Portage la Prairie School Board Catches Up With PALSS Program

The Positive Atmosphere for Learning Social Skills Program, or PALSS, was discussed at last night's school board meeting in Portage la Prairie.

"It is a division program with an application process in order to be accepted into the program," says Rochelle Rands, board trustee. "We work really hard to keep students in their catchment area of schools but those accepted from outside of La Verendrye School's will be transported in. We use our psychologist and a behaviour specialist, and we work with the classroom teachers, but if we think a child requires more, that school can apply to the division office. We look at it as a team and see what kind of supports the child requires and what's been done previously in the school and we decide based on that information."

Mark Sokolowski's in his first year as the PALSS teacher and says he had an easy entry into his new position because of his previous work as a Phys. Ed. teacher.

"It's been a wonderful six months for me. I was a Phys. Ed. teacher for 22 years prior to this, so this is something completely different for me personally. To get to work with these kids so closely, and to see their progress and growth, and learning, and to be able to help them as much as we're able to just makes every day worth it. Every day is different, and they have their own set of challenges but we work through them and it's been fantastic."

The program is currently made up of all boys, and classroom stays at five students per year. Students in the program are usually sent because they are having a hard time dealing with social situations. Sokolowski says they're in the program to help deal with those issues, but the regular curriculum still applies to the students.

"That's something real important that we try to get as much of the curriculum as we can. It's individualized for each child because it's a multi-grade classroom. So sticking to the curriculum is a big piece, in addition to teaching the social skills part. Coaching these children to handle stressful situations and self-control. They are here in school and getting the balance between the two is important, but getting an education is still the focus."

"An average day will start off with some light exercise for 15-20 minutes, games or other things the boys like to do," says Sokolowski. "Throughout the course of the day, any of the kids that have other programs or have other subjects with other teachers will be coming and going, but most of them will stay with me for the day. It really also depends on how the children are doing that day as well. If the kids are in a good place we'll focus on the reading and writing, and the math in the morning, and other times where a student might not be in a good place, we'll start with helping them regulate and then we'll maybe get to the curriculum a little later in the day."

Once Sokolowski and the other teachers involved feel a student is ready to return to a normal classroom setting they usually just remain at La Verendrye.

"The students are working at building relationships, and they've done that here. So I think one of the benefits of when a student is brought to La Verendrye into PALSS, and then integrated with their peers into a regular classroom, it's best to keep them attached to the school because of those relationships they've built."

"You can't quantify the value and the importance of this program," adds Sokolowski. "For so many of these kids, if they didn't have something like this, I wouldn't know what their regular school day would look like but I can tell you they are being given an education, they're learning coping skills and self-regulation skills, and they're getting confidence, which is something a lot of them lack. We try to build them up and make them stronger people so when they do get to high school it's a seamless transition and they graduate to live lives like everyone else, and that's our goal."

One PALSS graduate is now Sokolowski's Educational Assistant.