COUNSELOR: Mr. Shawn Haygood, Ed. S. in School Counseling and School Psychology

The school counselor provides support services that help students perform better in their classrooms and interact productively with their peers and adults at school. The counselor impacts the school’s environment (school climate) by reinforcing good attendance and by teaching and recognizing examples of good character among students. The counselor consults with teachers and parents in Student Support Team meetings, developing individualized strategies that promote concentration, motivation, attention-span and productive social behaviors among students. The school counselor also conducts lessons in classrooms that enable students to develop problem solving and conflict management skills to apply in friendships or interactions with other students. These lessons involve topics such as coping with and discouraging teasing, when to get help from a teacher or staff member, verbal skills in handling disagreements, when to ignore teasing or provocation and when to show assertiveness. These lessons are considered part of the school’s general curriculum in subjects such as social studies, health or language arts since they involve applying knowledge to practical situations. The school counselor is also trained to teach lessons related to preventing sexual abuse of children. These lessons called, “Good-Touch, Bad-Touch” require parental permission. Good-Touch, Bad-Touch is not sex education. The sessions help children recognize, avoid or escape from dangerous situations and understand what kinds of physical touch are considered inappropriate and unacceptable. Individual counseling can be provided to students who are referred through the Student Support Team process or who request individual help themselves and when parents ask for help with emotional and behavioral problems with their children. School counseling is considered short-term and focuses on developing active solutions to problems that are interfering with academic functioning. The counselor can provide information to parents about community mental health resources for crisis intervention, family counseling or serious emotional problems.

Mr. Haygood’s e-mail address is: reginald.haygood@baldwin.k12.ga.us. His direct office phone number is 478-457-2443.