What does the School Counselor do?

Often people ask me, "So what does the School Counselor do?"  One thing that I love about my job is that every day is different and often there is some surprise in my day that I did not know I would be doing that day.  School counseling programs target three specific areas of child development: academic, career, and personal/social. 
 
Below are some statistics about how I have spent my time this year.
 
♦  coordinated and taught 325 Life Skills lessons to students on topics including feelings, empathy, body language, career awareness, bullying prevention, diversity, self-awareness, and personal safety
 
♦  trained fourth and fifth graders to serve on Haw Creek's Safety Patrol team.  I supervised the morning Safety Patrol team daily from 7:30-8:00
  
♦  facilitated 175 individual and/or small group counseling sessions
 
♦  coordinated weekly food delivery to 20 students through the MANNA backpack program
 
♦  facilitated 17 CHAPS (Child Help And Parent Support) meetings with the Principal, School Social Worker, and School Nurse to address the needs of 60 of Haw Creek's high need students 
 
♦  coordinated 75 TIPS meetings for 30 students, 15 of whom were referred on for Exceptional Children's testing, 70% of whom qualified for services
 
♦  collaborated with over 40 community agency partners to provide services for Haw Creek's students and 
 
♦  referred students for ongoing counseling through Family Preservation Services' School-Based Therapy and maintained communication with the therapists regarding the progress of the students receiving counseling services 
"It would be nice if all of the data which sociologists require could be enumerated because then we could run them through IBM machines and draw charts as the economists do.  However, not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
American Sociologist, William Bruce Cameron