Author: cchmura2

Guidance and Psychological Services

Contact: Guidance Counselor: Sarah Coyne ~ scoyne@gesu.com

Gesu offers multiple guidance services that work with the teachers to give students the best guidance opportunities as necessary. Gesu offers individual achievement administration, behavioral characteristic screening, counseling and guidance for social difficulties or grief, as well as improving school success strategies.

Learning Services

Contact: Intervention Specialist: Melissa Hensel ~ mhensel@gesu.com

Gesu Mobile Unit: 216-321-4910

The Learning Services department at Gesu offers many opportunities for support of adolescents. There are intervention specialists that are available during the day, that can assist students struggling with the development of motor skills, organization skills, social skills, and other reinforcement opportunities. There are also intensive learning services offered at Gesu that assist with organizational skills or test preparation or other opportunities for assistance. These are located in the Gesu Mobile Unit, with the number listed above.

Gesu Young Families (link provided directs to Gesu Weekly Email)

Contact: Kristie Lang ~ kristielang@hotmail.com ~ 216-772-2513

Providing information through its weekly email, Gesu offers a program called Gesu Young Families, which provides support for families through social, spiritual, and service events throughout the year. Gesu Young Families provides opportunities and a guide to become a larger part of the Gesu community. There is a membership fee of $25.

YMCA of Greater Cleveland: Hillcrest Family YMCA (Lyndhurst)

Contact: 216-382-4300 ~ 5000 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst, OH 44124

The YMCA of Greater Cleveland offers 16 locations around the Cleveland Area, with one in Lyndhurst about 10 minutes from the Gesu School. The YMCA offers a variety of programs for both youth and families, including youth sports and exercise classes, community youth services, and a safe place for children to learn and grow. Throughout this time in their lives, children are experiencing an immense amount of changes, and the YMCA offers many programs that promote this growth into the people they are destined to become.

Heights Libraries: University Heights

Contact: 216-321-4700 ~ 13866 Cedar Road, University Heights, OH 44118

Branch Manager: Sara Phillips

The Heights Libraries system offers four locations around the Cleveland Heights-University Heights area. Each library offers access to technology that some families may not be able to receive, and also each location offers a “Teen Spot” where adolescents can go and spend time with their peers outside of school. There is also support for teens that go to the library that cannot afford a meal, as the Noble Neighborhood branch offers free meals to children that go to the library at that time. The University Heights branch was recently remodeled, and both kids and their families can go to the libraries to receive support from their community.

Bellefaire JCB

Contact: 216-932-2800 ~ One Pollock Circle, 2001 Fairmount Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44118

Email: info@bellefairejcb.org

Bellefaire JCB is a child services agency that provides counseling and community services, as well as services that aid homeless and missing youth, youth with autism, adoption and foster care services, among many others. Bellefaire JCB offers both outpatient and school-based counseling, and has over 25 programs to help support youth and their families. Bellefaire JCB is a great community resource that is looking for the best interest of youth during this time of development.

Myth: Adolescents are immature and refuse to listen to authority.

Adolescents may appear to be immature because they lack the social skills emotional development that would match their cognitive and physical maturity. This causes them to appear older than they are in some aspects, while still appearing to be mentally immature. Also, this is a vital time for adolescents to develop socially, morally, and psychologically, and the adult authority or role models like teachers, coaches, and parents are often sources of advice and understanding for many children at this age. Adolescents will gravitate towards role models that encourage them to pursue their passions and interests. Adolescents will typically gain their moral beliefs and values from their parents and these other role models.

Myth: Adolescents just want to be left alone.

While some students are discovering their identities as introverts and choose to be more independent, the majority of adolescents want to be a part of a group, and will look for acceptance into a friend group or a community at school. Many time this may lead to students joining a rebellious group to feel like they are a part of something.

Myth: Adolescents don’t care about what anyone else thinks about them.

This is not true. During this time of development, many adolescents base their actions on how they believe someone else is going to react, often looking for approval in whatever they do. They are also typically looking for peer acceptance during this time.

Myth: Adolescents are immoral.

This is far from the truth. Young adolescents during this time are trying to figure out their moral beliefs and their spirituality. Adolescents are often looking to see how other people are affected by the actions they take, which can cause create moral dilemmas, such as if their benefit is more important than others.

References

1. Students need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Students’ bodies are changing during this time of development. According to This We Believe, students have increased energy during this period, and they need to remain physically active in order for their bodies to develop properly, and they also need to maintain a proper diet so their bodies and brains can properly develop. They also need proper education about sexual activity and substance abuse, as adolescence is a time of experimentation and they could develop bad practices or habits during this time.

2. Students need to have positive encouragement from a strong support system in their lives.

This time of development is crucial in shaping a students’ identity; this is the time where students figure out their passions and interests, possibly deciding how they want to live their life and what career they want to pursue. Adolescents are looking for approval and encouragement from others to pursue these passions, and if they don’t receive positive encouragement to find themselves, they may become discouraged. Students develop their moral beliefs and core life values from positive role models in their lives. Having a positive support system that will help instill these values in them is extremely important.

3. Students are interested in applying their knowledge to real-life situations.

Students during this time are able to make connections across many disciplines, and many are looking to apply their knowledge that they learn either in the classroom or on their own to real life. This We Believe explains that community service projects are popular for adolescents to experiment with their cognitive-intellectual development because it will engage them in their community and cause them to make those connections with other members of their community.

References

Physical Development

The adolescent body experiences many changes during this period of development. Each child is experiencing puberty at different rates, and some mature faster than others. This can cause kids to become embarrassed because of they may be ahead or behind in terms of physical development. Adolescents may experience: an increase in appetite, girls may experience the first signs of the menstrual period, both boys and girls may develop body odor, increased physical development and not the other forms of development, making the kid appear to be immature, and hormonal changes may cause adolescents to act strangely. These issues need to be addressed with proper education about the physical changes these kids are experiencing.

Character Development

Students during this time are coming into their own and are finding their true identity. This means that adolescents are discovering their values and morals. Students during this time may be concerned about fairness, support regarding moral issues, make rash and ill-advised decisions in order to feel accepted or others. An issue with this development is that many students have varying moral codes that are applied at home, causing them to be confused when moral codes are different among students and authority figures at school. In order for these students to properly develop their character, students need to have a strong support system that encourages them to find themselves, as well as education regarding moral issues so that they can decide what they believe for themselves.

Social Development

This time in an adolescent’s life is extremely unsettling, as many kids are worried about their social status and how others perceive them. Again, these kids are trying to figure out who they are, and have difficulty in feeling accepted, and will look to cling to a group or a few friends for support. Students will shape their identities based on the role models they look up to, and also the groups they are a part of, while also trying to remain independent and figure out things on their own. Some issues with social development include: some kids may be bullied or singled out for not being a part of a group, others may appear to be shy, kids at this age are extremely self-conscious about their social status or appearance, and the social development of adolescents now is different than the social development of adolescents when teachers and parents were adolescents, making it difficult to relate to the kids. Teachers and parents need to be patient with their kids and allow them to make decisions for themselves, while also trying to guide them to accepting proper morals and values.

References

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Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton