Kevin Speer

12/13/19

CSPU 515

How I View Myself as a School Counselor in a Future Work Setting

Ideas

I view myself as someone that truly cares about the well being of students and helping

them succeed not just academically but in life. I feel that building positive relationships is one of

the most important things in education and showing the students that you really care about them,

and them succeeding in life. I have worked the past five years for the San Joaquin County Office

of Education, one.Alternative Programs, community and Charter Visual and Performing Arts

Schools. The district operates about 28 school sites within San Joaquin County that range from

daily school sites to independent study sites. All sites fall within Title 1 funding, which means a

high number of students come from low-income families. The district serves about 4,000

students within the programs. Student referrals range from expulsion, SARB, or parent referral.

We serve students in General Education, Special Education, Foster Youth and Homeless or

Unaccompanied Youth within the programs. I started as an academic tutor my first two years,

then was a teacher for two years, and I have been subbing this last year while I get my schooling

done.

Working with at-risk youth the past few years has really shaped me as an educator and as

a future counselor. I have gained a lot of experience working closely with the counselors in the

program. I have learned the more you care about students and give them a safe place the more
comfortable they feel opening up to you and talking about issues they are having in their lives.

One experience I had that I will never forget is when I was a teacher and one of our female

students opened up to me and my partner teacher, she let me know that she was contimplating

suicide because of her homelife was so bad. Me and my teaching partner were there to listen to

this student and help her through this tough time in life. We also had to file a report on the

parents for not giving her the proper care. This experience made me realize that I really liked

being there for students that need someone to talk with and just listen to them.

As a teacher in the program we had to wear many different hats that really helped me

realize that I wanted to be a school counselor. In order for students to graduate from the

one.Program students have to complete a graduation by exploration project (GBE). Students

have to pick and show proof of exploring two different career options and show the steps needed

to get to this career. I really enjoyed helping students look into life after high school and how

they will be successful in life. This was another thing that made me realize that I really like

working with students and helping them with college and career goals in their life and helping

them achieve these goals.

Skills

Over the past five years working in education I have developed many skills that will help

me excel as a school counselor. The first skill I will talk about is being a great communicator or

having good communication skills. As a counselor, it is extremely important to communicate

with the students you have on your caseload and be able to talk or guide them through life, but

you also have to be able to communicate closely with your staff that you work with on a day to
day basis. I have been fortunate enough to work at multiple school sites and see how each one of

the are run and to see how important communication is to running a successful school site. I have

been apart of school sites where all of the teachers and support staff were on the same page and a

lot of awesome things happen, the kids benefit the most. I have also been at school sites where

the culture of the site seemed like it was dragged down by one or two teachers that were not

bought in and it affects the students the most. Communication makes a good counselor and it is

very important to be a good communicator in all aspects of education.

I think that it is also important to be a great listener and having the ability to be flexible. I

think that a good counselor knows how to sit and listen to students when they need to get things

off their chest. As a counselor you also need to have the skills of being flexible so you can

attempt to be there for students. Being able to adapt to the school site and students you are with

is extremely important. I coach football at Tracy High School the traditional high school in

Tracy, that I attended, and dealing or working with those students are a lot different from the

students I work with in the One.program. The key to being successful is listening and being able

to adapt to the students you are working with and not just stuck into its my way or the highway. I

also think that it is very important to be a team player at your school site, have the ability to keep

and maintain a positive school site culture, and also have strong leadership skills.

Interacting with Colleagues

I have been lucky enough to work at multiple school sites working in the one.Alternative

setting. My first two years I worked at Building Futures Academy which was a school that had

17-24 year olds working to get their high school diplomas, this school also had a youthbuild side
where some of the students were learning job skills and working construction training jobs at the

same time. We had 15 to 20 staff at that school site. This school site taught me the proper way to

work as a team and be on the same page as a school staff. We had staff meetings every monday

morning where we were able to talk about what was going on that week, what concerns we might

have had, and it was a great way to make sure that everyone was on the same page as a staff

member.

My philosophy is that Communication is key when working as a counselor. In order to be

a successful school counselor you have to have a sense of appreciation for the people that you

work with and know that each school site might need a little something different from you as a

counselor to succeed and be the best it can be. Making sure you and your staff talk with each

other about what is going on at the school or with students is the best way to serve your students.

I have also worked at a school site where students were not allowed to wear red or blue clothes.

This school rule would have worked but we always had one or two teachers that didn’t enforce

the rule so students knew that they could get away with it in certain teachers classes it caused a

mess at the school, students no longer felt like they had to follow the rules because some teachers

said it was okay.

Interacting with Students

Over this past year I have worked a lot in the Juvenile Hall as a teacher and I have

observed counselors in that same setting. One of the things that will always stick with me was

one day a student was complaining about one of the teachers saying how this teacher picked

favorites and had certiant rules about things. I calmed the student down and said something like
i’m sure she didn’t mean it, I have similar rules on that. The student responded by saying “ yeah

Kevin, but one thing about you is that you’re consist across the board with all of us”. I'm sure the

student didn’t mean it but it resonated with me and it made me feel good to know that students

didn’t feel like I picked favorites.

My philosophy is that any student can be successful if given the proper support or

opportunity to do so. Every student is worthy of having a nurturing safe environment. When you

build positive relationships with students and they feel safe opening up and talking to you it will

go a long way. A lot of at-risk students didn’t have an adult figure they could count on, or maybe

that figure wasn’t there as consistently as they should of been. Being there for your students and

being consistent will go a long way in building a positive relationship with them.

Interacting with Families

I think that it is very important as a school counselor​ ​to work close and interact with

students' families or guardians. We as school personnel are with these students for a short

amount of time compared to the amount of time parents or guardians are with their kids. I feel

that it is important to interact with families and talk to them and communicate with them about

things. It is sometimes important to let the parent know that just because your student is growing

up and in high school doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to have good communication with them.

This all goes back to my communication is key theory. Communication is important with all

levels of counseling. Sometimes it is also important to let parents know exactly what school

counselors can do to support them and their students.

 In my experience in working with parents it is mostly in helping their student in the

college or career aspect of counseling. The parents want to know what it is going to take to get

their students to graduate, or what it is going to take to get them into college or a career.

Working as a teacher I have also had to sit in on a lot of IEPs and parent teacher conferences

with parents. Sometimes painting a realistic picture for these parents about their student is really

important so we as a team can come up with the best plan to support the student so they are

successful.

Interacting with Communities

Interacting with communities is also extremely important as a school counselor.

(According to ASCA) Community engagement happens when educators, families and

communities partner to promote social-emotional learning, academic success and college-career

preparation for all students. Community engagement happens when educators, families and

communities work together on a shared goal highlighting engagement, trust and collaboration. I

have worked a lot in stockton California and I have been lucky enough to see a lot of different

community support.

One example of the community coming together to help our students was when we put

together an event called Natural High Day. We had a bunch of different people come out to

support the student on ways they could get a natural high without drugs or alcohol. We had

police officers, fire fighters, members of the military, workout instructors, and musicians. Its was

a great experience, the community likes to come together to help students succeed. It was an
awesome time and student learned a lot of things about themselves, and different ways to get a

natural high without drugs or alcohol.

Summary

Overall I have had a lot of experiences that have shaped me and made me want to be a

school counselor. My philosophy is that any student can be successful if given the proper support

or opportunity to do so. Every student is worthy of having a nurturing safe environment.

Communication is key with all students, staff, parents and community members you work with.

Caring for the best interest of the students will get you a long way as a school counselor.

References

Home: American School Counselor Association (ASCA). (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/.