Building rapport among school administrators and colleagues is especially important when creating the systems that need to be in place in order to effect change (ACA, 2014). In order to provide resources for students outside of school, it is imperative for a school counselor to create relationships with community leaders from church pastors to social services representatives. These members of the community can exchange pertinent information with the school counselor so that he or she may provide supplemental support to students and their families. Reaching out to community leaders would be a great strategy for creating and establishing programs to better serve the student population. Depending on the location, students may need more outside assistance than internal programs can provide due to legalities or funding. For example, if students are showing a lack of focus or energy during school hours due to a lack of nutrition, the school counselor could seek nutritional assistance for them by finding out about local food pantry programs or state funded food assistance for their families. 
The following video contains statistics about students in the state of Texas, a student perspective on the expectations and need for a school counselor, and short description on the importance for school districts to provide funding for school counselors: 

 Citation
School Counselor Advocacy Video [Video File]. Retrieved September 6, 2019 from
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeG7GYEz5j8

 

American School Counselor Association (2010). Ethical standards for school counselors [White paper]. Retrieved September 5, 2019 from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

 

Stone, C. B., & Zirkel, P. A. (2010). School counselor advocacy: When law and ethics may collide. Professional School Counseling, 13(4), 244–247.

 

Upton, W. (2017, December). The Importance of Advocacy. Retrieved September 6, 2019 from https://www. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/newsletters/december-2017/the-importance-of-advocacy

 

Lindberg (2017) states that school counselors are the “heart of the school.” We couldn’t agree more.

 

There are many ways in which leadership in the school counseling role can be used to create a safe school environment. If students do not have proper guidance, then the school environment can become unsafe. Dollarhide and Sagnik (2017) state that the school counselor is synonymous to the copilot of an airplane. That’s pretty powerful, don’t you think? Dollarhide and Sagnik (2017) also “focused on the school counselor as a leader in promoting educational reform and meeting educational objectives that are inclusive of creating safe school environments,” (p. 89).

 

Using leadership to ensure students have equal opportunities to succeed academically is quite a smart tactic. Being a leader comes with a lot of responsibility. One of those responsibilities is the carrying the bridge of students’ success, both large and small. This includes students of all ethnicities’, backgrounds, walks of life, etc. It seems apparent that leaders are going to lead. When leading a group or in this case an entire school, school counselors have the opportunity to advocate for students that stem from a variety of backgrounds. Just the idea of school counselors being able to connect with many different individuals both on the state and local side grant assurance that everyone will have equal opportunities. 

 

It is obvious that school counselors work with many different individuals. These individuals range from students, teachers, community leaders, school board professionals, mental health professionals, etc. The list could go on for days. School counselors work with all different types of people to ensure one thing: student success and school safety. For example, having a school counselor reach out to a troubled teen’s mom is reassuring. Knowing that someone cares enough about the safety of schools and students to make contact with individual parents and authorities depicts how leadership in this position closely relates to school safety and student success. School counselors “are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options,” (Lindberg 2017).

 

 

References

 

Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2017). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action. Boston: Pearson.

 

Lindberg, S. (2017). 11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders. Retrieved from https://schoolleadersnow.weareteachers.com/school-counselors-as-leaders/

(2011, November 18). School Counselors! Leaders in School Reform, Student Achievement and College Readiness. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ZgldBB2Hlzs

 

            Collaboration between school counselor and other stakeholders are important to insure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed successfully. It is important that the school counselor involves parents/ guardians in their child’s development to help promote student success. School counselors have to work with parents/ guardians, teachers, student support staff, administrators and community leaders to help serve as an advocate for students academics, career, personal and social needs. 

 

            The school counselor’s role is to provide “positive student behaviors to create a safe, effective learning environment for all students (The School Counselor and Discipline, 2019)” But it is no the counselors role to punish students but to create positive behavior changes. The school counselor collaborates with “families, teachers, administrators and other school personnel to understand developmentally appropriate student behavior and promote positive student behavior (2019).” Counselors also collaborate with mentors, peer support, conflict resolution and anger management programs to assist students in developing positive behavior skills. 

 

American School Counselor Association. (2012). The School Counselor and Discipline.Alexandria, VA: Author.

 

Dixon, A. L., DeVoss, J. A., & Davis, E. S. (2008). Strengthening Links between the Levels: School Counselor Collaboration for Successful Student Transitions. Journal of School Counseling, 6(21). Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ894792&site=eds-live&scope=site