District.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And since day one, Auburn has supported counselors so well in comparison to other districts.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so while I don't live in Auburn, I love working here.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I truly can say that.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I love uh I love everybody I work with at Baker, they're just amazing.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have so much support from Greg, and we have an amazing office manager, um, registrar.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we attend everybody.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we couldn't honestly do our jobs without all that support.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then the kids, I just I do truly, truly love making an impact and and helping students who, you know, with this expert survey that we just did, catching kids that I know um really were close to harming themselves and catching them before they did that and calling home to parents and and connecting parents.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've had such supportive parents this year that we're so thankful for getting the phone call and were trying to get their students into mental health therapy, but couldn't because of the wait list, and we were able to provide that with this grant that we have.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's truly just the best feeling to know that you're making a difference and helping kids even just connect with their parents and finally opening that door of you know conversation and hoping that I can just make an impact on a couple students.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I just love it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for that.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh I I love that you do all this for our students, and another way that we like to learn about the different roles in the district is to hear about a success story.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: So uh tell us what is one of your best student success stories.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I had a student um just moved up to high school, and this student in sixth grade was identified through the expert survey and really struggled um with his mental health and um coming to school and hygiene and I mean lots of lots of struggles.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and connected the student with resources and just having a a couple, probably two, three adults in our building who really just cared about the student and supported the student and went out of the box to really do some.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how detailed I should get for for privacy purposes, but just really support and I saw we saw just huge gains in his mental health and uh being at school and I mean I could go on and on about the changes we saw in the student, and I still have his name in my head and I'll always always have his name.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that's probably one of the more recent and seeing him move on to high school and um hopefully continue to do well there.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: So awesome.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for taking care of him.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um and all of these stories, I mean, it's it's just very uh powerful the work that that your uh your colleagues and yourself do.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: All right, as we start to wrap up, uh I'm gonna ask the fun question.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: What was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely twirling on the bars.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: I uh they're not the monkey bars, but you know, the bars where you put your leg over and you'd spin and spin and spin.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Loved it.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's never made me dizzy.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, I like the ones that I haven't heard before.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we get a lot of like, oh, I play Foursquare or tether ball or whatever.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: That I don't believe anybody has mentioned twirling on the bars.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um did that develop into any other were you a gymnast or uh I was when I was younger, probably why I liked to do that at recess.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when my first year at LPEC I think I tried getting on one of those bars and doing it, it just wasn't the same.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Very dizzy.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you don't do that when you're older, but but I tried I tried reliving that childhood memory.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Part of my mission with the Recess Podcast is to encourage adults to play and uh and take themselves back and enjoy.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: But uh this will be the cautionary note.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh ladies and gentlemen, do not try twirling on the bars at home if you are older than elementary school ladies.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's enough depth too for your you know height.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for having fun with that.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Sarah, thank you so much for all you do for our students at Mount Baker and uh all of our counselors across the district do an amazing job.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so thank you for being here.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: All right, my guest has been Sarah Berg, one of three counselors at Mount Baker Middle School.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh if you know others who would enjoy this podcast, please share it.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to get the word out uh because we have so many great things going on that people just don't necessarily know.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and we want to take them behind the scenes and hear some of these great stories.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this has been the recess podcast.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: We are a production of Auburn School District.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to Vicky Alonzo for making it happen.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll be back in two weeks with the next episode of the Recess Podcast.