Mr. Barry's Minute Meetings This Week!

Mr. Barry has taken on the challenge to meet with all 174 6th graders individually for 1 minute this first week of school. He will be asking students 4 questions and getting some class data by putting it into the survey below. Hopefully, by meeting Mr. Barry 1-on-1, Mr. Barry will learn more about each student and each student will know who the school counselor is and that the student can talk to Mr. Barry at anytime about anything. Please do not answer the survey questions below as the survey is active and the results should only be due to the 6th graders answers. Thank you!

Great Interactive Slideshow Showing Poverty Levels in the U.S.

   Please take a moment to click on this link and click through the 6 slides this website has about Poverty in our country. Many of the slides are interactive where you can learn more by hovering over certain parts. Really makes you think about the poverty in our country and how large of an issue it truly is. The part that really got to me was seeing how children in poverty really make up the biggest population of Americans currently below the poverty level. People are below the poverty level for a variety of reasons, but one reason that jumps out in these slides is education. The less education a person has, the more likely they are to be below the poverty line. Whatever the reason, we need people to help lift people out of poverty, especially the children. At Carlisle, our counselors are always looking for resources for families in need. So, if you are a family in need or find yourself at some point during this year in crisis and in need of something, please contact us. Call, email, come in to see us, whatever, just let us know what you need and we can see if we can track down the resources to help. Also pay attention to updates throughout the year for clothing drives, shoes and boots that fit programs, Operation Backpack, supply drives, and many other programs we help to offer. And again, please take a look at the website below to see the most current data. Thank you!

Poverty Data click here!

Big Cats/Little Cats Carlisle Mentoring Program WANTS YOU!

   We are entering our 3rd year of a program our counseling team calls "Big Cats, Little Cats". It is our in-house mentoring program. Most of our mentors are high school students and they mentor students between Kindergarten and 8th grade. It has been a great and successful program, but one of the downsides is that we don't have enough mentors to meet with all the students who have asked for a mentor each year. A program called Kid's Hope also provides adult mentors, but that is only up until 6th grade. Which means our middle school is usually very short of mentors, sometimes we have none! Between Kid's Hope ending and our middle school being a bit of a drive for high school students, we need to look for other options for mentors. That is where I hope you come in. I am looking for about 8 adult mentors for our middle school students, maybe more or less as student need arises. I already have about 3-4 adults paired up with a middle school student, but I know some students will ask as the year begins. I copy/pasted a letter we have used in the past when recruiting high school students. I thought it explained pretty well what you would be asked to do. But it basically boils down to our middle school students needing some homework help, but also needing just a positive adult role model outside of their family to play games with, chat with, learn about life with, and to spend time with. Unlike Big Brothers/Big Sisters, our program is totally in house and on-site....no weekends/weeknight activities outside of the school needed or wanted. Just about 30-45 minutes a week to visit with your Little Cat and see how things are going and help them where you can. If you have interest or think you can help, please call or email me and we can start the process of helping you become a mentor. 

Carlisle Big Cats/ little cats

Mentoring program

Volunteers must:

Ø  Be able to commit 30 minutes- same day and time each week

Ø  Be available for the entire school year

Ø  Provide assistance with school work

Ø  Be a positive role model

Ø  Be able to meet at the Middle School during school hours

Volunteers will mentor children to help them develop academically, socially, and behaviorally.  Studies show that spending one-on-one time with a child greatly enhances his/her self-esteem, relationships with others, avoidance of substance abuse, and academic performance.

Volunteers will have meeting with the building counselor at the beginning of each school year and will be monitored on a consistent basis by the Carlisle School Counseling Department.

If you have additional questions, please contact:

Benjamin Barry, Counselor

Carlisle Middle School

515-989-5413

Ben.barry@carlisle.k12.ia.us

Two Pieces of Good News About the Fight Against Smoking!

Two recent "good news" pieces came across my desk via the Partnership for a Drug Free America blog. We have been seeing data similar to this with our Iowa Youth Survey that we take every 2 years. Every time we take it, the amount of students trying cigarettes, smoking cigarettes monthly, and/or smoking daily goes down. This is great news. Now, we get some bad news in that report too, but the cigarette/tobacco news has been good. These two new articles below are even more good news. The next step is to keep adults from giving minors cigarettes and to make sure adults are keeping their cigarettes in their possession at all times. Even better....to stop smoking altogether and set a good example for teens! Please take a moment to click and read the short articles below.

Graphic Anti-Smoking Ads Working click here!

Sales of Cigarettes to Minors at All Time Low click here!

Nutrition is Important! See the Two Infographics Below

As we transition from summer to school, nutrition is always a big topic. And middle school makes the topic even more important as kids are more often making their own eating choices and eating A LOT of those choices since they are growing so much. Take a look at these two infographics that might open some kids and parents eyes on some bad choices teens might make. (And don't worry, I make some of these choices too...the key is to limit the choices if you can't eliminate them. I need to do better!!)


Via: Term Life Insurance

Click here for the 2nd infographic....a great one about calories!

Find Your Greatness (video)

Sure this is an advertisement running during the Olympics, but it is a great ad with a great message. And as we get ready to start the school year, I think I want to try to keep this message in my mind and in the mind of  our many staff and students who walk through our doors: Find Your Greatness