2, 4, 6, 8! It’s the Counselors We Appreciate!
Students become aware of National School Counseling Week
Prowling through the jungle on Safari Day, counselors participate in the spirit event. Besides setting class schedules and helping students through personal struggles, the counselors add to the spirit of the school by taking part in dress up days and other all-school events like Pie Night and college visits.
The bell rings and students surge through the halls in an endless stream of bodies. They go to each class on their schedule, and pass through the school day peacefully, for the most part, without issue. But who makes this all possible? Who is the lifeblood, the centerpiece of the mechanism that runs the day-to-day schedules of students? That role falls to our counselors.
“Our counselors do an amazing job. I work very closely with all of them, including Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Addams,” Principal Thomas Hensley said. “To me they’re invaluable, and for our students the same thing. Just how supportive they can be, in situations of emotional crisis, if it’s a schedule change; whatever – it is they’re great. I don’t think the school would be successful without them.”
This week is the National School Counseling Week, a week where counselors in the field of education in U.S. school systems are recognized and celebrated. The impact of counselors is shown daily to many in the halls of Klein Oak.
“They’re great at looking at [students] and figuring out where they need to be and where they need to go,” Health Sciences teacher, Catherine Lawrence, said. “I think they just dive into the kids’ problems, and find what they need.”
The students not only see the significance of the counselors in every class they take, but also in the personal relationships they build with them.
“My counselor, Mrs. Bowling, helped me through a really tough time, and she pulled me out of class so she could help me talk through my problems,” junior IB student Keri Li said. “She helped me talk about my future, and plan for it.”
These fostered relationships between the students and their counselors is the root of strength for the school.
“[Mrs. Bowling] was previously one of my English teacher, and then she took up the big role of IB counselor,” junior IB student Anderson Troy Smith said. “I think she has had a tremendous impact on me.”
The care and guidance of these counselors is shown quite prominently in the words of the students they impact the most. Even though there is a heavy weight of the future of students upon them, many at the school feel no fear because of the dedication that the counselors show that the students are in good hands.
“The goal of the counselors is to help all students find success academically and emotionally in life,” lead counselor Mary-Margaret Bolato said.
