Counseling Corner
Welcome to the School Counselor's Webpage!
Welcome Hawthorne Families! My name is Amy Dominguez, and I am your school counselor. I have been working in the Chicago Public Schools since 1995 in the role of both teacher and counselor. I love being a part of the Hawthorne community and enjoy partnering with staff and families to help our students succeed academically, socially and emotionally throughout the year. My focus is building meaningful relationships with all stakeholders in order to provide the support and opportunities that all of our students deserve.
I hope that you find the resources on this site helpful. Please check back periodically for updates on resources, notices and events. If there are further questions, you can always contact me at asodekirk@cps.edu.
Resources for Families in Need
Resources for Families in Need
During these unique and challenging times many of us could use a little help. I hope you are able to use the resources below to access support. Pleas let me know if I can help.
Here is a link for Illinois Covid H.E.L.P.(Housing and Economic Loss Prevention). COVID HELP is a free tool for people in Illinois who are facing housing and employment and other economic problems because of COVID-19. It’s help available online, all day and every day, and it’s managed by a team of lawyers from nonprofit legal aid organizations across the state. COVID HELP provides virtual assistance to solve real problems.
Here is a link to Food Resources. Please reach out if you have any questions or need any support in accessing resources.
Race and Equity - Resources for Families
Articles
- ADL: Table Talk - Family Conversations About Current Events
- ADL: Books Matter - Book for kids of all ages and related to all topics with resources for family conversations.
- ADL: Book of the Month
- George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we Tell Our Children?
- Talking About Race
- Your Kids Aren't Too Young To Talk About Race - Resource Roundup
- Talking to Children After Racial Incidents
- Resources for Talking About Race, Racism and Racialized Violence With Kids
- Talking to Kids About Race
- How to Raise Anti-Racist Kids: 20 Resources for Parents
- A Look at Implicit Bias and Microaggressions
- 21 Anti-Racism Videos to Share with Kids
- The Purpose and Power of Protest - ADL
Videos
- Something Happened In Our Town - Read Aloud
- A Kids Book About Racism - Read Aloud
- Let's Talk About Race
- How To Talk To Kids About Race
- Animation Series: A is for Activist - Read Aloud
- W. Kamau Bell On Being Black In America
- Caged Bird - Maya Angelou
- Not My Idea - A Book About Whiteness - Read Aloud
- Mama Did You Hear the News? - Read Aloud
- CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism
- The Breaking News - Read Aloud
- Juneteenth for Mazie - Read Aloud
- The Youngest Marcher - Read Aloud
- Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights - Read Aloud
- All Are Welcome Here - Read Aloud
Other Resources
- We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices - Edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
- Stages in Children's Development of Racial/Cultural Identity and Attitudes
- Becoming Anti-Racist
Social & Emotional Resources for Students
Resources for Students:
Mind Yeti: For all students
Kids for Peace: Uplifting Our World Through Love and Action: For all students
Sesame Street: Online SEL activities for students Grades PreK-1
Cosmic Kids: Yoga and mindfulness (3+)
Daniel Tiger (PBS Kids): Interactive picture books read aloud, songs, interactive games for students Prek-1.
Howard B. Wigglebottom: Online pictures books read aloud, songs for students Grades K-2
Storyline Online: Online SEL activities; ex: Empty Pot (Honesty), Someone Loves You Mr. Hatch (Kindness), Enemy Pie (Friendship), A Bad Case of the Stripes (Self-Confidence) for students Grades Pre-K to 3
Why Do We Lose Control of Our Emotions: For students Grades 4-8
The Adolescent Brain: For students Grades 6-8
BrainPop Digital Etiquette: For students Grades 3-8, take the quiz after watching the video and related readings.
BrainPop Online Safety: For students Grade 3-8, take the quiz after watching the video and related readings.
Growth Mindset: ES and MS Activities (Khan Academy): For students Grades 4-8
Bedtime FM: Peace Out: Stories for calming down and relaxation.
Virtual Calming Room: A resource for students and families that supports mindfulness and meditation.
Dove Self-Esteem Project Calendar: This thirty-one day calendar is designed to help build body confidence and self-esteem by increasing student knowledge and skills related to health and wellness through the lens of body image and acceptance. Under the guidance of educators, parents, or adult caregivers, we encourage you to use this calendar as a tool to engage students in conversations about confidence and self-esteem as activities within their daily learning
CNN/Sesame Street Coronavirus Town Hall: Doctors answer questions from kids with the help of our friends from Sesame Street.
Parent Resources
Parents, please never hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. I am here to collaborate with you regarding your child's educational and social and emotional learning.
Quick Links:
- Aspen Parent Portal
- Access your child's academic data.
