Learned Something New

As I spoke to Rosita,I learned that I have the chance to help people get on the right track and get away from the bad rode I took growing up, so why not take that chance and help people. I want to help students here talk about what they have been going through and hear the struggles and learn from them. If I could've had this growing up I wouldn't had gone through the rode I went to, but I did and everything happens for a reason and the reason I went through these struggles was for me to help out others.

Getting there...

Thursday the 10 of February I spoke to Rosita the school counselor about the wording for permission slips for the student. We also talked about writing pledges for the students to sing. The pledge is meant to make sure that everything said in the support group stay in the support group. An issue was raised that if teacher were going to attend then i would have to make them a separate pledge; This pledge would say that the teacher would have to recognize that they are in a different setting and they can not report anything that is said in the support group. We encountered an issue, I need a facilitator that would be willing to sit down maybe once a month with the group and answer questions I couldn't. Rosita suggest Bo's Place a family grief support group. I called and they informed me that even if I had permission slips they couldn't facilitate because there would be legal issue. At this moment I'm looking for grief facilitators.   

Planing Ahead

By the ends of February and the beginnings of March I am planning to start the support group if the survey shows that students and teachers would be willing to attend along with having a sponsor. I am planning to start it by then because I would like to see if the support group is helpful or not, at least here in Chinquapin. I would hold a survey at the beginning of May for those who have attended the support groups, with the survey I would be able to have a sense of the effectiveness the support group had and in what areas could the support group could have been improved.    

Step foward...

These past few weeks I have been searching about the criteria needed to start a support group. In this research I have found that I should create a survey to have an idea whether or not students and or  teachers would attend the support group. In doing so I would also need to take notes on the possible times that the student and or teachers would be able to attend the support group. If the survey shows that the student and or teacher are willing to attend then I would take a step forward to look at the schedule and create permission slips. An issue with this is that I need to find a sponsor that has the knowledge and background on grieving the loss of a loved one. My other issue is knowing how to make a survey, and legal status behind making the permission slips for the support groups.   

My senoir project sentence

Having lost my grandfather without having anyone to help me cope with the loss, made me realize that I might not be the only one that has gone through this, which has brought me to the decision of starting a support group at Chinquapin.

Update

Truthfully, I do not have a panel. I have asked Jan Ott if she would be willing to be part of my panel. I am trying to reach out to my mentors Linda Ho, Jennifer Epstein, and the college professor Ms. Sandra Lopez. My research hasn’t expanded much since the last blog. I did contact Rosita, the counselor here at Chinquapin, and she has recently gotten me in contact with a past college professor that specializes in grief. I am hopefully going to be e-mailing her to get more information on how grief works. I would write a proposal during Christmas break so that I can start having a support group here at Chinquapin. I would be contacting support group in Houston so that I can learn how to manage the support group. This will occur during the Christmas break.

Change

About a month ago when we started working on our scripts, I realized that a subject that i was trying to avoid was really what I was passionate about. I wanted to do something dealing with grief, in particular the loss of a loved one. As I sat down and thought of how hard it was for me to deal with my grandfathers' death, starting a support group came to mind at the school. When someone you love dies it can be hard to cope with the death, but with guidance and comfort one can learn to cope with the loss. I have recently been reading On Death and Dying  by Elizabeth Kubler Ross, the book has the five stages of death which go into depth. I am currently researching psychologist in the field of grief to speak to them and ask them a couple of questions, and if they have any advice for me in starting a support group at my school.