Once the craziness of schedule changes, new enrollments and starting the school year settles down in the guidance world, we begin our senior meetings. This involves the counselors meeting individually with each senior in our assigned CATS groups. The reason for the meetings is to make sure that each senior is on track to graduate and then to discuss their plans after high school. Once we agree on what it takes to receive the diploma, the talk changes to “what next?” This conversation may take on different aspects depending on the student and their plans. We try to meet each student where they are in the process and provide the support and help that they may need. Some students are very confident and well into making plans while others are undecided and need help starting and carrying out those plans.
The reason for this background is to say that as much as I feel that senior meetings are important and helpful, it also makes me realize that teachers are the ones with true relationships with students. I will meet with over one hundred seniors and do all I can to insure their graduation and help them with anything needed for plans after JCHS but I know that I do not have the relationship with each of these students that many of you have. Obviously I get to know some students very well and connections are made but not having the daily contact over a period of a semester, year or even years is quite different than the teacher-student relationship. I see it at graduation every year between seniors and their CATS teachers. I know it’s true because I see former students coming back to visit with you. I know it’s true because my first ten years of my career were in the classroom and I continue to keep in touch with former students. And I know it’s true because I also have a few former teachers that I maintain contact with (yes, a few are still living). Everyone seems to have favorite or special teachers that they can name, share stories about or tell of how that teacher made a difference in their life. But rarely is that named educator their school counselor. And that to me is exactly as it should be.
I serve a support role and by virtue of that role I hope to assist students, teachers and parents through this process called high school. This may be very involved and personal with one student but only an infrequent schedule change for another. The amount of time spent or the issue resolved is not my focus but rather that I might play a part in making the overall high school experience a little smoother and successful for students. But then isn’t student success our common goal? We just have different roles to fill and hats to wear (proof will be in the yearbook) to make it happen.
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