Dana Simonelli's school counseling portfolio summarizes her internship experiences and qualifications. At Manchester Middle School, she ran various student groups and initiatives around substance abuse awareness, attendance, and grief support. Feedback from internship supervisors and coaches praised her work developing students' self-belief, teamwork, and character. Her recommendations include better supporting gifted students and offering stress reduction activities.

1. Dana Simonelli, M.A.
SCHOOL COUNSELING PORTFOLIO
2332 E. ASHFIELD COURT, TOMS RIVER, NJ 08755
201.951.4055 ● SDANA44@GMAIL.COM

2. School Counselor Philosophy
“Empathetic, compassionate, solution focused & strength
based counselor with a passion for guiding adolescents
toward becoming the best version of themselves.”

3. Manchester Middle School ‐ Internship
SPRING 2016 STUDENT STATISTICS
◦ Students with 504 plans: 16
◦ Organizational Group participants: 12
◦ Interventional & Referral Services students: 6
◦ Total 6th graders: 250
◦ Student Growth Outcome (Reduce Academic Failure): 17 students failing one or more core
academic subjects through the third marking period. By the end of the school year, there
were 8 students who reduced the number of classes by one or more.

4. Manchester Middle School ‐ Internship
LEAD & SEED INITIATIVES
◦ Group Training by Dart Coalition with student ambassadors to learn how to be a school leader to
educate others about substance abuse awareness.
◦ Created Student Ambassador Business Cards.
◦ Student Ambassadors escorted guests during career day and offered them a business card. In addition,
informed each guest about something they knew about substance abuse.
◦ Survey after Super Bowl Sunday to assess how aware young people are of alcohol commercials. Assists
in understanding awareness within the school.

5. Student
Ambassador
Business Cards
Created business cards for
Lead & Seed student
ambassadors in order to
assist the ambassadors to
have a thoughtful
conversation about
substance abuse awareness.

6. Manchester Middle School Internship
ATTENDANCE MATTERS
◦ Added content to the guidance department
homepage about the importance of
attendance, with a link to learn more at
attendance.org

7. Attendance
Matters
Bulletin Board
Created bulletin board at
main entrance of school that
included statistics about why
attendance matters.

8. Manchester Middle School Internship
NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR WEEK
◦ During National School Counselor week, the guidance department gave each faculty member and
administrator a 3 Musketeer candy bar with the below note attached:
Teachers, Administrators, and School Counselors
work together for student success!
In celebration of
National School Counseling Week 2016,
We would like to thank you for being
one of the “3 Musketeers!”
Your School Counselors,

9. Manchester Middle School Internship
LOSS OF LOVED ONE GROUP
◦ Ran the Loss of loved one group twice a month for four months for students who lost a parent.
◦ Four students consistently attended.
◦ Activities included:
◦ Paper links – each student wrote a memory about their loved one on a slip of construction paper and we linked all
the members together to make a chain.
◦ A stack of approximately 40 notecards that has different feelings on them and each student had to place a check on
the card if they ever felt what was stated on the notecard

10. Manchester Middle School Internship
LEGO LUNCH
◦ Worked with my supervisor to create Lego lunch for a small group of sixth graders who have a
friendship group. Legos were a common interest among these four students as well as karate. The
lunch was created to help this group of students get along better with each other as they began to
have more conflicts as the school year progressed.
◦ Some lunches included the following:
◦ Each student brought their Legos and we provided Legos so the students could connect further
◦ The students that already did karate, we had them teach the others some of the moves

11. Manchester High School PsychoEd Group
PERFORMANCE ANXIETY IN STUDENT ATHLETES GROUP
◦ Worked with the girls’ basketball team at Manchester High School. The group was
instrumental in helping the athletes feel better about their performance both on and off
the court. This was accomplished through various imagery exercises and self‐reflection.
TESTIMONIAL:
“Dana met with the girls weekly to develop teamwork, self‐belief, character skills, and an
overall sense of pride in themselves and the program. The varsity girls’ basketball team had
a positive response to her and her teachings.
– Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Manchester High School

12. Recommendations
Addressing the needs of gifted & talented students within the school
Mind, Body & Spirit options for stress reduction; i.e. yoga,
meditation, imagery
Using mild physical activity while counseling