OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen
Linda Kaminski, a Kindergarten Teacher at Wheelock, spoke to the need for a full-time social worker at Wheelock at a recent Fredonia Board of Education meeting.
Tears were shed at a recent Board of Education meeting at Fredonia High School, as a pair of Wheelock School teachers addressed the Board, pleading for action to be taken.
Fredonia’s Wheelock School currently does not have its own full-time social worker and school counselor. As a result, many of the needs of its students have led to worsening conditions for teachers and staff, as well as the potential long term ramifications on the students in need.
Half a dozen teachers sat in the audience at the recent meeting in solidarity, as comments ranged from the evolving needs of students to the dangers teachers face in the current state of unmanageable behaviors.
Linda Kaminski, a Kindergarten Teacher at Wheelock, stressed, “A child’s social and emotional health is just as important as their physical health.”
While she later stated she sometimes feels “like a broken record”, Kaminski highlighted the importance of building trust between students and adults, along with intentional lessons focused on identifying and describing emotions and how to address them. She then highlighted the issue of the Wheelock School not having its own social worker in the building each day, which makes those necessary skills much harder to develop.
Kaminski asked, “How do you develop strong relationships with your support team if they are not in the building every single day?”
Kaminski praised Wheelock Principal Amy Piper for her efforts to meet the needs of her students. “We are so incredibly fortunate that we have Mrs. Piper, who is not only our administrator … but a constant support for our kids. The problem is there is only one of her, and on any given day at Wheelock, you could have three to five children experiencing these strong emotions at the same time,” Kaminski said.
Another teacher spoke to an injury sustained after being struck by a student. The injury forced the teacher to miss a month of work and required three months of physical therapy for rehabilitation. The teacher also spoke to a specific student, without giving a name, who required intervention from Child Protective Services. The child bonded with her teacher, which led to significant additional demands on the teacher. She then felt guilty because those needs left the other students without the same level of attention.
“Our little kids do not have a voice. That’s why we are here,” Kaminski said. She then continued to describe sobering examples of students dealing with trauma. Teachers surrounding Kaminski and members of the audience wiped away tears as she spoke.
“The teachers, support staff, and administrators at Wheelock are all amazing individuals. Despite the lack of support, we come to school each and every day with a smile on our face, our arms and hearts wide open to support these children, dreaming of the day that we can have at least one full-time, consistent counselor and social worker to provide intervention for our kids,” Kaminski said.
The District has split social workers between its four buildings throughout the current school year, with one social worker split between the Middle School and High School, with another split between the Elementary School and the Wheelock School. After High School Principal Darrin Paschke consistently advocated for a full-time social worker in the High School, the District budgeted for an increase to allow for another social worker to be hired so that the Middle School and High School would no longer be forced to share one social worker.
“I don’t want to give that up … but I also don’t want our other buildings to be suffering the same way that I know that we have,” Paschke said. “… I just want to support our friends at Wheelock.”
Piper later addressed the comments of her colleagues near the end of the meeting. She called the Wheelock staff “a very courageous, amazing group” and acknowledged her advice to her staff when they continued to bring their concerns forward was to continue to advocate for their students.
“I’m proud of them, as always,” Piper said.