HCPSSBehind the Scenes with HCPSS School Counselors
February 7th, 2022
From custodians and nurses to teachers and administrators, HCPSS students have a wide range of school-based staff available to support them and help address their needs. School counselors are a critical part of that support team, helping students navigate everything from peer relationships and academic challenges to the college application process.
Like many of his fellow counselors across the system, Cradlerock Elementary School (CRES) Counselor Trevor Smith spends much of his time checking in with individual students and empowering them to “navigate by themselves.” This includes talking through challenges that they experience at school and at home, teaching them how to advocate for themselves in various contexts, and helping them to empathize with others.
“My role isn’t always to provide students with answers,” he explains. “I’m often there to help them slow down, think through their different options, and support them in the choices they make.”
Another important part of Smith’s role is assisting students in building and navigating social relationships. He does this in a variety of ways, including hosting small group sessions, peer mediations, where students can meet informally as a group to discuss social challenges they face with each other, and “lunch bunches,” where students eat and enjoy each other’s company.
As a school counselor, Smith is also tasked with raising students’ awareness and understanding of post-high school opportunities. As part of that role, he hosts a career month at CRES, aimed at getting students to begin thinking in more detail about their futures.
“Our goal is to help students know what options are out there and begin the process of charting out the path to their dreams,” Smith says.
Lime Kiln Middle School Counselor Beth Lucas also works with students on college and career planning, encouraging them to consider different options and making sure that they are taking the necessary classes to prepare them for high school and beyond.
“I always encourage my students to leave as many doors open as possible,” Lucas says. “I want them to use middle school as a time to explore new things and see what really catches their interest.”
Like Smith, Lucas also dedicates much of her time to meeting with students and helping them hone some of the foundational academic and social/emotional skills they learned in elementary school.
“In middle school, we’re really focused on helping students develop independence and a sense of personal responsibility,” she says.
For some students, that means working with Lucas on skills like time management and organization. For others, it means tackling personal and social issues.
“Adolescence is a time in life when so much is going on,” she explains. “It’s a time of tremendous physical and emotional growth. But it’s also a very self-centered time in life. One of the unique challenges of working with this age group is to help students look outside themselves and think about how their actions not only affect themselves and their own futures, but also that of others.”
Similar to her elementary and middle school peers, Mt. Hebron High School Counselor Veronica Valentine supports her students in a variety of ways. In addition to having casual check-ins throughout the year, she meets with all students at least once a year to discuss scheduling. Those conversations can include making changes to students’ current schedules and/or planning for the next year’s schedule.
“When I sit down with a student, I try to understand where they are and where they want to go,” she says. “From there, we work together to try to strategize which classes will best position them to meet their goals.”
Valentine meets with classes of students several times a year to deliver lessons designed to prepare them for life after high school. The lessons cover a range of topics, from “getting to know yourself” to standardized testing and the college application process. Additionally, Valentine helps organize her high school’s annual “World of Work” event, where students develop a resume and participate in a mock interview.
“My goal is to help students be work-ready, no matter what path they decide to pursue after they graduate,” she says.
Valentine also plays a critical role in supporting students through the college search and application process. Not only does she help them identify colleges that could be a good fit for their skills and interests; she writes letters of recommendation to support their applications. Moreover, she helps them navigate the financial aid application process.
“Particularly for students who are the first in their family to go to college, the college application and financial aid process can be very overwhelming. I do try to provide students with the information they need to understand and be successful in that process.”
Like school counselors at the elementary and middle school levels, Valentine also plays a key role in supporting students’ mental health. This can involve daily or weekly check-ins, where she talks with students about how they are feeling and helps them stay on track academically. In a crisis, it can involve connecting a student and their family with outside intervention and treatment resources and, if needed, working with outside therapists or other mental health practitioners to develop a treatment plan.
As Valentine explains, “School counselors are trained and function differently than therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners, who tend to provide more long-term treatment. Our role is to help triage more immediate issues and to supplement and reinforce the support students are getting from other sources.” Valentine explains.
Ultimately, school counselors are there to support students in any way they can, Lucas says.
“Whether that is figuring out a plan to help a student get more organized, working with them on a scheduling issue, or simply checking in with them to see how their day is going, we will meet them where they are and work with them to figure out what their next step is.”
Learn more about HCPSS school counselors and check out our Staff Focus on Jeffers Hill Elementary School Counselor Diane Moe.