School Counseling Office

The mission of the Jennings County Middle School school counseling program is to enable all students to experience educational success by providing guidance in the areas of academic, career, and citizenship development; counseling to help students overcome challenges that interfere with learning; and advocacy for an environment that supports high achievement for all students. Through the school counseling program, students become successful learners, responsible citizens, and productive members of a global economy.

Contact Us

All of our students are important to us, and we want to help in any way we can! Please reach out if you're struggling or simply need a little extra support.

Madalyn Cardinal
Class of 2028 Counselor
Biography

About Madalyn Cardinal

There are many pieces of who I am that started here in this incredible town. I was raised in Jennings County schools and have grown up knowing the heart and mission of Jennings County School Corporation. I have several family members who serve students in our schools and because of that upbringing, I developed a passion to give back to the very schools that made me.

I attended Graham Creek Elementary, passed through Jennings County Middle School (JCMS), and graduated from Jennings County High School in 2015. After graduation, I attended two smaller schools to continue my education in social work and athletic career in softball. The fall of my junior year, I transferred to the best place on earth - Indiana University Bloomington - to finish my degree in social work in 2019. I knew that ultimately, I wanted to build my career in education and social work, so I went straight into my master’s program at IUPUI where I studied school social work. After my 2020 graduation, I worked as a licensed therapist at a private practice agency in Seymour and shifted career paths to school counseling in 2021 at JCMS.

My husband Blake and I got married in 2020 and welcomed our first blessing in 2021. She is the light of our lives and has a personality that brings joy to every room. We have two golden retrievers who are gentle, sweet, and obsessed with our daughter, Rubi. We love going to IU football games, taking family walks at our local parks, and eating out at our favorite Jennings County restaurants.

Middle schoolers are so vibrant, eager, and wonderfully curious about life and what their purpose is. I have learned so much from them, and I plan to continue being a student to them as they pass through JCMS and on to their future.

My mission is to serve and support our students in new, exciting, and enlightening ways so that they have the social, emotional, and behavioral skills necessary to become successful individuals. While their time at JCMS is short, my hope is that they look back and know that the School Counseling Office helped build their foundation for college and career readiness, mental health awareness, and life skills essential to well-being.

Feel free to reach out and contact me if you need any assistance and I will be happy to help!

Zabrina Nicholson
Class of 2029 Counselor
Biography

Newsletter Coming Soon!

Previous Newsletters

Counseling Office October Newsletter

JCMS Counseling Office October 2022 Month in Review

Greetings!
Greetings from Mrs. Nicholson and Mrs. Cardinal! October has been a busy month in the SC office. Let us share a few things with you.

Classroom Lessons
This month, seventh and eighth graders participated in lessons that focused on learning styles. Our goal in teaching this lesson was to help students learn how they approach situations/learning, so they can better apply learned knowledge to their own situations and lives, whether in a school setting or in life outside of school. Know yourself to grow yourself. "Nosce, te Ipsum -- Student, Know Thyself."

Learning Styles and Group Work
Pictured: 7th graders engaging in kinesthetic learning styles, working to build a functional invention with limited resources. The functionality of these inventions are only slightly questionable.
Pictured: 8th graders working on an activity in the hallway geared towards understanding their brains and how they learn.

Reality Store Day - November 4
The seventh graders also did an extra lesson this month in preparation for Reality Store Day. They used their GPA from the first grading period to choose a career and be given a month's salary. Students then set up a checking account and a savings account. They will use these on November 4 at our event to see if they can pay all their bills and live the lifestyle they want on the budget they have.

A Mental Note
"This is tough but so am I."

Nutrition Club
Nutrition Club is offered for students who need additional assistance with meals on the weekends. Bags are placed in lockers each Friday to take home. Contact the SCO if your student needs this resource.

Stay in the Loop

Report cards were sent home in the mail October 21. If you didn't receive one, please check your student's Skyward for those grades. We're two weeks into the 2nd grading period!
Mindful Moments are short lessons we post each morning for students. They cover different topics that give academic, social, and emotional support, and hopefully, they take a snippet of wisdom with them after watching.
Panther Study is an after-school resource for students to catch up on late or missing work. If you would like for your student to participate, please contact your student's counselor.

Contact us! (812) 346-4940
Madalyn Cardinal, 7th Grade Counselor,
Zabrina Nicholson, 8th Grade Counselor

Counseling Office November Newsletter

JCMS Counseling Office November 2022 Month in Review

Greetings!
Greetings from Mrs. Nicholson and Mrs. Cardinal! October has been a busy month in the SC office. Let us share a few things with you.

Classroom Lessons
Our month didn’t stop with reality store day, though. The week of November 7 we met with seventh graders for an auditorium lesson about communication. Students learned that communication is more than just saying words. And then they learned how to better handle situations when miscommunication happens.

The week of November 14 it was the eighth graders’ turn for an auditorium lesson. Their lesson dealt with conflict resolution. Students helped with a scenario where people “stirred the pot” to cause drama. They learned where conflict can happen and the healthy way to address conflict in order to find a solution.

Reality Store Day
The first Friday in November is a huge event for our seventh graders, reality store day! Leading up to that day, our seventh graders draw a slip to see if they are married or single and how many children they have. They choose from a list of careers that we have aligned their GPAs from the first grading period of the school year. The higher the GPA, the more choices they have. Once they have chosen a career, we give them what their salary for a year and a month would be. We then helped them to set up their checking and savings accounts.

Then the big day arrives! Throughout the day, students got to participate in a lesson/game with United Way volunteers to learn about unwritten rules about finances. They also heard from service member recruiters, global economy industry workers, resume-building experts, and local colleges to see if these areas could be a part of their future.

A large amount of time, though, was spent in the "store.” Students took their checking and savings accounts and went from booth to booth, paying a house payment, car payment, utilities, groceries, student loans, insurance, and many more. They had to see if they could live the lifestyle they wanted on the budget they had or if they needed to change something in their education to make sure they had the opportunity to live as they wanted.

Our most stated feedback from students -”Kids are expensive!” A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who helped up that day! It definitely wouldn’t have been possible without all of them!

A Mental Note
"There is hope ... even when your brain tells you there isn't." John Green

Stay in the Loop

Midtern was on November 14, and reports were delivered to your student on November 18 during 7th period. Make sure to check your student's Skyward if you are unsure of their grades.
They've been ducked! We surprise students with rubber ducks on their locker after staff anonymously nominates students for doing a random act of kindness for someone here at Jennings County Middle School.
December Spirit Week - Start planning ahead for Jennings County Middle School spirit week on December 12–16.
- Monday: Grinch Green
- Tuesday: Ugly Christmas Sweater
- Wednesday: Red/White Day
- Thursday; Cozy Day
- Friday: Swinter Day (Summer/winter ... think both or either season.)

Contact us! (812) 346-4940
Madalyn Cardinal, 7th Grade Counselor
Zabrina Nicholson, 8th Grade Counselor

Homework Help

We hope students who need extra help on assignments will take advantage of this great opportunity. Students can get help with their homework in the library after school every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:15 to 5:00 p.m. They can get their missing work between 3:15 and 3:30 pm. Homework Help sessions are supervised by two assistants each afternoon.

Homework Hotline
Homework Hotline is a free, online service designed to help students in grades 6–12 with science and math. It’s funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and is a great resource for students.