What Do School Counselors Do?

Today's school counselors are vital members of the education team. They help all students in the areas of academic achievement; personal/social development and career exploration, ensuring that today's students become the productive and well-adjusted adults of tomorrow.

As the school counselor at OLGC, Mrs. Farrow serves as an advocate for student success, while providing every student access to a caring and encouraging environment that promotes growth mindset. Support is given through individual student centered counseling, small group collaboration and conflict resolution, and classroom guidance lessons that focus on academic, career, emotional, and personal/social skill development.

The program's goal, which follows the ASCA (American School Counseling Association) Nation Model closely, is to support, facilitate and provide all students the necessary tools to achieve their full potential and be successful in school. This is possible when everyone (students, parents, teachers, and administration) work together as a team towards the achievement of this goal. Want to learn more about the ASCA Model? Please visit www.schoolcounselor.org.

School counselors are certified and licensed professionals, who possess a Master’s degree or higher in school counseling and meet the state certification/licensure standards, and abide by the laws of the states in which they are employed.

This year, I will be in each classrooms once a during their scheduled Health & Wellness class as the main instructor for this special. Middle School will receive monthly counseling lessons during Religion Class or study hall.. The theme of each lesson will change each week (for K-5) and monthly (for MS) based on the needs of the students, teacher/staff recommendations, or current events. I will also be making appearances in each classroom to either review and refresh on specific lessons when needed, or to conduct observations when requested. Please feel free to reach out to me if there is ever a concern, or if you have a suggestion or recommendation for a topic you would like discussed with your child.

Topics include, but do not limit:

• Friendship
• Respect, Responsibility, Honest, Caring
• Hygiene
• Manners
• Anxiety
• Kindness
• Career Exploration
• Stress/Coping Skills
• Study Skills, Time Management, Organization
• Teamwork
• Goal Setting
• Bullying - "Be a Buddy not a Bully School Campaign"
• Social Media
• Self Esteem

Students/parents/teachers can request that the counselor see a student if they have a concern about that student at any point of the school day.

Typical topics the counselor sees students are:

• Understanding feeling
• Divorce/Separation/Changing Families
• Grief
• Stress
• Social Skills
• Academics
• Bullying Problem Solving
• Decision Making/Goal Setting
• Anger
• Relational Aggression
• Other

Groups usually consist of about 4-10 students and can last from 5-8 weeks. Groups are formed from student assessments and teacher/parent recommendations. Topics of groups depend on the needs of the students or teacher- parents recommendations including, but not limiting: relational aggression. family changes, study skills, academic support, emotional regulation and friendship.

The 6th graders will meet and we will discuss, review and practice how to be successful students. The primary goal of the class is for students to feel confident in their work/grades and not become overwhelmed with all the additional work that comes along with being in Middle School.

Topics that will be covered include the following:

• Organization
• S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting
• Time Management
• Study Habits
• Note Taking
• Accountability
• Motivation/Preference
• Consistancy

Each student will make an academic weekly goal, which I will be holding them accountable to make progress with. We will review our successes, while discussing how we can improve on areas that were not as successful for the week, and adjusting our goals where needed. I will end each session with time allowing the students to work on homework or make up work.

* I am also available to work with students ( all grades) individually on their study skills and organization per teacher and parent request!