COPING WITH GRIEF—CIS-SA HELPS DAMIEN AND CARLOS

Young Damien was living in a motel when he was referred to Communities In Schools of San Antonio (CIS-SA) for help. With the recent passing of his mother, Damien’s father struggled to find steady employment and help Damien attend school regularly. Needing a positive outlet, he was enrolled in CIS-SA’s Martial Arts Group.

Damien loved being a part of the program and impressed the instructor with his positive attitude and his willingness to learn. He also received one-on-one mentoring and tutoring services to address his frequent tardiness and struggles with his grades. With support from CIS-SA, he significantly improved his grades and passed both his reading and science STAAR tests.

Despite multiple hardships at home, Damien remains positive and always has a smile on his face in CIS-SA.

Elementary student Carlos was referred to Communities In Schools for behavioral issues, primarily related to lack of academic motivation. He was also grieving the death of his godmother, with whom he was extremely close, and began acting out with immature behaviors as a coping mechanism for his grief.

Following a psychosocial assessment with his mother, it was noted that discipline was not being enforced consistently.

Communities In Schools’ Clinical Case Worker met with Carlos’ mom and helped her outline consistent rewards and consequences for her son’s behavior both at home and school, as well as giving him chores to complete.

The CIS-SA clinical case worker also provided grief counseling, including discussions and drawings of his favorite memories of his deceased godmother. They discussed the stages of grief and normalizing the various feelings he was having simultaneously using pages from a grief memory book. They talked about the lessons he had learned from his godmother and ways in which he could make her proud such as trying in school.

Issues of self-esteem were addressed, building upon his strengths, and they practiced communication skills. Carlos appeared more confident in his academic abilities and more motivated to complete his schoolwork and succeed. He began participating more in the CIS-SA academic group and was more focused on completing his schoolwork. His teacher also reported his academic motivation had improved and fewer behavior issues in the classroom.

Thank you to CIS-SA for being a trusted friend and stabilizing presence in so many young students’ lives.

Communities In Schools of San Antonio, a United Way partner agency, does whatever it takes to help at-risk students stay in school and succeed in life. Based directly inside schools throughout Bexar County, Communities In Schools connects children and their families to basic and critical educational and community-based resources, tailored to each student’s specific needs.