A counselor at Hamilton K-8 School, Lauren Egbert, is determined to set the students on campus up for success. In an effort to ensure all students graduate from high school college and career ready, Lauren has implemented a new lesson plan for students called ABC Crayons to College. This lesson plan uses the alphabet to focus on one word per month that will help students develop soft skills that are often overlooked.
Lauren Egbert, a first year counselor and West Valley High School graduate, said it is important for the students on campus to know that she is there to support them through their educational journey. This month she went into classrooms and began the implementation of ABC Crayons to College. This month’s word is “attitude”. She noticed when she asked students what attitude means, students associated it with a negative term. She explained what it means to have a good attitude and how our attitude can change our behavior.
Once Lauren explained the word of the month, students were able to participate in activities to better understand this soft skill. Lauren explained that each word will be connected with a book, and this month’s book is Baditude. Baditude tells the story of Noodle, a boy who learns how to turn his ‘baditude’ into gratitude when life isn’t going the way you want. In the book, Noodle learns how to turn the things he has to do into things that he gets to do. This mindset allowed him to see positive in all situation and overcome his bad moods.
After reading the book, students wrote down things that they have to do that they don’t necessarily like. Each student wrote down three ‘have to’s’, and Lauren then encouraged them to turn those negatives into a positive. Lauren said she was very impressed with students’ responses in turning their negatives into a positive. For example, one student wrote that she didn’t like cleaning her room, but she thought of why this was a good thing and explained that the room smelled better and she was able to find things easier.
“Students have been responding very well to this lesson,” said Egbert. She said students will come up to her on campus and chant the mantra, “change your baditude into gratitude.” Egbert said she is excited to continue the lessons surrounding soft skills and can’t wait to further engage all the students on campus. “I came back to Hemet Unified because my love for education and helping others started and flourished in this community,” she said. She hopes to provide the supportive environment she received throughout her educational journey in Hemet Unified. She said each of her teachers in elementary, middle, and high school taught her soft skills that she has carried with her and allowed her to become the first in her family to attend college. “I want to give back to a community that had given so much to me,” she said.
Thank you Lauren for implementing a lesson plan that is setting the students at Hamilton K-8 up for success!