JOHNSBURG – Dawn Vent’s office is painted a bluish gray, a color picked because it was meant to be soothing. A small water fountain sits on a bookcase filled with books and toys.

As the social worker at Bush Elementary School, Johnsburg’s elementary school for third- and fourth-graders, Vent’s office is designed to be a safe space.

Besides working with kids one on one and in groups, she runs a high school/elementary school mentoring program and the school’s Girls on the Run group, a program that works to empower girls and culminates in a 5K run.