Stress/Anxiety Intervention at WHS By Kevin Tjoelker

Introduction 8 th year as a professional school counselor at Woodinville High School in the Northshore School District WHS is a large high school serving grades in a suburban setting More than 90% of students participate in AP program High percentage of students continue to a post- secondary education

Demographics 77% White, 7.7% Hispanic, 7.4% Asian, 1.7% Black/African American, 5.4% Two or More Races 11.2% Free/Reduced Price Lunches Adjusted 4-year graduation rate: 95.7%

Project Overview Classroom Guidance activity with all Sophomores and Juniors to address an increase in students who are experiencing stress or anxiety Sophomore and Junior lessons were different Project Goals: Increase the effectiveness of our students’ coping skills and strategies for managing stress and anxiety Decrease the number of students who self-report that they regularly feel overly stress or anxious Standard 5 Benchmark B, Standard 3 Benchmark C, Standard 3 Benchmark B

Project Rationale Percentage of Students Who Self-Reported Feeling Overly Stressed Standard 1 Benchmark C, Standard 3 Benchmark C,

Design & Implementation Plan The counseling team collaborated to design and implement the intervention Sophomores – Classroom Guidance Lesson Juniors: Video shown by US History teachers Overview in the Theater Breakout sessions taught by counselors Reflection/Stress and Anxiety Planning Sheet Sophomore Biology and Junior US History teachers distributed and collected the post-survey

Design & Implementation - My Role I took a lead role in: Developing pre- and post-surveys Collecting and analyzing data Editing a video to show to our Juniors Organizing and returning Stress and Anxiety Planning sheets to Juniors Leading a reflection of learning at the end of the Junior lesson Teaching coping skills to Sophomores and Juniors Analyzing the data

Design & Implementation - My Role I acted as a facilitator to: Organize a volunteer to input survey results into spreadsheets Help design the intervention Lead our department meetings Collaborate with administrators and teachers to schedule the intervention

Project Results Percentage of students able to list healthy coping strategies Standard 1 Benchmark C

Project Results Percentage of Students who Self-Reported Feeling Overly Stressed

Project Results Effectiveness of Students’ Coping Strategies (Self-Reported)

Analysis Results were not what we expected Timing of the surveys may have had an impact We perceived a decrease in students leaving class to talk with us about stress Our department will continue to collaborate to determine next steps – we intend to do a broader needs assessment next fall to evaluate where our students need the most support

Reflection Was this an effective intervention? YES! Counselors were in classrooms making connections with our students Measurable increases in students’ ability to identify healthy coping strategies Stakeholders played a key role in the development of the intervention – particularly the Social Studies department head and our principal

Reflection Results were shared with our Guidance Team, teachers, and my administrator Celebrating success Our counseling team was able to reflect together Year-end review

Professional & Personal Growth Leadership changes Need to place more emphasis on involving others How did I grow? Utilizing the pre- and post-surveys supported my PGP growth area of Standard 3 Benchmark C: “Identifies student needs through consultation and assessment; develops individual and group interventions to promote academic and life success.” First attempt at data for large scale intervention – now I can build on that Standard 1 Benchmark B

Professional & Personal Growth What would I change? Use electronic surveys Involve more people Find a better way of measuring success (example: year to year comparison) How can I continue to grow? Data is an area where I have grown the most, and would still like to grow more Will continue to analyze data to inform and guide system- wide interventions

Closing Growth throughout the process, even if results were not what I hoped for I know where I can continue to improve Thank you to my supervisor and cohort! Questions?