My name is Shannon Berry and I am the school counselor here at Grasonville Elementary School. Before coming to Grasonville, I attended Mount St. Mary's University where I received my degree in Elementary Education, and then Loyola College in Maryland where I received my Masters Degree in School Counseling. I came to Queen Anne's County in 2004 where I Worked at Stevensville Middle as a CASASTART counselor. I am beginning my sixth year of service as a school counselor. My first five years were spent at Kent Island High School, where I was a counselor to the 10th-12th grade students! This is my first year at Grasonville and I am excited to be here! I live in Millington, MD with my husband, Justin and son, JD. I love being a school counselor and everyday I feel thankful to have the opportunity to work with you and your children.

From September until December, Jennifer Kohl will be working with me as an intern. She attends Wilmington University and is receiving her masters in school counseling. Along with interning, she is currently a Kindergarten teacher at Grasonville. During her internship, she will be working with individual students along with running small groups.

What Does a Counselor Do?

• Works with individuals, students, and parents

• Works with staff to assist students

• Provides support through small group counseling, individual counseling, and classroom guidance

• Provides crisis intervention

• Works on problem solving, self esteem, coping strategies, social skills, changing families, teamwork, conflict, and character education

How Do Students Get To See The Counselor?

• Student may ask

• Parent may request

• Teacher or principal may send them

How Do Counselors Provide Support?

School counselors provide support in an effort to maximize student achievement and also, serve as an advocate for all children. Support may be provided to students in the following ways:

• Classroom Guidance: I will hold classroom guidance lessons with each homeroom, approximately twice per month. These lessons will align with each classroom's need, as well as Character Counts Education.
• Small Group Counseling: Small group counseling sessions may be offered to students throughout the school year, based on student need. This allows students to give and receive help from their peers who may be experiencing similar feelings or situations. These are a few example of small group sessions that have been conducted in the past:

Changing Families- Divorce, step families, blended families

Friendship Fun-How to get along with friends

Social Skills- How to interact with other students and adults

Anxiety/ Worry- Worries about school, friends, sport

Group sessions will typically last approx 6 sessions, and are made based on teacher or parent referrals. Each session will be about 20-30 minutes long. Sessions will take place at an agreed upon time with the classroom teacher when minimal instruction is missed. Any child may participate in group sessions, with parent permission first. If you have any questions about group, please feel free to contact me!

• Individual Counseling:  Individual counseling at the school level seeks to remove any impediments that may be getting in the way of a student being the best learner that they can be. It is conducted in a confidential setting and is meant to meet any immediate student needs or concerns. Individual counseling at school is short-term in nature and also requires parent permission. Should a student need on-going therapy, a referral can be made to an outside mental health provider. Individual counseling referrals for students can be made through the request of a student, parent, or teacher.

How Can I Make An Appointment?

• Call the school at 410-827-8070 and ask for Mrs. Berry
• Email shannon.berry@qacps.org
• Come to my office (directly across from main office)
• Talk with a teacher about meeting me

Bullying

Parent Resources

Here are a few websites that may be helpful to parents and students!

http://stopbullying.gov/index.html

• what is bullying

• signs of bullying

• how you can help

KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health

• Information for parents and students

http://www.pbs.org/parents/

.Worrywisekids.org -

• Improving the quality of life for anxious children and their families by providing parents, educators and mental health professionals with comprehensive, user-friendly information on the full range of anxiety disorders.

• Information on anxiety in children

Children and Teens | Anxiety Disorders Association of America, ADAA

• Information on anxiety

Anger Management for Children | Scholastic.com

• Learning about anger management

• Strategies to help children with anger

Check out these great books that are based on cognitive-behavioral techniques for parents and children!

What-To-Do-Guides

These books include anxiety, Anger, OCD, ADHD, etc...

This page was last updated on November 09, 2011.

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