Peace Guide Services Teach Problem Solving Skills
When you donate to PeaceMaker Minnesota, you help students with challenging behaviors learn how to self-regulate their emotions, improve their thinking skills, and how to solve problems in positive ways. Many students note the absolute importance of the Peace Guide in their academic lives, stating “I feel better after meeting with the Peace Guide if I’m sad or worried,” and “I like meeting with Ms. Peace because I don’t have anybody to really talk to about my feelings or emotions before her. She is my favorite adult to talk to about my problems. I trust her a lot more than others, even if they are the same age as me.” Other students cite new-found, positive behaviors, such as the self-reported comment “I didn’t hit a girl at day care.”
Each Peace Guide works with 3 to 5 teachers to get referrals so they can work one-on-one with those students most at-risk. After conversations to assess the issues any one student may be having, they meet with the students several days a week to teach five problem solving skills of: emotion and self- regulation, language and communication, OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 2 Peace Guide Services Teach Problem Solving Skills 2023 St Alphonsus Student Group with Thank You Sign attention and working memory, cognitive flexibility, and social thinking and taking in another person’s perspective.
The caring conversations are particularly impactful in understaffed schools, with teachers commenting, “The peace guide has been very proactive and catches things sometimes that I don't see or hear as a teacher. This has been very helpful because it stops the problem before it escalates. It has given me more time to teach to my students’ curriculum and the Peace Guide has taught me different strategies to use in the classroom.”
Your donations allowed Peace Guides to provide: 675 checking ins with students (followed up with conversations to build skills), 235 resourcing conversations (offering suggestions for a challenge), and 128 conflict resolution conversations. You also supported the need for less visits to the office, suspensions, and expulsions, all of which helps intervene early in life to prevent entry into the criminal justice system. We currently have Peace Guides at four schools in Brooklyn Center, Golden Valley, and South St. Paul. Three other schools in St. Paul Maple Grove, and Champlain have requested Peace Guide services.
If you know people at elementary or K – 8 schools that could benefit from Peace Guide Services, please share this Newsletter with them.
If you are interested in becoming a Peace Guide, visit https://www.peacemakermn.org > Get Involved > Jobs and Internships > and follow the instructions to submit a Cover Letter and Resume.