Terri Hager leads school support team
.
Even though it was officially National School Social Work Week, March 7-13, social workers are always doing an important job in the community. Terri Hager prefers not to call herself a social worker, but she plays an imperative role in helping Clay County students and their families.
“I always try to frame my work with families as my job to be one of the student support services staff at the school since some people automatically turn off with the term, social worker,” she explained. “I am usually the one who connects others to resources in the community and works with families and students to get the help they need; to advocate for them and provide practical support.”
She said this ranges from helping them navigate available resources for their current challenges to helping them set up appointments and understand school programs.
As part of the Clay County student support services team, Hager covers all of the schools. The team was formed this year and other team members include the school counselors, school psychologist, Hayesville Middle School Principal Heather Plemmons, Clay County Schools Superintendent Dale Cole, Melissa Cheeks and Angel Owens.
“We have worked on how to strengthen services for students, including social emotional learning and a range of services from classroom lessons to managing urgent situations if a student has a crisis,” Hager said. “My days are varied depending on the needs of the day. I am a link between the community and the schools by being on inter-agency committees such as JCPC, Child Protection Team and the person to help students or families who are in transitional housing.”
Angel Owens, Clay County Schools director of Federal Programs; Exceptional Children; Special Education among other titles, said Hager’s work helps the school in many ways. “Terri Hager serves primarily as the school social worker, but also serves as our Foster Point of Contact and McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison for grades Pre-K-12,” Owens said. “Each of these roles carries tremendous duties to provide equal educational opportunities for any student she serves.”
Hager’s social worker role has her working with school staff and administrators, as well as Clay County Community for Students and Clay County Department of Social Services.
“Whenever there is a student in need, Terri meets with families and makes home visits as necessary to help connect the family and school community to find the best solutions for each student referred to her.” Owens said. “She also builds family connections with outside community resources any time those special needs arise.”
Owens added, “As our Foster Point of Contact, Terri serves as a liaison between the classroom teacher and school administrator with the Department of Social Services when there is a student placed in foster care. This allows the school and DSS to share valuable educational or personal information so we all know what is needed and how best to provide those for each student.”
Owens said when children are placed somewhere new, Hager helps the school know the situation so teachers may help the student transition smoothly and comfortably.
“Many times children are placed in kinship care with family members they are familiar with, but sometimes children go to new homes in new communities they are not familiar with. Terri helps our school staff prepare for any student location changes so they can help them through that transition while maintaining their academic and social emotional progress,” Owens said.
“As our McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison, Terri is on the front line of identifying students who qualify as homeless and helping connect them with school and community resources to help them have equal access to their education. This can include collaboration with community resources to find a temporary or long-term safe place to stay while they are enrolled in our school, helping them find ways to get food and transportation when needed, helping them connect with resources to get clothing and school supplies, and meeting other needs as they come up for these students,” she said.
Owens ended by complimenting Hager for her work. “In all of these roles, Terri is a valuable member of our school community who goes above and beyond to assure that our students have what they need. She has never failed to step up for a student in need.”
Hager has been a social worker around western North Carolina for many years and truly loves her current role.
“I became a social worker because my family had been travelers since my dad had been in the military,” she said with a smile. “I always loved to hear people’s stories of their lives. I had a natural tendency to look at all sides of a situation and try to understand others’ point of view. Helping others to solve challenges is something I like to do.”