Sunday, September 23, 2012

Top 20 Reasons Why My School Needs a Counselor


Top 20 Reasons Why My School Needs a Counselor:

1.     Many students need a positive adult mentor that they can talk to when an issue arises.
2.     Students need college and career guidance that they cannot get at home.
3.     Teachers need an objective voice when dealing with students’ behavioral and emotional concerns.
4.     Administrators often refer students with behavioral problems to counselors.
5.     Students need a non-judgmental adult they can depend on.
6.     Counselors are resource managers that school staff can go to for direction to help students.
7.     Students and teachers need cheerleaders when situations seem impossible.
8.     To assist with life transitions that students experience in school and at home.
9.     Counselors assist students with academic planning and scheduling.
10. Students need information on college prep assessments, such as the ACT.
11. Counselors help students and parents insure that graduation requirements are met.
12.  Counselors provide teachers with necessary trainings, such as suicide prevention.
13. Counselors help teachers and administrators interpret assessment data.
14. Counselors help administrators create a master schedule that meets the needs of all stakeholders.
15. Counselors provide parents with one-stop access to information about their child’s progress.
16. Counselors are student advocates.
17. Counselors teach students appropriate social skills.
18. Counselors monitor student progress.
19. Counselors research ways to improve student achievement.
20.  Counselors are the calm in the storm that is public education.  

4 comments:

  1. I like all twenty of your reasons, but I love number twenty, when everything is going to hell in a hand basket the counselors are the ones who are looking at their watches and saying" eehh I can have dinner at 11:30 after my family have all gone to bed, what can I help you with?"

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  2. I like number seven. When situations seem hopeless, the school counselor is the one guiding both students and staff to look at the possibilities. They help turn impossibilites into possibilites.

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  3. Number 5 speaks to me, I think there is a population of kids that do not have a nonjudmental adult in their life, and a counselor can help fill that void. When I read that one I saw the faces of some students in my mind that truly need someone to be in their lives that are not judgmental on their every move and reasoning.

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  4. I think college and career guidance is very important. Especially so in very rural areas. In these areas, kids often do not know what their possibilities are due to lack of exposure.

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