Annette Beard
Jamie Woods was hired recently as the director of school counseling.
Woods, along with social worker Amanda Childs, and counselors on each campus, are working hard to provide a safe environment for the students and staff in the district.
A school counselor for 18 years, Woods has also worked in the prison systems in Oklahoma. She said that experience revealed to her that a lack of education was a common factor in men in prison.
"My heart is just with kids," she said. "I'm trying to make a difference."
"We want to make it a community approach," she said, explaining she wants to start a parent university to help parents know how to help their children with life issues. "Rick Neal is miles ahead in being proactive in addressing mental health."
"Our principals are forward thinkers," she said. "I've been blown away by what I've seen here."
"We're all here to help these kids," she said, referring to the counselors, school staff and school resource officers.
School superintendent Rick Neal said: "Our counselors will be more knowledgeable and trained to recognize these difficult behaviors and develop a system through behavioral patterns to help them."
"I don't think we can walk through a door and not know what's on the other side of the door. That's what we're asking teachers to do. They need to know how to identify these behaviors," he said.
"Right now ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) is holding us accountable for attendance and student discipline," he said. "Student assault is different than a student fight. We have to do a better job of identifying these behaviors."
Too often, teachers spend 95 percent of their time dealing with 5 percent of problems, he said because of many factors including problems in the homes exacerbated by opioid addiction, mental health and social, emotional and economic problems creating anger and emotional problems in children.
"We've got to create a school that you want your kids to be a part of making sure they feel safe," he said.
Counselors are Lauren Coles, Primary School; Tina Robinson, Middle School; Sarah Engel, Intermediate School; Cathy Caudle and Holly Dayberry, High School; and Amanda Childs.
Meet the counselors
Jamie Woods, is the director of counseling for Pea Ridge schools. This is her first year in Pea Ridge.
A native of Fayetteville, she earned her bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., and her master's degree in education from the University of Arkansas. She also earned an education specialist degree in clinical/mental health counseling from Harding University. She interned at The Joshua Center, Rogers.
"I can't remember ever wanting to be anything else," Woods said of being a counselor. "I was accidentally put into an abnormal psychology class in college and that ignited my love of learning and psychology.
"The students I work with inspire me.
"I know all of us in counseling have a strong desire to help others work through the challenges and difficulties of life. It's a rewarding and growth-promoting job. But, I feel I can truly say that I went into the field because I love students and love working with people. The rewards are not monetary in nature. The rewards are watching children grow personally and educationally, seeing a child achieve self confidence, working together to obtain academic success, successfully working through crisis alongside a student, and building relationships with students and their families. When I feel that I have made a difference in the life of a child, I have succeeded."
Of her goals with her new position, she said: "Pea Ridge is an amazing district with a remarkable and proactive stance on implementing successful classroom behavior interventions. Our goal is to monitor the interventions that have been successful so that the student has continuity throughout their academic career in Pea Ridge. If the interventions, both academic and behavioral are not successful, we work together, as a team, to implement new interventions that we feel will benefit the student, their classmates, teachers, Pea Ridge schools and our community. Pea Ridge is making an investment and providing intervention services that will help successfully address a student's overall development and will enhance their ability to succeed socially, emotionally and academically."
She and her husband, Patrick, have three children and she has one stepson -- Addison Lee, 25; Tucker Lee, 24; Hayes Lee, 21; and Britt Woods, 21. She also has three granddaughters.
Her hobbies are anything to do with her children and grandchildren. She and her husband enjoy bicycling and outdoor activities.
They attend and are involved in activities associated with First Christian Church of Rogers.
Lauren Coles, counselor at Pea Ridge Primary, is in her third year at Pea Ridge.
A native of Clarksville, she has her master's degree in counseling and is a licensed professional counselor and a licensed school counselor.
"I realized early on I wanted to work with children in some capacity," she said. "Through babysitting foster children for my family's church growing up I realized I wanted to be a counselor.
"I would love to provide more behavior interventions for teachers including implementation of Conscious Discipline."
Coles has been married to her husband Tyler Coles since 2016.
She enjoys kayaking, reading, gardening and has volunteered with 7Hills Homeless Shelter in the past.
Tina Robinson, counselor at Pea Ridge Middle School., has been in Pea Ridge almost two years.
An Arkansas native, she moved out of state during her college years and earned a degree in psychology from the University of Colorado Denver and her masters in Counseling at Loyola University New Orleans.
"There is so much that excites me about being a counselor and many things have led me to pursue this career, but in short, I have a passion for working with youth, and I love seeing students uncover their strengths and learn how to reach beyond their current abilities," Robinson said.
"In my time here, I have started a youth leadership program and have worked to align our program with state and national models. I hope to continue moving our program toward alignment with the national model for school counseling, and I hope to continue my work with the other counselors on building a developmental model that allows students to transition easily from one program/building to the next.
She said she is "happily married to her best friend, has one super fantastic kid, and a golden retriever who definitely occupies a big space in my heart."
She enjoys research and writing, interior design and photography.
Holly Dayberry, counselor at Pea Ridge High School for juniors, seniors and ALE, has been employed with the Pea Ridge School District for 19 years.
A native of Mountain View, she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Arkansas State University and a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Arkansas. She said she will complete her master's degree in school counseling from the University of Central Arkansas in May 2019.
"I really enjoy working with students," Dayberry said. "I've been in administration but I love getting to interact with the kids on a daily basis."
She said she hopes "to work with students and staff to help students prepare and become productive citizens."
She and her husband Chris have been married 23 years and have five children: Avery, 19; Aidan, 15; Amelia, 12; Emmitt, 11; and Murray, 6.
She enjoys anything outdoors with her family and her children are involved in travel sports which "takes up most of my time."
Amanda Childs, district social worker, has been in the district for four years.
A native of England, she has lived in the southern states since she was 6. Her elementary school and middle school years were spent in Shreveport, La., and she went to college in Mississippi for her bachelors in psychology. She earned her master's degree in social work in Arkansas.
"I have always enjoyed getting to know people and helping where I can. I have learned a lot about life from listening to others, and at times would say those stories taught me more than any college class," Childs said, adding that she wants "to help support the students and families of Pea Ridge and to help them feel empowered and supported."
She and her husband Corey have three children. Their eldest is graduating from Pea Ridge High School this year.
She said she enjoys being as involved as possible with area groups and loves photography, writing, TV shows and painting. "I like to be crafty! I also enjoy research and learning all the time!"
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Editor's note: Information on Caudle and Engel was not available.
General News on 09/05/2018