March 25, 2022
News from the Logan Elm Local School District
School Counselors Provide Lessons in Self-Regulation
As a School Counselor during what has been referred to as ‘Pandemic Fatigue’ and ‘Covid Exhaustion,’ anger and the underlying emotions - anxiety being at the forefront, have made this school year more mind-boggling and at times feeling at a loss. What tools to use for the well-being of staff and students with every scenario that can occur on any given day fluctuates. As resilient as one can be (especially our students), the design of my March classroom lessons was created with the intent to leave students feeling in control of their emotions and more importantly, how they react to different situations that may arise.

This month I decided to really hit hard on introducing a variety of strategies to help students self-regulate with what we call ‘uncomfortable’ feelings. As this is not a new topic to our elementary group, my goal was to have students feel that they have multiple tools or strategies to try. This is key when working with younger people due to the fact that they may not understand the ‘why’ behind their feelings. These uncomfortable feelings - sadness, anger, nervousness, just to name a few, are normal to experience, but at times can seem overwhelming. I constantly reiterate to my students that every feeling is okay to experience, but that we don’t want to spend too much time getting stuck in them. Here are a few things we did in the lesson pictured:

  • Deep Breathing with the help of visuals (flower and leaf pages). Students practiced inhaling by pretending to smell a flower and exhaling by pretending to blow a leaf off the palm of their hand. They also had papers to trace with their finger that had petals of a flower and the outline of a leaf, both focusing on those deep breathing skills.
  • The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique of Grounding. One particular student caught on right away that this involves using all 5 of our senses when taking slow, focused breaths. Students were asked to find 5 things they could see, 4 things they could feel (touch), 3 things they could hear, 2 things they could smell, and 1 thing they could taste.
  • The use of I-Statements. I demonstrated this with a paper they took home by using an I-Statement with 2 students in the room. This taught students how to assertively share their feelings when faced with a challenging situation involving another person.
  • Last but not least, students practiced yoga! With the lights dimmed and meditation music playing in the background, students used their deep breathing skills and learned several yoga poses. It was astonishing to see how calm they were and how quickly they picked up on being able to demonstrate the poses at any given time.

My mission is to always put importance on the social and emotional health of our students, which is thankfully being recognized more so than ever. Our students aren’t only learning, but succeeding with resiliency at such a strange and difficult time. What a blessing it is to learn from those you’re there to teach and support.

-Tahnee Grube
Logan Elm School Counselor
McDowell Middle School Winter Awards Assembly

McDowell Middle School's Winter Awards Assembly was held on March 11, 2022.

Mr. King presented awards to students who achieved Honor Roll for the 2nd Quarter and students who were recognized for through the PBIS "Be A Brave" program.

Mr. Dropsey presents awards to students who participated in Winter Sports--Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Cheerleading, and Wrestling.
News from LEHS's Educators Rising Chapter
With the help of a state grant, the high school created a chapter of Educators Rising for students who are considering a career in education. It currently has 15 members and is led by Ms. King and Mrs. Sykes. One main project they completed was buying books for every 1st grader at Pickaway Elementary. They read the books to the students, ate lunch with them, and played games during recess. They all enjoyed this!

This month six members went to Capital University for the state conference. Three of those students competed in competitions including Addison Smith (K-3 Literature), Karlie Gray (interactive bulletin board), and Julia Weller (creative talk- TED talk). They all did amazing and we are excited to share that Julia Weller earned 3rd place in the state, which will allow her to go on to Nationals this summer and compete!

During the conference they enjoyed activities such as speakers, listening to competitions, an escape room, and a college fair. The club is looking forward to expanding its membership next year and going back to the state conference.
Addison Smith competed in
K-3 literature
Karlie Gray competed in Interactive Bulletin Board
Julia Weller earned 3rd place in Creative Talk, qualifying her to compete at Nationals this summer!
Dramatic Braves Spring Production
Logan Elm Dramatic Braves are performing "Arsenic and Old Lace" on April 1, 2, & 3 in the auditorium of McDowell Middle School.

Tickets are available for purchase online and at the door. (Content warning for some mild language.)

To purchase tickets online, please click here.

Pictured are Nate Edge and Preston Nichols, both juniors at LEHS, as they prepare for their roles in LEHS Dramatic Braves production of "Arsenic and Old Lace"
LEHS Spring Sports
The Logan Elm High School Spring Sports Season will kick off this weekend with the Baseball team taking on Southeastern Saturday morning at 11:00 AM. Softball and Tennis will have their first contest on Monday, March 29, and the Track team will have their first meet on Tuesday, March 29.

 For full spring sports schedules and other sports information, visit the Logan Elm Athletic website at www.loganelmsports.com
Thank You
Thank you for reading the Logan Elm Schools e-Newsletter! We appreciate your interest in the students and activities of all Logan Elm schools!

Our e-newsletter is distributed twice a month during the school year.

Pictured: Pickaway Elementary staff members Billie Rhoads, Natasha Gibson, and Shelley Rhoads were recognized for Lender's Bagels Nominate a Teacher Campaign. They received some items from Lender's Bagels and the staff was treated to bagels with many different types of spreads.
Logan Elm Local Schools
9579 Tarlton Road, Circleville OH 43113
740-474-7501