Since January, a new social worker, Ms. Hogan was hired to work at Cesar Chavez Academy Middle School to help students with any family problems and their mental health.

Ms. Hogan helps students open-up and communicate with others around them. Ms. Hogan works with an agency called South West Solutions. She also said that she works better one-on-one with students because it’s easier to help and communicate with them individually rather than in a larger group.

Ms. Hogan explained that she tries her best to find a way to help and interact with her students. She said, “I try to figure out every person’s communication style and what they want to communicate and we try to work together to find ways to best communicate with other people… Social work is a lot of talking things out.” She also explained that working as a social worker and helping students also helps her relationships, “This job has also helped me communicate in my own life too because I practice communicating all day.”

According to a social worker job post it states, “the primary focus of the school social worker is to assist students whose emotional/Social problems interfere with their ability to obtain maximum benefit from the educational program.” The social worker job post also explains the required qualifications to become a social worker at Cesar Chavez, “Masters in social work and licensure/certification with a school social worker endorsement or eligibility for temporary or full approval as a social worker, 2 or more years of successful school social work experience.” These are the requirements to become a social worker.