TPC Journal-Vol 11-Issue-1

The Professional Counselor | Volume 11, Issue 1 125 I also think that as school counselors it is our job to help shape and mold future school counselors. I encourage all school counselors, once you are settled in and ready, to work with local colleges and universities that have school counseling programs and become a supervisor for their students. I had the pleasure of being a supervisor for students in the school counseling program at WVU for 4 years. It was an honor and privilege to work with those students. It was a way of teaching our future school counselors how to advocate for themselves, their programs, and their profession. I think it is important that we take on these roles. We need to show students how to navigate the challenges and barriers that they will experience as school counselors. I think the biggest change needs to come from the people that we vote into office. We need to educate political leaders on our role and the job that we do. It is interesting to me that when it comes to education, people making the decisions usually have the least amount of experience. We need laws that protect our jobs and our professional roles. We need laws that require schools to have school counselors, regulate usage of time, establish a counselor ratio to number of students, etc. Having these things in place will allow school counselors to focus their time and energy on building their programs and providing supports for students. 4. When discussing systemic change and social justice, how do you view your role as a school counselor, and now the Coordinator of Student Supports, when working with school administrators, teachers, parents, and community members? This is a very good question, especially now. I view the role of school counselors as vital and important when it comes to discussing systemic change and social justice. In education, you are always following policies. As a school counselor, I have always followed the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) ethical standards. The ASCA ethical standards state that we are ethically responsible to advocate for our students regarding equity and access. It is our role to foster an awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and to ensure that we are creating a welcoming environment for our students. It is also our role not only to provide support for underrepresented populations in schools, but to educate our students on social justice, cultural diversity, racism, implicit bias, etc. We have an opportunity to help change the world that these students grow up and live in. We cannot be afraid to tackle these sensitive topics. They are a part of our students’ world and we need to be prepared to address them. In my role as Coordinator of Student Supports, I am able to extend my impact with our school administrators, teachers, parents, and community members. I am the county-wide chair over our Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee, a new committee that I was asked to start up when I took my current position. I am very grateful and excited for this opportunity, and I plan to take full advantage of it. When I started thinking about how I wanted the committee to look, I made sure that it was composed of administrators, teachers, parents, and community members. When we talk about change, we need input from multiple sources throughout the school and community. We need to work as one cohesive unit. I have found it beneficial to involve everyone because we gain more insight. Having parents and community members present really makes a difference because their voice is heard, and we are able to better understand the needs of our students and how to address those needs. I also think it gives stakeholders a little insight into what we are doing as a school system.