Philosophy

• Fostering positive relationships is a fundamental building block of serving as a school counselor.
  
  
• It is essential to create a warm and welcoming environment where the students feel safe. 
  
  
• Students must feel like they are welcomed for who they are, unconditionally.  They must feel that it is acceptable to make mistakes.  I teach and model appropriate social skills with students. 
  
  
• As a school counselor, I feel that it is important to be as available and present as possible, so I may meet the needs of our student body.  When providing direct counseling services outside of the classroom, I will be using a combination of person-centered and solution-focused approaches. 
  
  

My Roles at West U

• As your school counselor, I will address a wide variety of social and emotional needs. 
  • I will be proactive and readily available to students, staff, and parents. I will reach the entire student body through weekly morning announcements, grade level assemblies, classroom visits/guidance lessons. 
  • I will also continue to implement and support our Positive Behavior program that we began last year with the assistance of our PTO Positive Behavior committee.
  • I will help lead and support the No Place for Hate committee.
  • I will help address school and community needs through my memberships on our Shared Decision Making Committee (SDMC) and Safety Committee.  
    
    

• I will empower the student body through a systematic guidance curriculum.  We will be implementing the Harmony SEL program this year school-wide.  This program focuses on building emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills in students – such as building empathy, learning to be an “upstander”, and working collaboratively with others.