Practical Partnership

SBS alumni parent Cheryl Simmons, LCSW and family counselor with more than 35 years of experience, visited SBS to share practical tools with parents from both her personal experiences as a mother and her clinical expertise. Anxiety is the number one mental health problem today for children of all ages. Not every child struggles with anxiety, but everyone experiences anxious times. The good news is there are many practical ways for parents to help their children regain a sense of peace and confidence. Cheryl presented some of these practical strategies with parents in her seminar: Helping Your Child In Anxious Times.

Head of School Dr. Don Davis believes that “we find our greatest strength through partnering together to educate our children in the truth of God’s Word.” At SBS, we seek to partner with parents in practical ways, providing tools to come alongside our students together to meet their needs and fulfill this shared calling.

Parents enjoyed hearing from Cheryl as she recounted humorous anecdotes from her days as an SBS parent of four. Not only did she offer empathy for parents, but she also shared practical strategies for calming children, acknowledging their worries and teaching tools for stress management. 

Above all, she reminded parents to “derive strength, patience and comfort from your faith,” for the greatest tools we have are “listening and prayer,” and we should aim to teach our children the same. She ended with a prayer:

May Christ go with you. May He walk behind you to encourage you, beside you to befriend you. May Jesus walk in front of you to guide you, may He be above you to protect you, and may He dwell in your heart to give you peace.