For the first time in a long time, each school in Jackson County will have its own full time guidance counselor.
Director of Schools Jason Hardy said finding school counselors is a challenge. Hardy said this is important for student development because they help with social and emotional situations. Hardy said in the past, the school system needed to make do with fewer counselors on staff.
“We’ve had some great people that have had to wear multiple hats in different roles,” Hardy said. “Of course, the counselors we did have in house during those times when we were short always were willing to lend a hand and do some things. But you know, it’s not easy, but we did the best we could with the resources we had.”
Hardy said counselors are some of the unsung heroes of a school system because of the roles they take on. Hardy said the modern guidance counselor is very different from those of the past because they do more than just help students.
“I mean they’re just, putting in programs,” Hardy said They’re going above and beyond on things that teachers and administrators don’t have the time for. It’s a very thankless job, but we know how important they are.”
Hardy said guidance counselors taking on this role helps the school system protect instructional time. He said specific duties of counselors vary depending on the schools.
On the elementary school level, Hardy said the counselors focus on social and emotional development. As students get older, counselors begin to mix in academics, and eventually career or college exploration.
In addition to this, Hardy said modern day students present lots of challenges. He said there have been more behavior issues in the last five years than in the 20 years before that.
Everybody deals with things differently, so these counselors have to go above and beyond to find the way to personalize and get through to some of those kids,” Hardy said. “Some of them are quite frankly facing issues that we can’t even dream of, whether it be a bad home life, or some things that’s happened. You know, they need to be put back on the right path, so having that person to guide and help the teachers along the way too is so important.”
Two new counselors will be joining the school system for the new school year. Julia Schenk will be at Dodson Branch School and Kaylee James will be at Jackson County Middle School.