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James McVeigh
Guidance Counselor
Pocantico Hills Central School
Office Hours:
all day, every day!!!
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The Society of Guardian Angels
of Pocantico Hills School
“Kids Sticking up for Kids”
2005 - 2008
Dear Parents,
The Society of Guardian Angels would like to take this opportunity to share with you some important information related to our program and highlight some significant changes and considerable progress we have made over the past three years.
The current trend throughout the country is to teach character education to the students, rather than having the students actively participate in it. We believe the best way to encourage students to proactively participate in character education is by empowering them to break through the negative peer pressure and fear that prevents them from intervening and taking action.
History and Development
The Society of Guardian Angels began in the 2005-2006 school year as an anti-bullying, peer mediation program for grades 3-8. We began the program with 32 Guardian Angels and two facilitators. Today, we have identified 63 Guardian Angels at Pocantico Hills School, representing nearly a 100% increase in attendance, and have grown to four facilitators of the program. In addition, we have developed a subsidiary group known as “Guardian Angels In Training” (“GIT”), which has an overall attendance of 120 students.
Participation
Every year, students in grades 3-8 participate in a voting process to identify peers as potential Guardian Angels. Students elected as Guardian Angels are then given the opportunity to participate in a thorough training process leading to a formal induction ceremony in February.
Participation in the GIT program, however, is open to all students and is completely voluntary. Once a student commits to the program, regular meeting attendance is expected. Students who show dedication to the GIT program earn two votes towards the next Guardian Angels election.
Training and Expectations
Guardian Angels and GITs are trained in developmentally appropriate anti-bullying strategies and peer mediation techniques. Whereas the Guardians Angels are taught the full curriculum of intervention strategies, the GITs are introduced to select aspects and responsibilities of the program. Students in both programs meet with their respective facilitators approximately once every other week, either at lunch or at recess, provided that there are no scheduling conflicts.
At these meetings, students role-play scenarios, discuss observable issues or behavior patterns, learn strategies for preventing, resolving, and reporting conflicts, and confidentially record personal interventions or concerns.
The steady attendance and student commitment to actively intervene on behalf of their fellow classmates is evidence of the positive impact they are having on our community.
The Society of Guardian Angels would like to thank you for your continued support and commitment as a school community to helping us tackle school bullying.
Sincerely,
Jim McVeigh, Dan Linehan, Patty Palombo, Adam Brown
(2008 Facilitators of The Society of Guardian Angels)
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