School Counseling Quarterly

Quarter 3

National School Counseling Week!

National School Counseling Week 2024, “School Counseling: Standards-Based, Student-Focused,” sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), was celebrated from Feb. 5–9, 2024, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of School Counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what School Counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.

“School Counselors work with all students to remove barriers to learning by addressing students’ academic concerns, career options and social/emotional skills,” said Jill Cook, ASCA executive director. “School counseling programs help to increase student achievement and provide a much-needed resource for students, parents, teachers and administrators. School Counselors are integral to student success.

”Parents or community members with specific questions or concerns about school counseling programs should contact the school counselors at their local schools. More general information can also be found on ASCA’s website, www.schoolcounselor.org.

“School Counselors work with all students to remove barriers to learning by addressing students’ academic concerns, career options and social/emotional skills,” said Jill Cook, ASCA executive director. “School counseling programs help to increase student achievement and provide a much-needed resource for students, parents, teachers and administrators. School counselors are integral to student success.”

Parents or community members with specific questions or concerns about school counseling programs should contact the school counselors at their local schools. More general information can also be found on ASCA’s website, www.schoolcounselor.org.

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Classroom Lessons

During January, the MVMS School Counselors and our Student Support Specialist taught Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Career Exploration lessons in 8th grade classes. We have really enjoyed our time with our 8th grade students! We discussed stress and how it can grow into anxiety. We shared various options of coping strategies to practice so that in times of stress they are familiar and a go to tool. We also dove further into career exploration and discussed options of pathways after high school. We utilize a program called Xello which we begin to explore with students in 7th grade and continue into 8th grade. Xello is a program that all students have access to in their MyPlan platform. Students can take career interest inventories, research careers and even dive deeper into researching various colleges. Ask your 8th grader to take you on a tour of the Xello program!

During February, School Counselors and our Student Support Specialist are starting Social-Emotional Learning Lessons (SEL) and Career Exploration with 7th grade classes. This week we looked at the power of positive self-talk. 7th graders learned about Negativity Bias and the science behind it. Ask your 7th grader to share with you what they learned about reframing the negative into the positive and the effects of doing so.

In the following weeks to come in February, 7th graders will be looking at Perspective Taking, Conflicts and Problem Solving. 7th grade students will also begin career exploration within our Xello Program. They’ll be able to match their interests with possible careers and find further information about those careers.

Things to think about: If your child mentioned a career pathway that involves post-secondary education, upcoming breaks are great opportunities to visit programs and campuses. You can visit a local campus in San Diego for a couple of hours. If you are taking a trip, look into campuses in the surrounding area and take a couple of hours to walk around or find out about their campus tours.