While South Forsyth High School has always been creating new techniques, some staff members have made it a priority to develop strategies to help students at school. Counselor Lindsay Burnell has developed many new things that have benefited our school and will continue to be used as she transitions to Denmark High School.

Ms. Burnell wanted to become a counselor as a result of her past. As she states, “I wanted to become a counselor because I have gone through a lot of trials and tribulations that required me to get counselling… I also really liked helping people and I got a lot out of my counselling experience and then I realized that I could become a counselor. ”

Something that has helped our school is dog therapy. Ms. Burnell has created dog therapy at South and will have therapy dogs come through the school for student to pet to help them relieve stress or just to help them have a better day. Burnell states, “On average we have anywhere from six to eight dogs come and I heard multiple people say… ‘your exactly what I needed today’… And it really has just allowed kids… to have some time to be a kid and relax and calm down.” This allows kids that may be dealing with stress and anxiety to be able to have a break,” and just have a place to cuddle something that is gonna love you no matter what your test grade was or what you wore to school that day.”

Another thing that Ms. Burnell has added to our school is movement and mindfulness. Ms. Burnell got her yoga certification after receiving an injury in her senior year of high school that injured her back, head and neck. She also received about 4 concussions and had whiplash from major injuries. After these events, it caused her to lose her lacrosse scholarship. Not being able to play contact sports anymore encouraged her to begin doing yoga to help relieve chronic pain. Being limited to that action that she could take, Burnell states, “I kept looking for alternative ways to work out and I couldn’t do a lot of jumping and I couldn’t do a lot of anything and so I finally took a class at the college gym that I went to and it was yoga and I just fell in love. I could do this at home and I could do this with other people and so I decided to get my YTT.” Realizing the benefits that yoga brings, she decided to incorporate movement and mindfulness at South. During IF students were encouraged to participate in yoga with Ms. Burnell. Movement and mindfulness has benefited South as, “A lot of kids have found an alternative way to calm down and relax. A lot of kids aren’t taught proper coping skills. So, I feel like movement and mindfulness has given kids another way that is something they can do on their own…a place to move their body and sit still with their thoughts and just have that alternative coping mechanism.”

Ms. Burnell is going to be joining the counseling team at Denmark High School next year. At Denmark, Burnell will be the head girls lacrosse coach as she has been playing lacrosse for many years and will lead the team through their season. She hopes to take some of the techniques used at South with her to Denmark, and to create more strategies to help students.