Newsletter from the School Counselors

Posted Date: 10/18/25 (6:30 PM)

Newsletter from the School Counselors

Ms. Judith and Ms. Vanessa

"Start with Hello" Week: October 20th-October 24th

Hello Bahia Vista Families,

We will be participating in “Start with Hello” week, from October 20th - October 24th. During this week, we will provide lunch recess activities that encourage everyone to build a welcoming and inclusive school culture.

What is the “Start with Hello” program?

Start With Hello is a violence prevention program that teaches youth to minimize social isolation, empathize with others, and create a more inclusive and connected culture. The Start With Hello framework teaches children and youth to:

Red circle- See someone alone, Teal circle- Reach out and help, Green circle- Start with Hello

1. See Someone Alone: Learn to understand social isolation, empathize with those who may feel alone, learn how “healthy alone time” is different, and emphasize the importance of connecting with others.

2. Reach Out and Help: Develop strategies for connecting with others and ways to alleviate anxiety about reaching out.

3. “Start with Hello”: Apply methods to include others, build lasting relationships and support a connected and inclusive school and community.

Below you will find an activity that you may do together with your student. The purpose of this activity is to bring the “Start With Hello” message outside of the school and to your family.

Navigating Conflict as Upstanders

The “Start With Hello” program promotes a community of Upstanders by helping young people

discover the many ways they can activate their agency. Being an Upstander means that people are empowered to stand up against hate and that can, at times, result in conflict. This activity will help youth learn how to navigate conflict in a healthy manner.

Introduce or review the definition of the term Upstander. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an Upstander is: A person who speaks or acts in support of an individual cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied. Then, go over the following types of conflict with your student.

Collaborating: working together to find a solution.

Compromising: finding a solution in which both people meet in the middle.

Accommodating: placing the wants and needs of others before your own.

Competing: being assertive of your wants and needs without thinking about the thoughts or feelings of others.

Avoiding: ignoring or avoiding a conflict entirely.

Engage your student in a conversation about these conflict styles. You may ask them:

How can using the five different conflict styles help you to use your voice to speak up when something is not right?
How can you navigate conflict as an Upstander?
How can we navigate conflict in a healthy manner as a family?
What do you do when you use the appropriate conflict style, but people don’t listen?
Sometimes, even if we use the right way to talk about a problem, people might not be ready to listen. That’s okay! We can take a break and spend some healthy alone time. Later, they might be ready to listen and understand what we have to say.
There are times when people don’t want to solve their conflicts, and that can be hard to handle. But don’t worry! When you’re having a tough time, you can always turn to a Trusted Adult for help. They are the grown-ups you trust and feel safe with and trust. If you ever feel like someone doesn’t care about what you’re saying and the problem is getting too big for you to handle, your Trusted Adult can give you guidance and support.

Other activities you can do together as a family at home:

Self-care Tip: Write 5 things you love about yourself

Mindful Minute: What made you smile this week? Try to visualize this moment or time. Give yourself a smile as you take a gentle breath in and out.

Engagement Ideas: Start a gratitude jar. Reuse an item you already have, place sticky notes or scraps of paper by the jar, and have everyone write what they are grateful for. Then, put the notes in the jar. Go over notes in the jar whenever someone needs some positivity in their day. Be creative with your gratitude jar!

Promise Challenge: Reach out and “start with hello” to a socially isolated peer throughout the year.

Start with Hello Lunch Recess Activities with the School Counselors

Little green dragon wearing a green shirt.

Wear Green on Wednesday, 10/22

This Wednesday, students and staff are encouraged to wear green for “Wear Green Wednesday” during Start with Hello Week!

Wearing green shows our unity, kindness, and inclusion and helps raise awareness about social isolation. The color green symbolizes change, growth, and harmony, which are at the heart of this program. By participating, we’re showing our solidarity with the Sandy Hook Promise, the organization behind this important initiative.

You can show your green spirit in any way you like, it doesn’t have to be clothing! It can be a green shirt, sweater, socks, scarf, hair accessory, earrings, or even a water bottle.

Let’s fill our school with green to show that we care and we’re all in this together! 💚