Last week I was talking through the registration process with Stephanie Snow. She was stressed because it will take longer this year than normal due to the tracking of students and the restrictions on the number of students that the counselors can meet with at a time. She also knows that the time that students are in class is very valuable and she wanted to protect that for teachers. After finally scratching out a plan, it hit me that our counselors haven't had much of an opportunity to do the rewarding parts of their job this year. Their time has been filled with endless scheduling needs, student and parent check-ins, and locating disengaged students. In the meantime, we have squeezed in college planning, FAFSA applications, program enrollments, and the other more redeeming work that they do. (Ironically, our FAFSA applications exceeded last year's total by just October of this year.) They have been caught in a world of trying to triage students that are not successful while still finding time for students that are.
If I'm being honest, the school would run fine without me right now. So many of you know and demonstrate leadership and could take the reins of what traditionally fills my time if you had to. But I cannot imagine school this year without effective school counselors. They built the framework for how our school functions under Plan B and keep the wheels moving every day. Their work defines the term "essential" that seems overused in many areas by comparison.
So if you haven't spoken to our counselors lately, make a point of it today and show some love. They deserve it now more than ever.
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