Being a student is no easy feat. Discovering who you are and what your passions are while entering adulthood is hard enough, on top of the added stress of a pandemic disrupting our lives. Pivot’s team of counselors provides a comprehensive support system that aims to address the general, overarching, and individual needs of our students.

“Our students are really struggling and it’s a very confusing time for them because they’re living through a pandemic,” said Sarah Gerber-Kai, school counselor at Pivot North Bay. “Our staff and our school counseling team, in particular, is really working on building a holistic approach to understanding what’s going on and making sure we’re showing the compassion and empathy that our kids really need.”

With the help of regular needs assessments that ask what families and students want or need, Pivot’s counseling team offers extensive programs and individualized counseling to any student who needs it, regardless of whether they are completely online or not. If you or your student need just a little bit of extra help or resources to finish the school year strong, take advantage of our programs:

  • General Education and Special Education School Counseling: As needed, our counseling team is always open to talking with students. If the student consents, counselors can also have family counseling sessions or private conversations with guardians to discuss the best ways to support the student. Counselors also offer office hours for parents to pop in at any time.
  • Managing Anxiety Workshop: After our needs assessments identified a need for this workshop, our counseling team works to help students build up grounding and relaxation tools so students can cope with mental anxieties and be successful in their studies.
  • Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Guidance Lesson: Based on a curriculum, Pivot offers lessons once a month to help students reach developmental goals at each grade level.
  • Life Skills Workshop: Middle schoolers can discuss social-emotional skills, study tips, career exploration, stress management, feeling identification, friendship building, and career readiness, among others.
  • Setting Goals Workshop: This weekly lesson helps students create meaningful school or career goals and then works to build and maintain the student’s motivation and pursue that goal. 
  • Genders and Sexualities Alliance Club: This student-driven club is equal parts support group and community volunteering designed to offer a safe place for any and all students. 

If you or your student are interested in getting involved with one or more of these offerings, contact your School Counselor or Educational Coordinator.