South Elgin High School Social Workers

The social workers at South Elgin High School are Mr. Mike Grondin, Mrs. Genevieve Hebeka, Ms. Giana Villanueva, and Ms. Jessica Rodriguez. We are committed to helping you grow and experience positive personal changes throughout your time here at SEHS. While you and most of your friends will enjoy a smooth and positive high school experience, some of you may encounter social/emotional challenges along the way. If you or your friend are in a situation that disrupts your ability to be focused and productive at school, we are available to help!

Some of the most common issues that we encounter include:

• Personal: Extreme feelings of worry, stress, anger, frustration, sadness, depression, confusion (confidential)
• Social: Conflict with a teacher, friend, or student; concern for a friend; a break-up; a place to work things out with another student  (confidential)
• Family: Serious conflict or concern for a relative, family crisis (illness, incarceration, death), kicked out of home, desire to run away, domestic violence between parents, divorce/separation of parents (confidential)
• Safety Concerns: (NOT Confidential)
  • Knowledge of an unsafe situation at school
  • Someone is hurting or going to hurt you
  • Someone wanting to hurt him/herself
  • Someone wanting to hurt someone else

The social worker's role is to assist students who:

• Want help with making important decisions,
• Are experiencing a crisis, and
• They need help managing their social and emotional well-being while in the classroom. 

Most of our contacts with students are on an individual basis. However, we meet with small groups of students on a time-limited basis over issues students may have in common. Groups range over a variety of issues and are specific to issues currently occurring in several students' lives. 

We take referrals from teachers, guidance counselors, deans, our school nurses, and parents. When it is in the student’s best interest, we collaborate with the appropriate school staff and parents to assist our students. The social workers also coordinate services with outside agencies as necessary. Our number one goal is to make sure every student is safe and that they are able to return to class, pay attention, and be ready to learn. 

If you have any questions or concerns that you think can be addressed by one of us, please e-mail or call one of us.