Counseling Corner

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a dedicated time to promote mental health awareness, break down the stigma surrounding mental health struggles, and ensure every student knows where to turn when they or someone they care about needs help.

Support Tools and Resources

1. School Counseling Office

Your school counselors are here to listen, support, and help navigate difficult feelings in a safe, confidential setting. Whether you are overwhelmed by stress, going through a crisis, or just need someone to talk to, the counseling office door is always open.

2. Trusted Adults

When emotional pain or worry feels too heavy to carry alone, reaching out to a trusted adult—such as a teacher, coach, administrator, school nurse, or parent—is one of the most effective steps you can take. Trusted adults serve as anchors who can connect you to professional care.

3. Immediate Crisis Lines (24/7 Access)

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (Available 24/7, free, and confidential).

• NISD Safeline: Call or text (Available 24/7, free, and confidential).

The Power of Breaking the Silence: "No Secrets"

When a friend shares that they are struggling or having thoughts of self-harm, asking you to "keep it a secret" can place a dangerous burden on your shoulders.

True friendship means getting help, not keeping secrets.

If a friend expresses feelings of hopelessness or mentions self-harm, reporting it to a trusted adult or counselor immediately is an act of care, not betrayal. You could be saving a life.

To strengthen our school community, we are proud to kick off HOPE Squad this month!

Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program designed to build a culture of connection and support. Hope Squad members are students nominated by their peers as trustworthy, empathetic listeners. While Hope Squad members are not counselors, they are trained to:

• Recognize the warning signs of suicide and mental distress.

• Provide a safe, non-judgmental shoulder to lean on.

• Connect peers directly to school counselors and trusted adults for professional support.

By combining active peer outreach with professional school support, HOPE Squad ensures no student ever has to walk through a dark time alone.

School Counselors will present the HOPE Squad Program to students on the following dates:

6th grade Students - September 23rd and 28th

7th grade Students - September 28th and 30th

8th grade Students - October 5th and 6th

The Coyote Ambassador Program is a student-led, leadership initiative where selected students serve as the primary representatives, voice, and welcoming committee of the school community. Instead of teachers or administrators running orientations and school events, student ambassadors step up to guide incoming students, represent the school to visitors, and build a positive, inclusive campus culture.

To represent their school effectively, ambassadors embody and model key character strengths across four main areas:

• Relational - empathetic and friendly
• Operational - reliable and responsible
• Interpersonal - courteous and open-minded
• Growth Mindset - courageous and adaptable

Ambassadors act as bridges between the school and community across several core areas:

• Welcoming and Orientation
• School Events and Logistics
• Campus Culture and Community Building

We will be welcoming back our current ambassadors and begin the recruiting process for new ambassadors the first week of September. All students have access to the application through Schoology, in the Counselor Pit Stop. Deadline to apply is Friday, September 18, 2026.

☕Counselor Cafecito

📍Connally Library

⌚8:00 am to 8:40 am

🔗Flyer

6th Grade Parents - join the Counselors for our first Cafecito and learn some helpful tips on how to help your child transition to middle school successfully.

🎉Club Rush

📍Connally Foyer

⌚7:45 am to 8:30 am

🔗Flyer

Students - here is your opportunity to see what clubs Connally Middle School has to offer. Stop by the main foyer, as soon as you get to school and walk around to see if any clubs catch your interest. Don't forget, you need a permission slip for every club you plan on joining.

👀Passing Period Pop-Up

📍Connally Hallways

⌚All Passing Periods

🔗Flyer

Students - join the Counselors during passing periods and complete a footstep to support walking along side each other on tough days and encouraging one another to focus on hope and resilience.

🐺Coyote Ambassador Deadline

🔗Schoology Application

📅September 8th - September 18th

🔗Flyer

Students - sign up to be a Coyote Ambassador. This is a student-led leadership opportunity. View the presentation in Schoology to see if your interested. Deadline to apply is September 18, 2026.

The Connally Counseling Department is committed to fostering a community of lifelong learners.

In collaboration with parents, teachers, administrators, and the broader community, our school counselors support students in achieving growth across all areas - academic, personal, social, and emotional.

The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs is an integral part of each student's total educational program. It is developmental and systematic in nature and vital to the achievement in education for all students. Comprehensive school counseling programs organize resources to meet the priority needs of all students through four delivery service components:

Guidance Curriculum, Individual Planning, Responsive Services, and System Support.

Throughout the school year, counselors focus on delivering the guidance curriculum with the purpose to help all students develop transferable skills relative to their educational, career, personal, and social and emotional development.

The four strategic curricular content areas are Intrapersonal Effectiveness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Post-Secondary Planning and Career Readiness, and Personal Health and Safety.

Topics for delivery may include helping students develop a positive self-concept, effective conflict resolution skills, motivation to succeed in personal endeavors, and the demonstration of resiliency and coping skills.

The purpose of individual planning is to guide all students as they learn to plan, monitor, and manage their own goals. Efforts are consistently made to meet with students individually or in groups using a variety of resources to assist students in developing and implementing personalized plans.

Various considerations are made during the individual planning process to ensure inclusivity of all students regarding multi-cultural consideration, special populations, multiple intelligences, and academic implications with regards to specialized circumstances and/or services.

The purpose of responsive services is to support all students in their time of need and intervene on behalf of those whose immediate circumstances or concerns interfere with their daily functioning.

All students are provided equitable access to school counseling services with the purpose of providing preventative or remedial services for the development of foundational skills.

At times, these services may elevate to crisis services that could involve specific protocols that include district policies and procedures as well as state law.

The purpose of system support is to identify and coordinate resources and activities on campus and in the community that indirectly benefit students.

System support, the foundation of the school counseling program assists with identifying the various needs of the students and campus through consultation with school staff and interpretation of data.

In collaboration with parents, teachers, administrators, and the community, Counselors are able to advocate for student needs and plan and implement programs that benefit all students throughout the school year.