Mr. Shack is there for students

When Sisters Elementary School students arrive at school and gather in the commons each morning, they are greeted by Custer the bear and the school's counselor George Shackelford.

The students fondly call him "Mr. Shack."

"Custer is 29 years old," said Mr. Shack. "He is just a big greeter. Sometimes I forget to bring the bear out in the morning, so the children have learned a new word called 'hibernation.' They say: 'Custer's probably hibernating, isn't he?' I say: 'Oh ya, he's probably hibernating.'"

Custer plays a significant role.

"What he does is give the hug," Shackelford said. "I can get a sense of where the child is." A child with a turned down lip who is sad or one who is happy will often tell Custer first. "They want to tell Custer: 'It's my birthday, Custer,' not Mr. Shack, who, of course, is holding Custer."

Out of the school's approximately 460 students, Mr. Shack knows about 350 names.

"It's really important to me to be able to call the students by name," he said.

Along with helping students on a one-on-one basis, Mr. Shack also works in the classroom offering important lessons to the students.

"He goes in classrooms a lot with some wonderful lessons on self-development and how to get along with others," said principal Jan Silberman.

"We teach thing like sharing and caring for each other, words are for helping not for hurting, helping kids socialize," said Shackelford.

Shackelford is keen on helping children with special needs. It is important to be there "...when a child is going through a divorce or a separation or when a child has maybe lost a pet," he said.

Shackelford asks parents to keep him informed when such problems arise to enable him to assist students during such times of special need.

Another important role for Shackelford is his work with parents.

"Since my background is in child and family therapy, I do a lot of family work, and that's important I think at the elementary level to never forget that we have families here and not just kids coming to school," he said.

Shackelford takes special note of and reaches out to the needs of extended families, such as when grandparents are raising a child or with step-families which, according to Shackelford, work on a whole different system than biological families.

"I like to approach my family work with whatever the families' needs are. I'm going to help them out, whether its crisis or joy, whatever it is I'm going to be there for them," he said.

Shackelford also offers parenting classes.

"They've been very well received," said Silberman.

Shackelford has been with the district for six years, and this year is his third at the elementary school. A former Oregon State University football player, he also coaches varsity football at the high school, working with the linemen.

Shackelford is available to parents on a one-on-one basis at any time. Any parent who feels his or her child is dealing with emotional issues or who has concerns the child is just not connecting to the school should contact Shackelford directly at 595-8981.