At Independence High School, Barbara Lynch is the school social worker and impacts the school in many different ways. Ms. Lynch is able to provide comprehensive services to students and their families in times of need, help the school work through crisis situations, and trauma.
Lynch works with “Administrators, counselors, teachers, the nurse, the SRO, and the school psychologist” to keep our campus a safe and positive place for students to learn.
The main thing that she does here at our school is, “ provide social emotional support to students to help them feel better, find solutions, remain hopeful, regulate their emotions and be successful.”
When students are having mental issues that affect school, they can reach out to Ms. Lynch. Lots of students have many things going on with challenges at home, school assignments, and many other daily life issues.
Lynch shared, “ I would like to have an emotional support dog in my office for students. However, I haven’t received permission for that yet! Maybe someday.” Helping students with their emotional problems is one of her biggest priorities.
Lynch works 40 hours a week within the five days a week that she works. She gets the same breaks as teachers and returns in mid- July after summer break for work.
In order to become a school social worker, one needs to complete a Masters in Social Work after a Bachelor’s degree; the MSW degree requirement is to complete 750 supervised clinical hours.
Mrs. Lynch has worked at Independence for over twenty years and truely enjoys working here! Lynch stated that, “ I love Independence and our students. It’s my honor to work here and help them navigate through difficult times. One of the happiest days of the year is to see students on their Graduation day!”
