Busting Out of the Box!
by Susie Honaker Wirzbicki, Shelton Public Schools
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the May 2019 edition of the OSSI Newsletter. Due to a technical glitch, it has been reposted and may be out of sequence.
In today’s counseling world, the role of a school counselor is easily misunderstood and, collectively, we are probably the worst at advocating for ourselves while helping others. Thus, there are as many versions of being a high school counselor as there are buildings.
Teachers, on the other hand, typically have clear role expectations about instruction/content, but are increasingly overwhelmed with the social and emotional concerns of their students. As a result, they feel like therapists, social workers, and parents as well as content teachers. As a school counselor, instead of competing for the time to connection with students, I find it is far more efficient to connect with the teachers and support their work in the classroom.
Counselors are teachers too. I am working with teachers in our building to support, supplement or supplant based on THEIR curriculum, not bring in a stand-alone lesson on specific content. Teaming is easy to say and hard to do for most of us. We have to truly collaborate and share. That work helps the students the most and supports us all the best.
Coordinating with Ed Stewart as an administrator supports the larger team goals. Co-teaching with Matt Hirsch in an intervention class is wonderful collaboration of content. Teaming with new staff like Commander Hood while he learns more about how high schools work supports him as a staff member and his students. Of course, AP Psychology mirrors the school counseling world so well, so it’s no stretch when Eva James and I consult regularly about resources for her class.
This level of integrated content-based counseling is probably not new, but it is new for us as we launch our first ever Freshman Academy. I appreciate these staff members trusting me, sharing their rooms and their struggles with me, and teaming together to bring out our best for our students.
