Sandi Logan

I heard this phrase nearly half a dozen years ago when I was working as a school counselor intern for a local school district. I was collaborating with a few school counselors in creating a presentation for the upcoming California Association of School Counselors’ (CASC) annual conference. Little did I know that this phrase would continue to resonate with me. When I think of continuous improvement, I think of counselors and educators in general. No matter what our specific role is, we should all be striving towards continuous improvement. So what would happen if we didn’t strive for such a thing? Well, I believe we would be stuck with status quo, in stagnant position.

Making the decision to pack up my entire life and move across the country from California to Florida was not so easy; I had lived in Southern California my entire life. My whole social network of friends, family, and colleagues were no longer at my fingertips. I would like to say that I knew my environment quite well and became known as the “Resource Queen” within my colleagues. Whether it was providing a parent a referral to access medical and mental health services or a fellow professional school counselor with an organization within their community, I seemed to usually have someone or somewhere to refer a person to.

Often times, I hear adults make statements such as “Oh, yea, I remember my guidance counselor” or “I never saw my guidance counselor; I didn’t need to.” And maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I get irritated by this. Perhaps in the past the term ‘guidance counselor’ was appropriate. Students and even the general public held the belief that a guidance counselor was simply present to provide guidance and advice. A high school guidance counselor simply sat in their office and met with students who needed help deciding on classes to take. Or perhaps, a student in distress would see the guidance counselor to ask for advice about what to do. On the whole, the guidance counselor was available, if you sought out such a resource. In the early to mid-1900’s, a list of duties was identified for counselors. The 1950’s to 1970’s school counseling began to form a foundation for development of a program. Counselors were seen as a part of a system: the school system. By the 1980’s to 1990’s, developing, organizing, and managing a school counseling program began to cultivate.

What do you do when you enter a position as a professional school counselor with no job description, job evaluation, or head counselor supervision? You develop the program to be what you want it to be. Well, what I wanted was a comprehensive school counseling program at a small K-8 school district in Southern California. I began my mission by emphasizing to administration the importance of acknowledging the three domains of our work, as addressed in ASCA’s national standards: Academic, Career, and Personal/Social. Quickly into my first year, I realized how important it was for others to truly understand what the role of a school counselor is. So, I attended staff meetings and provided updates as to what issues I was noticing were prevalent in my office. One by one, I entered classrooms to introduce myself to staff members and attempt to make a personal connection with each educator, as well as with the front office staff.