APS Salutes its School Counselors

This week is National School Counseling Week, recognizing those who play a vital role in the educational process.

February 7, 2012

APS recognizes its 220 school counselors as part of National School Counseling Week, Feb. 6-10, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association. The week honors school counselors who are a vital part of the educational process for all students.

APS also salutes its resource counselors, drug and alcohol intervention counselors and family counselors. In total, the district has about 240 counselors who serve a wide variety of needs. Every APS school has at least a part-time counselor and many have more than one.   

“School counselors are a tremendous resource in our schools providing important curriculum and classroom lessons that support academic achievement and career and college readiness as well as the myriad of prevention and intervention strategies,” said APS Counseling Manager Leslie Kelly.

“Our students, families and communities need to deal with barriers to learning. The acquisition of pro-social skills are often just as important as rigorous academics for student success.”

Professional school counselors are certified, experienced educators with a degree in guidance and counseling. The combination of their training and experience makes them an integral part of the total educational program.

"School counselors work with all students to remove barriers to learning by addressing students’ academic concerns, personal/social skills and career awareness in post-secondary options,” said Kwok-Sze Wong, Ed.D., executive director of the American School Counselor Association. “Comprehensive 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."

More than 29,000 school counselors nationwide will be recognized this week as part of School Counselors Week.