An eye on our social work

As Thanksgiving 2023 comes to a close, I continue to be grateful for St. Bede and all of the blessings it regularly brings me personally and professionally. I am especially grateful to report on the number of students who have benefited from this new position in such a short time.  

At the end of the day before Thanksgiving break, 89 students (36% of student body) have come to see me over the course of 194 visits, because they have needed to talk or just wanted someone to listen. 

There have been:

• 22 freshmen (37% of freshman class, 9% of student body.)

• 12 sophomores (17% of sophomore class, 5% of student body.)

• 24 juniors (34% of junior class, 10% of student body.)

• 31 seniors (48% of senior class, 13% of student body.)

More specifically, I have seen 19 males and 70 females. Students have been in for as few as five minutes and as many as 90 minutes, for an average of 22 minutes per social work visit depending on the situation. Not included in these numbers are those students who were administered our in-person social-emotional screening, pop in between classes to say hello, update me on a previously-discussed situation in passing, ask for a prayer and good thoughts before a test, borrow an anxiety-reducing tool or take a piece of candy. What a privilege it has been to watch this office take on such a life of its own! 

Having a social worker at school in a full-time capacity is new for many of our day students. In our rural community, more times than not, IF a social worker is available at their grade school, they are often shared by more than one building, more than one district, or they are spread over too many students! For those students who come from our local Catholic or other private grade schools, having a social worker at school is even more of a foreign concept. Of the 89 students who have been seen, 79 of them are day students (or 37% the day student population.) 

Mental health support and social-emotional support is even more of an unknown territory for our international students as this is not a service provided or encouraged in many of their home countries, especially in their schools. It is with this knowledge that I am especially pleased to report that 10 of the 89 students who have been in are international students or (30% of the international student population.) It is an honor to work with such a diverse population while also being culturally sensitive.

It’s been an exciting and busy first semester getting to know so many of our incredible students and being who they need when they need it for problems and situations of all sizes. Of the 194 times that a student has come in seeking or being referred for support, 118/194 (61%) of them have been self-directed by the students! I am so proud of our students for advocating for themselves and being open to a new adult guiding them. 

It is with a grateful heart that I look forward to continuing this important work as we end fall semester and prepare for spring semester! - Submitted by Megan (Considine) Theisinger '09, St. Bede Social Worker.