STARS has begun!

Another year of the STARS mentorship program has started at LMS. STARS is a group facilitated by the counselors that is designed to provide mentorship between 6th and 8th grade girls. The group covers a variety of topics, including friendship, communication, body image, and self-esteem. We are excited to work with 49 6th graders and 18 8th graders! If your daughter is involved in the program, make sure to check in each Wednesday to see what was discussed!

Counseling Office Intern

This year Mrs. Stacey Oswald will be joining us in the counseling office. Mrs. Oswald is a graduate of Cornerstone University and is completing her Master's in School Counseling at Spring Arbor University. She began Campus Life in Lowell over three years ago, which is a mentoring program for LMS students. She will be with us for the majority of the school year and will be dividing her time between the middle school and high school.

New Students and Incoming 6th Graders

We are so excited to announce that this year LMS has 41 new students! This Thursday, Sept. 17, we will be providing pizza in the Counseling Corner for our new students. This will take place during the lunch period for each grade. We also would like to welcome all of the incoming 6th grade students. Part of what we do each year to ensure the 6th graders are off to a good start at LMS is meeting with each of them individually. Please remind your student that if they receive a pass to go to the counseling office that they are never in trouble and there is no need to be nervous. We care deeply for all of our students so a check-in from us is very normal.

Welcome Back!

It is hard to believe another school year has started. We have loved seeing the hallways filled with students again. We hope that your students' first few weeks back have been enjoyable and have gone smoothly. To help the year go as well as possible for your students, the counseling office will be offering a variety of resources and opportunities. Throughout the year we will be teaching lessons in the classrooms, providing various activities and events for your students to participate in, and we are always available to talk one-on-one. As these opportunities come up we will provide information on the blog. We also want you to know that not only are we here for your students, but we are here for you as well. Please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to be a helpful resource for you.

5th grade parent orientation

We had a wonderful turn-out last night as we hosted the 5th grade parents for middle school orientation night. If you were unable to attend or still have more questions, please call the middle school and you will be directed to the appropriate staff member. We can't wait to meet the incoming 6th grade students next year!

Career Lunch Time Speakers

As part of the 8th grade guidance curriculum, the counselors have invited guest speakers to come in and talk to interested 8th graders about their careers. This is following the True Colors classroom lesson that the counselors delivered in February. Each 8th grader was able to determine their personality type, which was represented by 4 different colors, blue, orange, green, and gold. The guest speakers have also represented these colors and students are able to sign up to come hear about their career path. We started in February with "Blues" being represented by Mrs. Stacey Oswald (director of Campus Life in Lowell) and Ms. Laurie Kuna (former Lowell teacher, school board member, and author). March was the month for "Orange" with Mrs. Patty Sellner (athletic trainer) and Officer Toddy Summerhays (Lowell schools police liaison). Mr. Ross Otten (engineer) visited us last week to represent the "Greens" and Dr. Kim Mast (veterinarian) will be coming this week. Our final speakers for the "Golds" will be Mrs. Heather Cooper (pilot), and Sergeant Matthew Boulis to talk about careers in the military.

Educational Development Plans

The counselors worked with the social studies classes for both 7th and 8th grade to help them create their Educational Development Plans (EDPs). A student creates their EDP in 7th grade, and it is a tool that stays with them throughout high school. We use a program called Career Cruising to help students gain insight into future career possibilities. Within their EDP, students are able to save potential career paths, research specific jobs, set/save goals, and much more as they get older. We hope that students will re-visit their EDP throughout the school year (and summer), and share the information with their parents. Here is how a student logs into his/her EDP: 1) Go to careercruising.com 2) Log in with, username: lowell, password: arrows 3) To log in to their personal EDP -- 7th grade: username: las-first initial, middle initial, full last name, and the number 20 password: las + student ID 8th grade: all the same except the number 19 goes after their last name

Freshman Orientation Date

A message from the High School Counselors: Class of 2019 Orientation Thursday, February 12, 2015 Lowell Performing Arts Center 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM Please enter on the West side of the building. This orientation is for parents and their children who will be entering high school in the fall of 2015.