They aren’t your everyday teaching team: one is a guidance counselor, the other is a bilingual social worker. They have the same ideas, they finish each other’s sentences, they walk the hallways in tandem and they, and their daughters, often spend time together outside school.

Their close relationship and strong collaboration translate to a successful character education program at PS 203 in Oakland Gardens, Queens, where they push into classrooms to facilitate social-emotional learning.

“What we have is something really special,” says Stephanie Liebowitz, the social worker. “We’re joined at the hip,” says Cassandra Pitkin, the guidance counselor.

When the pair pushes in to her classroom, says 2nd-grade teacher Shoshana Seinfeld, “I see the calmness afterward. The rest of the day is an easier day after they teach the lesson.”

Pitkin, who has been at PS 203 for 16 years, started the program about 10 years ago. Liebowitz came on board in 2011. They use resources including books and movies to introduce social-emotional issues like personal space, bullying and tattling. Afterward, they have discussions and do activities to reinforce what the students have learned.

“In elementary school,” Pitkin says, the children “are like sponges and they soak up so much. We try to give them as many skills and strategies as possible to deal with issues and resolve conflicts.” The goal, she says, is to make the children more resilient and self-sufficient by the time they reach middle school.

When a child is upset, she explains, his or her mind is on the problem. No matter how much academics is drilled, if the problem isn’t addressed, nothing is absorbed.

“Social-emotional learning and academics go hand-in-hand; it’s all connected,” Pitkin says.

Pitkin was inspired to start the program by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer’s “How Full is Your Bucket.” The book and one of their lessons stress that everything we do either fills someone’s invisible bucket by making him or her feel good or empties it by doing the opposite.

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Seinfeld, the 2nd-grade teacher, took the bucket theme introduced by Pitkin and Liebowitz “and ran with it.” Each of her students had a real bucket in the classroom as a constant reminder to ask themselves what they could do to fill their own and other people’s buckets, like being kind or helpful or respectful.

Pitkin and Liebowitz start the school year working with pre-K through 2nd-graders, “so they know what is expected of them and it sets the tone for the year,” says Liebowitz.

Lillian Gagliano, a first-year teacher, says they make her job easier: “They do a lot of work that helps students make good choices.”

Liebowitz, who previously was a case worker for the state’s Child Protective Services, says this is her dream job; Pitkin says it’s what she was born to do. Each works one-on-one or in small groups with children who either have Individualized Education Programs or have been identified as at-risk students. But they shine in the classroom.

“We come in smiling and laughing; we enjoy what we do,” says Pitkin.

“Kids are so impressionable,” adds Liebowitz. “They feed off that.”

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The women try to incorporate issues they notice at school into the program. Take eye contact: They noticed many Asian students avoiding it because, culturally, they do that at home. Pitkin and Liebowitz crafted a game to address the issue. When handing out activity papers, they don’t call names; they make eye contact with one student at a time instead.

“We teach them that it’s OK to look at us; it’s not taken as disrespect,” Liebowitz says.

The program varies by grade. Last year, the pair had a curriculum on bullying for 3rd and 4th grades. They showed a movie about a girl who experiences bullying in a new school. Afterward, they pushed in to classes for lessons and role playing. Then students made poster boards on what bullying means to them and presented these to the class.

Says Pitkin: “I like to instill in them that their voice is important. Some kids are shy in class but when they get to do an activity like this, they’re a totally different student.”

Both women also work to dispel the myth that only troubled students, or students in trouble, need a guidance counselor or social worker. Their approach is simple: “Going in the classroom, being present and being part of the kids’ lives,” says Liebowitz.

They are making an impact. As they walk through the gym, every single student turns and quietly “waves” with an index finger. Pitkin explains they came up with the “finger wave” to minimize the distraction they were causing because the children were so excited to see them.

“If you just have that connection to one person,” says Pitkin, “it makes a world of difference,” says Liebowitz.