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REGION F NEWS
Region F News
Region F proudly announces Walid Gammouh as the School Social Worker of the year from Oakland County. As a school social worker in Oak Park, his accolades extend far into the community. He is a bi-lingual coordinator, and a strong advocate for students and families who have English as a second language. He has helped the district write policy, translated forms into Arabic, helped families as well as students acclimate to a vastly different environment, spoken nationally and internationally on a variety of topics and is consulting with other districts to help their programs. He is described as having no limits to his energy . . . constantly striving to expand his areas of expertise . . . assisting students and families anytime & anywhere . . . unfailingly professional, respectful, prepared, well-informed and “a man of substance who lives out his values to improve the community.”
Following our honoring Mr. Gammouh with a glass plaque, we were well informed by the presentation from Addie D. Williams, LMSW, JD on “Ethics, Boundaries, Risk Management . . . Is There a Common Thread?” All of the evaluations were very positive as she tailored the material for school social workers.
The eighty social workers that attended also completed a Professional Development Survey, which will guide the two workshops for the 2010 – 2011 school year. We discussed the many benefits of being a member of MASSW and encouraged all to become involved in the organization that supports them! The Board will meet one last time this school year to review the year in preparation for our Annual Report and discuss potential PD based on the survey results.
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Region F is offering a workshop at Oakland Schools, 2111 Pontiac Lake Rd., Waterford, MI entitled Ethics, Boundaries, Risk Management . . . Is there a Common Thread? on Friday, April 16, 2010. Addie E. Williams, LMSW, JD will provide us with a wealth of information and 5.5 CE's which fulfills the ethics requirement for one cycle. 8:00 am sign-in, 8:30 presentation of Region F's School Social Worker of the year, and the workshop is from 9am-3:30pm. Registration is by mail only to MASSW-Region F, P.O. Box 250992, West Bloomfield, MI 48322. Cost is $25. for members and $65. for non-members. Questions? e-mail
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Our “Fall” workshop actually was held as winter unfolded. We questioned whether or not scheduling it the day before holiday break (December 17, 2009) would be fantastic or folly. The topic was Pain Management for the Practitioner, presented by Heidi Weiker in partnership with Adult & Family Services, Inc/The Guidance Center.
Well, it was fantastic!
Heidi lead the packed audience (80 participants) through the physical, emotional, mental, and relational aspects of pain management and what to do to improve the well being of the practitioner as well as his/her student. What a treat! The workshop was chock full of activities to relieve pain and stress. Heidi addressed all ages, a wide variety of circumstances and diverse populations, and conditions where we could intervene with ourselves and others.
Whereas we anticipated participants may want to leave immediately following the workshop, many continued networking and interfacing with Heidi after the presentation.
We want to thank Region A for leading us to Heidi Weiker, as the experience was a wonderful way to reflect and re-energize.
Region F’s Spring Workshop is currently being developed and will feature Addie Williams on the topic of Ethics. The date is April 16, at Oakland Schools in Waterford.
Look for details coming soon!
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Region F would like to heartily thank the MASSW Conference Chairpersons . . . Sandy Bennett, Pat Sager, and Pat Metz, for their hard work and very comprehensive coordination of the Midwest School Social Work Conference in Dearborn. As a regional president, I have received many positive comments about the diversity, level of expertise and practical ideas that School Social Workers gained by attending the conference. We want to again congratulate Mike MacGregor, Huron Valley Schools for being honored as a Friend of School Social Workers. Sharing his experience and knowledge about contracts, bargaining units, and awareness of precedents has been invaluable for supporting school social work services. Likewise, we are very proud of Region F’s 2008-09 School Social Worker of the Year, Nancy Adair, Royal Oak Schools, who has been known for many years to very effectively help students, faculty and community initiatives make forward progress in social/emotional and academic spheres. Well done both! Finally, we would like to thank all of the persons from Oakland County who shared their presentations to enrich our knowledge and skills: JoAnn Weber, Ronda Pretzlaff Diegel, Ruth Anan, Christine Samida, Lynne Golden, Sue Welcome, Sid Kardon, Mike MacGregor, Pam Manela (and Roger Manela from Region D). Thank you one and all for BUILDING BRIDGES OF COMPETENCE to improve outcomes for students, families, schools and communities!
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