MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — The needs of students don’t change with the shifting circumstances of the education system, and school counselors are stepping up to ensure they can provide.
The first week of February was National School Counseling Week, focused on highlighting the impact counselors have on a student’s future. Despite the less frequent days spent on school grounds, or classes being held entirely remotely, the work of counselors hasn’t stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for many students, the assistance of counselors has become much more personal.
Marshall County Schools Director of Student Services Karen Klamut said the district’s counselors are needing to reach out to students over the phone or set up remote meetings to keep on top of their normal responsibilities, with less direct access than they may be used to.
“The teachers have to learn new techniques to reach out to the students at home,” Klamut said. “The teachers still make referrals to the students that they’re encountering either online or in class, and so then the counselor is making that connection, sometimes through a (Microsoft) Teams meeting, or a phone call to try and touch base with the student.”
“It’s definitely a different scenario; they’re used to running some groups with students throughout the day. … It definitely has impacted the number of students they see on a daily basis for sure.”
The Marshall County School District employs 15 counselors, one for each school, plus more at Cameron and John Marshall high schools, funded through the county’s excess levy.
In preparing students for post-graduate plans, the scope of duties has shifted. Rather than job fairs and outreach programs, counselors now help students make the first phone call and arrange meetings to pursue whatever plans may suit them after they get their diploma.
“It really has become a little more personal,” Klamut said, “because you’re personally reaching out to students that you know, they have certain goals they want to do and don’t want to miss those deadlines. … A lot of institutions, too, are going more virtual; doing more virtual showings of campus, because they aren’t able to go and show these kids a lot of things for their future.”
Amy Tucker, a counselor with the district, said the past year has been quite challenging, and counselors and teachers have come to rely on one another more than they already did to make student connections.
“A group of us, we’re going to do a group meeting this afternoon — we’ve been sharing ideas a lot more,” Tucker said. “The technology has really helped because some of us just never navigated it before, but we’ve reached out to one another more. … We’re using the technology that we’ve always had, but probably failed to use, like our Teams meetings. We’ve kind of relied on each other a bit more.”
Tucker said counselors have started working alongside teachers on remote classes to check in, and extend from there to one-on-one meetings with students and their parents if necessary.
“One counselor shared that she had been piggybacking on a teacher’s meeting to check in with kids, do guest appearances, and she was delivering guidance that way.”
In Ohio County, Woodsdale Elementary School counselor Allyson Kangisser said she appreciates National School Counseling Week because it highlights the important efforts of school counselors. She said school counselors work hard to reduce barriers such as housing access, mental health needs and safety concerns that stand in the way of student learning.
“I love my job because I get to build relationships with students and become a consistent person in their life,” she said. “It’s important for them to know that I will be there if they need to talk.
“I love to teach children about abuse prevention,” she added, “because it really makes students aware of ways to stay safe when they are not at school, especially at a young age. I also love being a part of rewards and honor celebrations because it gives me the opportunity to get to see kids happy when they are successful.”
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