Pocahontas & Pleasants Counties’ Boards of Education have committed to preventing bullying in all their schools. Over the last month, leadership teams from all their schools have completed the Olweus Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee (OBPCC) Training. All schools in Pleasants County completed training August 1-4. Pocahontas elementary schools completed training July 22 and 23, and the middle and high schools on August 22 and 23. These teams are prepared to lead the bullying prevention efforts at their sites, and will be training the full staff at their school including custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, office staff, and volunteers.
This training also enabled WV professionals to complete a major portion of the requirements to become Nationally Certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Trainer Consultants. The trainers who worked with Pleasants and Pocahontas Counties include:
- Anne Farmer, School Counselor at Davis-Thomas Elementary-Middle School, Tucker County Schools
- Crystal Criswell, School Mental Health Coordinator at the Marshall University School Health Technical Assistance Center, Department of Family and Community Health, School of Medicine
- Kenneth Birchfield, Division Director of School Based and Children’s Grant Services, Southern Highlands CMHC
- Moriah Felter, Westbrook Health Services, Inc.
- Nathan Settle, Youth Violence Intervention Specialist, Westbrook Health Services, Inc.
- Peggy Stull, Lead Staff Team Pocahontas and ESMH Grant Coordinator, Youth Health Service, Inc.
- Tiffany Pittman, School Mental Health Coordinator at the Marshall University School Health Technical Assistance Center, Department of Family and Community Health, School of Medicine
The Olweus Program (pronounced Ol-VAY-us) is a comprehensive approach that includes schoolwide, classroom, individual, and community components. The program is focused on long-term change that creates a safe and positive school climate. It is designed and evaluated for use in elementary, middle, junior high and high schools (K-12). The program’s goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among school children and to improve peer relations at school. The program has been found to reduce bullying among students, improve the social climate of classrooms, and reduce related antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism and truancy. The Olweus Program has been implemented in more than a dozen countries around the world, and in thousands of schools in the United States.Clemson University
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) was brought to West Virginia by WV DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health (BBH) using grant funds and is implemented in collaboration with Marshall University’s School Health Technical Assistance Center, Department of Family and Community Health, School of Medicine. If you are interested in bringing OBPP to your school or community organization, contact us.
