Social worker available for counsel
by Debbie Gann
When most students hear the word social worker, they immediately associate it with a person that deals with students who have enormous problems. Mrs. Natalie Dranoff, our social worker, explained that this belief is a misconception. She explained, "I see students who want to prevent problems or just to talk about them with an objective person as a listener." When asked how many students she talks to in a day, Mrs. Dranoff replied, "On a typical day I talk to about eight people." She added that she not only talks to students, but faculty and parents also.
As another facet of her relationship with students, Mrs. Dranoff teaches values clarifications in several English and Humanities classes. One goal of these classes is to provide students with preventive counseling and to develop a sense of awareness or self-discovery. Through several exercises, students evaluate decisions and the reasons behind making them. To be able to evaluate decisions also helps in dealing with fictional characters in literature. By understanding the force that makes characters choose certain paths, allows for a better understanding of a novel To affirm an idea in a classroom makes a student see that decision more clearly for himself.
Another benefit from the exercises is that they create an atmosphere where students can be honest with each other without fear of embarrassment. No one walks away from a values clarifications class with the feeling that their answer was incorrect, because there are not right or wrong answers.
Mrs. Dranoff's office (in the personnel office) is open to anyone who would like to talk with her. A poster on her wall sums up the type of help she can give.
"To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."