2. Judith M. L. Hansen has served as a school guidance
counselor and trained future counselors. In the wake of
the Newtown, Connecticut, tragedy, Americans have
become more aware of the key roles that guidance
counselors like Judith M. L. Hansen and her former
students play in public elementary and secondary
schools.
3. Counselors provide academic, psychological and social
guidance for students in collaboration with their
education colleagues and parents. At the high school
level, a guidance counselor assists students choose
their career pathway, select classes to prepare them for
their future, organize their applications for college and
navigate their next steps following graduation.
Counselors also enroll new students, conduct
placement evaluations, and lead individual educational
planning on behalf of students who struggle
academically.
4. For many schools, guidance counselors are prepared to
provide critical mental health services and referrals.
Since many students have little access to mental health
screening and their parents may be embarrassed to ask
for help, counselors can aid students who would
otherwise fall through the cracks. Counselors engage
students and their parents toward effective strategies to
avoid potential self-harming behaviors. Certified school
mental health counselors evaluate students and refer
them and their parents to the appropriate providers to
assure their personal and academic success.
5. Finally, guidance counselors serve an important social
purpose for our students and schools as a line of
communication among students and adults in the school
community. Counselors provide intervention strategies,
reassurance and age-appropriate explanations to
students troubled by tragic or traumatic events.
6. Guidance counselors engage students, parents of
students at risk and teachers alike to provide a
supportive, safe and secure environment at home as
well as school.
