Dryden social workers help students adjust

Mary Hicks, a social worker at Dryden Central School District, has had a passion for social work for most of her life.

“I knew when I was in eighth grade that I wanted to be a social worker, which is kind of unusual to know that for a fact,” she said. “My mother was a counselor in private practice. Growing up, my family did foster care. So, we’ve just always been involved in helping others, social justice and things like that.”

Hicks grew up in Texas, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. Hicks later moved to New Orleans, where she earned her master’s in social work and worked in a hospital setting for about 10 years. Hicks then moved to New York state, where she initially worked for Head Start and later began her role at Dryden schools in 2000. Now, Hicks works with Dryden students and parents to help them adjust to school life.

Prior to the pandemic, Hicks did considerable legwork to meet with parents and help them feel more engaged in their children’s learning, often meeting with families in the community or in their homes. But in 2020, everything she used to do in person had to be switched to a virtual setting, which took considerable adjustment.

Hicks also teaches parenting classes at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (CCE-Tompkins), so that work had to be switched to online as well. Most of her class attendees were supportive of shifting to virtual classes, and Hicks worked with CCE-Tompkins to offer more virtual programming for families through the school district, like a virtual cooking class.

“People were starting to get really tired of just being home, not having a lot of activities to do with their kids,” she said. “This particular class is a class where the parent and child cooked together. … That was helpful to parents to keep that connection. I think it was definitely fun for the kids.”

This year has looked significantly different for Hicks and the other social workers she works with, with some of the biggest changes coming this fall as students have returned to full in-person instruction.

“Both parents and children are a little bit more … anxious,” Hicks said. “For some of our kids, they haven’t been in school in a year and a few months; they just haven’t even been in the building. The parents, they know that we’re following the guidelines. But as you hear in the news more cases popping up, they’re anxious about what’s going to happen.”

Staff members are also feeling some of that concern, Hicks said, and as a result, there’s been a lot more emphasis this year on social emotional support for both students and their families.

“All the teachers and the social workers are taking a lead role in the social-emotional learning and making sure all classes are receiving education around social-emotional topics, and the social workers are actually pushing into the classes and providing that,” Hicks said. “So, not only is the teacher helping support that all the time, but now you have social workers who are coming in who are also sharing that information and either co-teaching the lesson or teaching themselves. So, it gives the kids another adult that they’re now connected to.”

Normally, social workers interact with students on a limited basis, like if a student is part of an individualized education program (IEP) or if parents bring up specific concerns. But this way, all students have the opportunity to interact with and get to know district social workers, Hicks said.

In addition to the classroom education, the district has increased its staffing to meet the social-emotional needs of students and families. The district now has six social workers — two at the high school, one at the middle school and one for each of the three elementary schools.

More programming is on the way to further help students and families adjust, Hicks said. One of these programs is STAR — Students Taking Action Respectfully — which was a pre-pandemic program that paired fifth-grade students with younger students to mentor them on how to handle situations in a respectful and friendly way. Hicks said the district is looking to start STAR up again this fall.

Another program Hicks is excited to see return is a mentorship program between Cornell University psychology students and Dryden students. Cornell students will come into school and meet with a few students on a weekly basis, Hicks said.

“It’s a wonderful thing for the kids to have this buddy, this college buddy, but it’s also a wonderful experience for the psychology students to have this relationship and have a conversation with a student in elementary school and kind of see what it’s like,” she said. “That’s a win-win for both.”

One effort that’s already in full swing is the district’s “Be the One” campaign, which began pre-pandemic as a way to raise awareness during National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

“What it means is that everybody needs a stable, nurturing, safe person in their life,” Hicks said. “I just loved that. And because we’re not in the city of Ithaca, I make sure that Dryden is connected to things that are going on in Tompkins County. Just because we’re in rural areas doesn’t mean that we don’t want to be part of [that]. So, we took that on, and we’ve done all kinds of things around that.”

In its first month, Dryden staff created T-shirts, sweatshirts and bracelets with the message “Be the One” and did a lot of promotion around the theme. Hicks shared an experience she had with a teacher that month that showed her the real impact of the campaign.

“One of the teachers said to me, … ‘I had this kid today who was just really not listening to me, not following directions. I was starting to get kind of upset,’” Hicks said. “He said, ‘I looked down and I saw the bracelet and I said, “I need to be the one for this kid right now.”’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is exactly what this is for, to remind somebody that you might be that person right now, right at that moment.’”

Whereas the “Be the One” campaign fizzled out over the summer following its first month, it’s been a year-round campaign since the pandemic hit, and Hicks and her fellow social workers have no plans to stop it again.

Hicks and other staff members will continue to emphasize social-emotional health for students and their families as they navigate the next academic year, something Hicks is excited about.

“We have to take care of the whole child in a school setting,” she said. “My hope is that our relationships continue to be helpful and that parents and community members will want to work with us together in providing the best education for the students. We all benefit from kids being successful in school.”

In the meantime, Hicks said she’s glad that her journey has led her to Dryden.

“I love my job,” she said. “I feel blessed that I get to have this job. I think Dryden School District is amazing. We have wonderful teachers and administrators, and I couldn’t ask for a better superintendent. And so, I feel like, together as a group, we’re all going to get through this.”