In this schoolwide program, older students undergo intensive training to enable them to become peer leaders of lively and informative small-group sessions for younger students. Through group participation, younger students learn important relationship skills and have the opportunity to share their concerns about communication, relational aggression, dating issues, cyberbullying, acceptance, and other challenges. Both older and younger students benefit by building cross-age connections, breaking up cliques, and fostering tolerance of individual differences. This Peer Leader Guide provides step-by-step procedures for peer leaders to follow in conducting their student groups. Nine sessions focus on “Connects,” or effective skills for connecting with others. An additional nine sessions focus on “Disconnects,” or relational challenges students often face. Includes all necessary handouts. Sold only in packets of 5. About the Authors: Arthur (Andy) M. Horne is Distinguished Research Professor and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Georgia. He completed a Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University and taught at Indiana State University before joining the faculty at UGA in 1989. Andy has served as director of the counseling psychology program and the marriage and family therapy certificate program at UGA. He was a principal investigator for the U.S. Department of Education ACT Early Project to identify effective teacher interventions for children at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. He was also a principal investigator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Multisite Violence Prevention Project, developed to study effective ways to reduce violence in schools. He coordinates the Bully Prevention Program at the University of Georgia. His primary research interests are violence reduction, school aggression, and the development of community and family healthy living programs. Amy Nitza is an associate professor in the College of Education and Public Policy at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, where she directs the counselor education program. She holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Indiana University. Her research and scholarship is in the areas of group interventions with adolescents and the development of group counseling internationally. She has published several articles and book chapters on group counseling and has produced a training DVD on leading groups with adolescents. In 2008, as a Fulbright Scholar, Amy taught at the University of Botswana and worked with a group of graduate students there to develop a group counseling intervention for adolescent girls at risk of contracting HIV. She has facilitated several group counseling workshops for teachers and counselors in that country as well. Amy is an active member of the Association for Specialists in Group Work, where she is a past newsletter editor and currently serves as secretary. Brian F. Dobias earned his master’s in education from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) and was named Distinguished Alumni in 2009. He was a school counselor at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne since 2004, where he has served as director of the Spartan Mentor Program for six years. Brian now serves a clinical Assistant Professor in the IPFW Counselor Education Program. He continues to work with a number of Indiana high schools, conducting experiential summer training sessions focused on developing peer mentors and tutors for a variety of school programs. David R. Jolliff, Ph.D., is retired from his 18-year position as an outpatient psychotherapist in private practice. Prior to that, he taught in higher education. His graduate degrees are from Indiana University and Southern Illinois University. He has consulted with a number of social service agencies, including public schools where he has trained teachers and administrators in the use of the Bully Busters material. He has a dozen publications and has been invited to offer over 200 professional workshops and training seminars in the United States, Europe, and Canada. In 1982, he was honored as the Distinguished Counselor Educator of the year in the state of Indiana, and in 1993 he was selected as the Mental Health Counselor of the year in that state. David continues to dabble professionally by serving as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, offering spiritual retreats for men and adolescent youth, and by volunteering with the American Red Cross and the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace. Katherine A. Raczynski, Ph.D., is the director of the Safe and Welcoming Schools project at the University of Georgia. She has been working in the field of adolescent violence prevention for over 10 years, working with students, teachers, and parents to reduce bullying and aggression in schools. She was the director of the Healthy Teens Longitudinal Study, a seven-year study investigating students’ social development as they transition from middle school to high school. In 2009, Katherine received the American Psychological Association (APA) Society of Counseling Psychology Prevention Section Graduate Student Prevention Research Award. In 2010, she was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Division 16 School Psychology Award for Outstanding Student Scholarship, and in 2011, she was named a David Watts Scholar by the Southeast Regional Association of Teacher Educators. Bill Voors, A.C.S.W., L.C.S.W., was a licensed clinical social worker who graduated with an M.S.W. in 1979 from Saint Louis University. He spent the major part of his career as a psychotherapist and focused the last 12years on bullying prevention in schools. He was director of the Midwest Bullying Prevention Project, Inc., a not-for-profit company that provides bullying prevention services to schools, and author of The Parent’s Book About Bullying: Changing the Course of Your Child’s Life (Hazelden, 2000) and numerous magazine articles on bullying prevention. He also edited the North American edition of R Time: Relationships to Improve Education. In 2002, he was awarded Indiana Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers for his outstanding work with youth and schools. He helped develop the National Bullying Prevention Campaign (Stop Bullying Now!), sponsored by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, as NASW’s representative on the Mental Health Implementation Working Group. Bill passed away in 2011.
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