The counseling team at Robert Moses Middle School is developing new initiatives
and helping students achieve those goals this school year.
New for this school year, the counselors have launched a respect/responsibility/
relationship program. The 3Rs program uses common language to connect students and
staff. Robert Moses students are being rewarded was a pawprint when they meet any of
these expectations set forth by the program. They can turn in one pawprint for a reward or
save up 10 and get a pair of cozy pajamas. The initiative sets a schoolwide behavior
standard and acknowledges when students are displaying good behaviors. Support staff,
cafeteria aides and security guards all have pawprints to give out.
Robert Moses counselors have also partnered with L.I. Crisis Center for push-in
lessons on social-emotional learning and awareness. During the interactive workshops,
community educators speak to students on topics such as mental health, managing
emotions and cyberbullying awareness, depending on the grade level.
Robert Moses counselors are also visiting sixth grade classrooms to work on goal
setting and reflection on the first quarter of school for students. They are breaking down
goals into short-term and long-term to help give students a sense of direction,
responsibility and respect, tying into the 3Rs initiative. They recently asked students to
write down a goal on a feather. The feathers were all joined together to create an art mural
of wings on a bulletin board that reads “Where Will Your Wings Take You.”
Working with seventh and eighth grade students, the counselors connect these goal-
setting initiatives to their academic plans for high school and beyond. They show students
how to use Naviance to enter their goals and the planner tool helps them work on their
organizational skills. The counselors work with eighth graders to start to explore different
programs of study and think about the electives/options they have in high school.
Some additional initiatives offered at Robert Moses by the counseling staff include a
Lunch Bunch program, where students can meet new faces, play games and interact during
their lunch period outside the cafeteria. Following morning announcements on
Wednesdays, there’s a Wellness Wednesday tip of the day for students that connects back
to different social emotional learning initiatives in the building. Eighth grade students can
also sign up to be student ambassadors to welcome new students in the building or peer
tutors/homework helpers after school for the younger students.