- ParenTeen Connect
- Parent Teen Connect is a free resource from the Committee for Children. It is designed by social-emotional learning experts as an at-home, family-engagement resource. This online experience is loaded with videos, resources, and useful advice to help teens and the adults in their lives address hot-button topics. The site complements the Second Step® Middle School Program both as a stand-alone parent resource and in connection with Middle School Program classroom activities.
- Character Lab
- Character Lab is a non profit organization that discovers and promotes conditions that promote children's social, emotional, academic and physical well being.
- The Family Dinner Project
- The Family Dinner Project, a nonprofit initiative started in 2010, champions family dinner as an opportunity for family members to connect with each other through food, fun and conversation about things that matter. Read more about The Family Dinner Project here.
- Center for Parent and Teen Communication
- CPTC offers practical, science-based strategies for strengthening family connections and building youth prepared to thrive.
- Child Mind
- The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders.
- Parent Support Centers
- The Parent Support Center works in collaboration with the CPS staff members across the district, including network chiefs and leadership, to ensure all CPS families have equitable access to high-quality services and resources.
- Centervention - Social Skills Resources for Parents
- According to research funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, social and emotional competence is one of the most important predictors of success in life. This site provides articles regarding social and emotional learning and resources to support your child's development of social skills.
- Kids for Peace - Uplifting Our World Through Love and Action
- This site offers many different activities for children and families to take part in during our current quarantine and throughout the year.
- Action for Happiness
- Action for Happiness is a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society.
- Coping Skills for Kids - Calming Anxiety
- Kid tested strategies used by child therapists for calming anxiety, including ideas to calm down, books to read and videos that can help.
- Coping Skills for Kids - Managing Anger
- Kid-friendly coping skills used to help manage anger, including safe ways to express anger, books to read and videos that can help.
- Second Step Lessons - Support during COVID-19 Remote Learning
Hawthorne Connections - Referrals/Requests for Counseling
Mental Health Resources
Call4Calm :
This is a free emotional-support text line that was created to serve Illinois residents. To connect with a counselor, people can text “TALK” to 5-5-2-0-2-0 or text “HABLAR” to the same number for counseling in Spanish. Users will remain anonymous, and the state has partnered with mental health organizations to have counselors respond. Once a resident texts the hotline, they’ll get a call from a licensed counselor within 24 hours.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1- 800-273-TALK (8255)
Text "HOME" from anywhere in the U.S. to 741741 for free, 24/7 crisis support from a trained Crisis Counselor.
National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI)
NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.
Mental Health America - Self Help Tools
This MHA site provides resources and tools to support your mental health.
Rogers Behavioral Health Resources
Mental health resources for parents and families (ie. videos, blogs, webinars, podcasts, quizzes, etc).
**Please don't hesitate to reach out. I am here to support you.**
Navinace for Middle School
Naviance Planning Tool
Each student's path is unique. Students will use this free software to start to figure out their interests and to get some ideas about possible options for life beyond high school. Use this link to read more about Naviance, a tool I will use with all middle school students throughout the year.
Students- Click here for the Naviance login page.
Learn more about you using the assessments below:
High 5 Test - strengths finder
High School Planning
GoCPS Resource Links:
- GoCPS Website
- Cutoff Scores, Scoring Rubrics and additional resources
- GoCPS Calendar of Virtual Open House Dates and Fairs
High School Flyers and Materials:
GROWCommunity:
GROWCommunity is working to support a seamless K-12 system in our community anchored around both Amundsen and Lake View high schools, neighborhood schools that offer exceptional educational opportunities for students.
Participating GROWCommunity High Schools:
The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund gives high school scholarship assistance and educational support to Chicago students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who will attend a private, college preparatory high school. There are currently over 460 DMSF Scholars attending 65 partner high schools, including many parochial, independent and boarding schools. Since 1990 more than 2,200 students have been awarded scholarships. Scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate financial need, academic ability and leadership potential. Applications are accepted from students who reside in Chicago, Cicero or Berwyn and who will be in eighth grade during the 2019-2020 school year.
Students who are interested in applying can access the application online here. Families will complete the application online, and can create an account so that they do not need to complete the application in one sitting. Teacher and school counselor/principal recommendations will be emailed to the recommenders via a link once the student’s application has been submitted electronically. This year, applicants will also have the opportunity to submit an optional recommendation from a non-teacher/special interest educator.
Principal Discretion Process
The Principal Discretion process allows Selective Enrollment High School Principals to fill a designated number of seats, outside of the regular selection process, based on information provided through application packages submitted by students.
Grief and Loss Resources
Online Resources for Parents and Families:
Family/Children Resources:
Social Work Site
Mary Gende, our school social worker at Hawthorne, has created a website of tools for students and families to support emotional regulation. If you would like to contact Ms. Gende please feel free to email her at mgende1@cps.edu
