Dear Parents and Guardians,

Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with every family and community member of the Choctaw Nicoma Park School District.  As parents ourselves, we know how the events that occurred Friday night can affect your children and families as a whole.  Below are some tips to help your family and child through a crisis. 

• Normal routines are important and give children a sense of security.

• Encourage your child to eat, stay hydrated, and get enough sleep while processing their trauma.

• Encourage your child to decrease their media watching.

• If you notice your child not bouncing back in 2 to 4 weeks, that is a signal to seek assistance or assessment.

Choctaw Nicoma Park Schools has recently partnered with The Cook Center, which is a mental health agency that guides parents through tough situations with their child.  They have provided several free resources to watch that ensure you have the tools to help your child through a crisis.  If you have not already created an account, step one will guide you through that process.  If you already have an account, numbers 2 through 5 are great resources for you to view as you work with your child through this time. 

1. First direct them to make a free account on ParentGuidance.org to access these videos: https://parentguidance.org/register 

   • We never will share their data, the account is just so that their progress in courses can be saved and bookmarked for their own future use.

2. How To Create a Safe Space for Your Child to Share Their Struggles (5 min) If the parents can only watch one video, I’d have them watch this one. Animated short from My Life is Worth Living series, analyzed by therapist to show good modeled conversation between adult and student that opens up room for discussion.

3. How to Be There in Times of Crisis - (7 min 30 seconds) Animated short from My Life is Worth Living series, analyzed by therapist to show good modeled conversation between adult and student who has been through trauma

4. Move Toward Your Child's Anxiety - There is A LOT of great stuff to work on as parents in this video. 30 minutes long (I prefer to watch it on 1.5x or 2x speed). The video has incredible content that will help parents, not just in this scenario with their child's anxiety, but also with how to Notice, be Notified of what our body is telling us, and address the Need of our children's anxiety

5. Feeling Overwhelmed? (An Analysis of Trauma and its Impact on Us) -  This video is broken up into two segments. An initial overview of how our body/mind breaks down trauma and compartmentalizes it (9 min), and a second segment with strategies to deal with that trauma (14 min).

Attached you will find another copy of the Cook Center Mental Health flier with another amazing service for parents.  The Cook Center offers 24/7 texting with a 24 to 48  hour response time, as well as weekly calls with a coach for any situation you may need help with.  Just scan the QR code to sign up. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1toApcGhO84-GmVw9LlA1UmD-pzFRje82/view

We would also love for you to join us September 5th via Zoom from 7:00-8:00 as we kick off our monthly mental health night.  This month’s meeting is titled “Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health”!  The link below will help you get signed up to participate in this event. 

Supporting Your Childs Mental Health

Another resource to always have on hand is 988, this is a crisis hotline for anyone struggling with mental health.  The person calling will be able to talk with someone about how they are feeling.

Your child’s school counselor will also have additional resources for you and your child.

You and your children are extremely important to us and if we can assist you in any other way, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kelli Hosford