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Natural Helpers  

Natural Helpers

Natural Helpers is a peer-helping program used across the United States and in several other countries. The program primarily serves middle school, junior high school and high school students who want to provide support to others and volunteer service to their schools and community.

The Natural Helpers program is based on a simple premise: Within every school, an informal "helping network" exists. Students with problems naturally seek out other students ? and occasionally teachers or other schools staff ? whom they trust. They seek them out for advice, for assistance, or just for a sympathetic ear. The Natural Helpers program uses this existing helping network; it provides training to students and adults who are already identified as "natural" helpers. It gives them the skills they need to provide help more effectively to young people who seek them out.

The Natural Helpers program is designed to meet four basic goals:

The Natural Helpers program meet designed to meet four basic goals

  • To help young people develop the capability to prevent some of the problems of adolescence
  • To help young people develop the capability to intervene effectively with troubled friends
  • To help young people develop the capability to choose positive ways of talking care of themselves
  • To help young people develop the capability to improve their school and community

 

Roles of Natural Helpers

 

Beyond participating in Retreat Training and Ongoing Training students play a variety of roles as Natural Helpers. Among them:

  • Continuing to help their friends with their concerns
  • Recognizing when people have serious problems ? like depression, chemical dependency, and abuse ? and referring them to trained helping resources
  • Working with members of their helping team to discuss issues and specific problems
  • Providing accurate information
  • Becoming more involved with their school and community
  • Lending a sympathetic ear to loners and new students
  • Teaching skills to younger children

 

The Kingsport City Schools Natural Helpers program currently has more than 70 students involved. Most of those students began serving in the program in middle school. The group meets every other week on Thursday for 25 minutes. Times are alternated between A, B & D blocks. The Dobyns-Bennett Natural Helpers program has specific goals to meet the needs of students at Ross N. Robinson Middle School, John Sevier Middle School and Dobyns-Bennett High School. They are:

  • To help new students make friends and be part of the school community
  • To promote a positive school climate
  • To reduce student stress by providing empathetic listeners
  • To provide support for fellow students and staff
  • To refer people to appropriate sources for specific types of help
  • To decrease self-destructive behaviors by providing support and decreasing stress
  • To provide positive role models for staff and students

 

Dobyns-Bennett Natural Helpers participate in many special projects through the year, including:

  • Prom Promise
  • Maintain Dobyns-Bennett Clothes Closet
  • Angel Tree
  • Thanksgiving Food Drive
  • Participation in Teen Court
  • Mentoring new students on their first days at D-B

 

For more information about the Natural Helpers program, or for assistance with a family or school issue, please contact Natural Helpers Program Coordinator Gary McConnell at (423) 378-8419 or at gmcconnell@k12k.com or John Brooks at (423) 378-8400 or jbrooks@k12k.com.