What does a school counselor do?
In a broad sense, school counselors provide academic, college, career, and personal guidance to students. Let's break each area down...
Academic Guidance
This area of our responsibility includes advice on how to perform better in high school. It includes scheduling classes that will meet students needs and abilities and aligning those things with high school graduation. We check grades frequently and meet with students who are not meeting their potential to discuss methods of improvement. We make referrals to potential tutoring resources for extra help. Time management is typically a factor in poor performance. It is not unusual for us to help students make daily/weekly calendars so students can plan their time best. School counselors meet with each new student who wishes to enroll at Western Boone in order to plan a schedule and get acclimated to the school.
College Guidance
This area of our responsibility includes scheduling in regards to future planning, i.e., making sure college admission requirements are being met. We also check grades frequently with college guidance in mind so students have the best academic record possible to present to college admission officers. School counselors are responsible for providing guidance about college admission testing such as the SAT and ACT and their practice tests like the PSAT.
Career Guidance
Career guidance involves helping students plan for the career that suits their interests, values and skills the best. We encourage students to complete various assessments that test a students best fit for specific careers. We also guide students into certain courses that will help prepare students most for their career choice.
Personal Guidance
School counselors also are heavily trained on how to help students cope with personal challenges. Students will typically struggle with how best to handle challenges with friends, significant others, and family members and seek our advice on next steps. We are available to make recommendations on places to seek resources in the community as well.
