Today our guest is Kate Gerber, Professional School Counselor at Central Lyon Elementary School in Rock Rapids, Iowa. We talk with Kate about the impact of utilizing the first few minutes of class for morning meetings in the classroom. She emphasizes the importance of making students feel welcome and a sense of belonging as soon as they enter the classroom. At Central Lyon, Kate created the morning meeting to be their tier 1 time, and she talks about the benefits this time has had in the elementary classrooms and how they plan to expanding this time into the 7th and 8th grade classes. Episode Links: Article: https://www.nwestiowa.com/news/central-lyon-elementary-implements-characterstrong/article_516818ac-f9b1-11ed-bdfd-4330997f6915.html Learn more about PurposeFull People: https://characterstrong.com/purposefull-people/   Kate’s Bio: Hello, my name is Kate Gerber and I am a Professional School Counselor in Northwest, IA. I currently serve 435 students preschool through sixth grade and have loved this work. I am a former kindergarten teacher and was offered a risk by switching roles after distance learning and man, I am so grateful I did. With this new position came personal challenges but I have grown and continue to radiate the importance of education for our students success. I love teaching and plan to continue. I am not just an educator but also a mom to three small children, Penelope, Jones, and Calvin. With motherhood comes my SEL hat whether I want to utilize it or not, the skills matter. SEL matters and we need to celebrate the coaching role we have been put in as adults to help our next generation of youth become successful, professional, empathetic, power houses.