Case Study: Mrs. Tapia

As a Payroll Assistant, Ms. Alvarado is in charge of maintaining information by collecting and entering data of the students’ awards, resolving discrepancies by collecting and analyzing the data that she is provided with. In addition, she also collects students’ documents and revises their FAFSA to make sure that everything is correct or to see if the students made any changes. Implementing this job requires a series of technical and intellectual skills like multitasking, working well under pressure and being extremely detail oriented, which is why it is very important to have a soft-hard personality due to the amount of work that she gets and the necessities of helping the students.

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

Examining the information obtained in the interview and the roles and functions of the school psychologist in Burr Elementary School, I would first like to investigate the client basis in Mrs. Montgomery’s practice. With the client focus centered on the children and teachers, as well as the social system, it can be seen through Mrs. Montgomery’s open door policy that she puts herself out there so that students and teachers know they can come to her for guidance and support. Not only does Mrs. Montgomery’s spend time with a student in a 1-to-1 setting, she also meets with students through the many instructional, social skills and outreach groups. For example, she incorporates small group meetings during lunch, to confer with students on various grade levels. This allows Mrs. Montgomery’s to cycle through students who are not on her caseload. Spending observation time sitting-in in classrooms, Mrs. Montgomery is able to consult and collaborate with teachers and administration about students who are struggling or who need extra

I could confidently say meeting with her confirms the many reasons I’ve considered a career as a school counselor and plan to apply to school counseling graduate school programs. Her job clearly has its demanding moments however I sensed that overall her satisfaction with her job was very high. She plays an important role to enriching the lives of many students and through that she finds much purpose in her job

She also realized that being in a classroom all day was not for her. When talking to Mrs. Cruthirds you could clearly see she loved her job and was filled with so many stories about her job. She seemed excited when talking about what she has done and still doing and has been encouraging to me. She said that she believes that children generally do not care what you think until they know and think that you care about them. This meaning that she is working to show them that she cares so in turn they will care about themselves and the future too. She does what every counselor does and that instills hope by showing you care. I like her belief or theory on this. I want to be able to show children that I care about them and for them to know and believe that they have someone that cares about them. I never realized until working in the school how many kids feel like no one cares about them and when they realize someone does you can see the light in their eyes. Mrs. Cruthirds talked about seeing the change in students as she began working with them. She said that students fall to peer pressure most of the time, so when you start working in groups with them or with their class as a whole you can see their thoughts changing on certain topics along with behaviors. The therapeutic skill that she uses most with her student is keeping in touch with them. Even when their problem has been solved she will call them in just to check in and remind them that she is always there to talk if

services her office provides are beneficial to students who have strayed from the Principles of

Ms. Shek is resourceful and energetic. She has been working closely with various Boards and Committees in our school and provides invaluable advice and support to them. She is sensitive to the need of students and has effectively guided students to explore and solve their own problems. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of parents seeking help from Ms. Shek, this increase in demand adds to the already existing heavy workload. However, with her enthusiasm and positive attitude, Ms Shek is able to provide unfailing support to both students and parents.

School counselors collaborate with other school personnel such as teachers who will help implement guidance lessons in the classroom. As a school counselor it is important to keep the teachers motivated to help implement these programs. Resource teachers typically work the special education students, collaborating with resource teachers ensures that all students are included in the comprehensive program. The resource teacher can help provide alternative to working with students in an inclusive manner. The principles and assistance principles of the school typically serve on the advisory committee, they provide resources to the program, and help communicate the important of the counseling program. School psychologist are there to assist with mental health services, doing assessments, and working with the school counselor during crisis situations. School nurses provide health services to the students. They monitor student medications and note changes in students behavior or effectiveness of the medication. Secretaries are equally important in the collaborative model. Secretaries are typically the first person a parent will come in contact with when entering the school. They are the ones that create that first impression (Erford, 2015). Community agencies can provide additional support to students outside of

Mrs. Moore is currently a school counselor she does miss doing private practice because she said you don’t get to build the same type of relationships that you have in private practice. One thing that she makes love about being a part-time school counselor is the flexibility. Dr. Moore has a 7-year-old son that has autism, and this provides her the opportunity to be with her son more. She does love the fact that she still gets to work with children and the other perks that come along

School counseling programs are designed to serve the school as a whole. They serve the students as counselors, act as consultants to teachers, parents and administrators and coordinate activities to implement the developmental guidance program. However, in order to have an effective program they need to instill the qualities of Lencioni’s model into their interaction with the individuals they serve.

When Ms.Gough is not embracing the student body with enthusiastic high- fives she’s the ; Human Resources Manager, Chief finanical advisor, Curriculum supervisor , as well as the overseer for Riverton High school’s Extra Curricular activities. Working around 55-65 hours a week her job responsibilities are are anything but mundane.

Attitude and cooperation shown by parents: It has been challenging to connect with Ms. Casto. Teachers reported that they have called home and have not received return calls regarding Dawson. Ms. Casto was supportive of Dawson attending an after school homework club to help with grades but follow through was an issue due to not being able to get a

When first applying to this program, I had a general idea of what school counseling was, but I never knew how many responsibilities a school counselor actually had. When I initially received my copy of the ASCA National Model, I was intimidated and unsure of what to expect. I soon learned that the ASCA National Model is a framework for school counseling programs and helps build a common understanding of what school counselors are responsible for. It consists of four components, foundation, management, delivery, and accountability, that make up the framework of the ASCA National Model and is based on the themes of systemic change, leadership, advocacy, and collaboration (ASCA, 2012). With that said, school counselors hold many more responsibilities than what they were once thought to. As a future school counselor, I now know that my duties go beyond simply helping students when they are experiencing a problem. I will be responsible for helping students achieve their academic, social/emotional, and career goals, which will ultimately help them become successful members of society. MORE????

As a future school counselor, I can reflect that these past eight weeks, I have a full understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a school counselor in a traditional high school. Practicum 2 has been learning experiences that I will remember as I start my new profession. I believe that being exposed and actively involved with a group of school counselors brought a wide range of knowledge that I plan to utilize in the future. As a continuum from my Practicum 1, the following CACREP standards are mentioned below.

Impacting the lives of children must be approached from a team perspective to address all aspects of the child’s environment and relationships including caregivers, peers, teachers and school. Behavioral Counselors must collaborate with school counselors to understand the impact that school and teachers have on the child’s life. To appreciate School Counseling a review of the specialization’s history is important. School Counselors have evolved from vocational guidance and job-orientated counseling following World War I to educational guidance following World War II due to the passing of the GI bill as veterans were given right to education counseling (Minkoff, 1985). Today School Counselors support a wide variety of needs from a wide variety of student populations including but not limited to depression, college guidance, anxiety, oppositional disorder and developmentally delayed due to change in access to mental health care being more privatized (Lockhart & Keys, 1998). Lockhart states that because of the restructuring in access to care school counselors have been pushed to handle a wider variety of needs within mental health (1998).