Counselor's Corner
Hello!  My name is Julie Motomura, and this is my fifth year as counselor at Buna Elementary School.

This year at BES, we will continue to implement a character building program in which we will focus on one character word per six weeks. These words and definitions will be posted in each classroom, in the hallway, and also be in the Briefs section of the Buna Beacon. These words will be the building blocks to good character and will be discussed each six weeks in my guidance lessons with all our students. The following is a list of the character building words we will learn about each six week this school year:

              1st - Respectful

              2nd - Responsible

              3rd - Caring

              4th - Citizenship

              5th - Fairness

              6th - Trustworthy

I plan to put together several groups of kids that have some special needs that the character building lessons won't address.  With parental permission, I'll meet with these groups as often as possible to try to help the students be able to resolve their own problems. Some possible groups for this school year may be students who have lost a parent, students who have experienced divorce, students with friendship difficulties, and those who may be struggling academically.  I'm hopeful that through these groups, I can help to equip our students with the tools they need to be happier, more successful, well-adjusted kids. 

I'm always available to speak to students individually who are experiencing any difficulty.  I've found that most times, students merely need to talk to figure out how to resolve whatever issue with which they are struggling.

Along with these ideas, I have many others that I'll try to implement this year. I'm looking forward to helping to make this your child's best year ever!!