Twenty-six fifth-grade girls at William H. Owen Elementary School are receiving free lessons on empowerment thanks to their school counselor Tanisha Dumas.
Dumas, a five-year school counselor at the elementary school, was selected as one of 10 recipients of the national Dr. Patty Diversity Fellowship from Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX). The fellowship provides two years of funding to educators of color to implement the ROX Program for Girls, an evidence-based program that helps female students build confidence.
As the only elementary school counselor in the cohort, Dumas believes the training provides her fifth-graders with the tools to be confident before sending them to middle school.
“We have the opportunity to give them a firm foundation,” Dumas said.
The fellowship is funding 15 participants. With help from W.H. Owen Elementary principal Rachel Andress, Dumas obtained federal Title I funding to open the program up to all of the school’s fifth-grade girls. All in all, 26 female students will participate in Dumas’ inaugural year implementing the program.
Building girls up brick by brick
The ROX confidence lessons range from assertive communication to coping with anxiety. While some of Dumas’ peers told her the program is better tailored for middle and high school students, Dumas disagrees.
“The confidence of girls drops in fifth grade,” she said. “So I get to start at the ground level.”
In a study from ROX, girls reported the sharpest decline in confidence between fifth and sixth grade. Girls surveyed in these grades simultaneously reported the largest increase in sadness.
Dumas sees the program as preparing her students for future relationships. Through her other job as a domestic violence group facilitator in Hoke County, she sees how low confidence can be a factor leading women and girls into abusive relationships.
“How often, as women, do we shy away and don’t use our voices?” Dumas said. “How often do we stand up and advocate for what we want? They [students] get a chance to learn this.”
Dumas said the program can impact participants’ career paths, even at such a young age. The same ROX study showed that over half of fifth- and sixth-grade girls surveyed believed they weren’t smart enough for their dream jobs. It’s a sentiment Kristy Newitt, Cumberland County Schools counseling coordinator, is familiar with.
“I was that kid who didn’t do science and math and thought she wasn’t good at it because I had a teacher in sixth grade tell me I wasn’t,” Newitt said.
A behavior Dumas is looking to curb is what she calls “girl drama.” Formally known as relational aggression, “girl drama” is a form of predominantly female-on-female form of bullying that harms reputations and social standings. “Queen bee” behavior, when a single girl leads a group of others to pick on another, is one of the best-known “girl drama” behaviors, explained Dumas.
Newitt said the behavior can start in third grade and stems from a student’s insecurity. It also comes from poor emotional regulation, a skill taught in the ROX program, said Dumas.
“I’m giving them an option to learn something new,” Dumas said. “And if they take this option and choose to use it, what would their lives be like?”
Andress is excited to see the impact the training will have on W.H. Owen Elementary. She said girls’ improved confidence should increase test scores, behavior outcomes and student engagement. And not just amongst the 26 girls in the program; Andress thinks it will be spread to those girls’ younger friends and siblings.
Making a ministry out of counseling
School counseling was a career change for Dumas. She came to W.H. Owen Elementary in 2019 after 16 years as a clinical mental health counselor at the Cumberland County Department of Social Services.
Despite Dumas coming in with no school counseling experience, Newitt said she operates like she’s been doing it for 15 to 20 years. Dumas has been so successful in her short time as a school counselor that Cumberland County Schools recognized her as the 2024 School Counselor of the Year.
ROX also recognized her as December’s top program facilitator. She was chosen out of over 700 facilitators nationwide and only began implementing the Program for Girls three weeks ago.
“She is just one of the shining stars,” Newitt said. “She does this because she is driven to help students. She’s willing to sacrifice herself for the good of what’s going to benefit the students and her school family.”
Dumas said success as a school counselor comes from her ability to connect with any student. She takes the time to learn the names of her over 400 students. During the pandemic, she created the virtual “Lunch Bunch,” a group during students’ lunch period where she could maintain those connections and create a space for students to interact and talk about their emotions.
Dumas is also a resource for Cumberland County Schools staff. Newitt said she is the first to offer a helping hand to other counselors. Teachers at W.H. Owen Elementary also come to Dumas for advice, said Andress. Andress recalled a time when Dumas rallied the school to help out a staff member who was struggling financially.
“She will go to any length to ensure that these scholars, and not just our scholars, but our staff members, get anything they need and deserve,” Andress said.
Since coming to W.H. Owen Elementary, Dumas said her mother pointed out that she doesn’t take off work as much as she did at the social services department.
“When it’s your purpose, it’s ministry,” Dumas said. “It’s not a job. It’s what you love. It’s your passion.”
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.
How about teaching them basic skills !!!