National School Counseling Week

Most of the time when there is a day week named after your profession, people shower you with gifts and tell you that you’re the greatest, right? While we certainly hope that’s the case at your school, you may be among the majority who aren’t that fortunate.

My very favorite professor in my school counseling program said, “Use School Counseling Week to brag on yourself and you celebrate even if no one else does!” Think of National School Counseling Week as a party you are throwing in order to get people to buy in to your amazing program. You know that you’re doing a great job. This is your week to let everyone know just what a great job you are doing.

Here are some easy ideas to celebrate National School Counseling Week and brag on yourself at the same time! (Check out this post, too for an additional set of poster ideas!)

1.) Posters or fliers– The American School Counselor Association has made the theme of NSCW 2019 “School Counselors: Providing Lessons for Life.” We made these FREE posters that follow the ASCA theme. We plan on using these to put them in teacher mailboxes to provide a little info about what we do. There is a poster for each of the 5 days in the school week. We’re kind of obsessed with how cute the farmhouse theme is. RUN, don’t walk! And download them NOW!

2.) Treat the Staff– I know it sounds crazy. After all, this is supposed to be a week in your honor, right? Well, not exactly. This is a week to advocate for your program. Our role as school counselor is to provide support to the staff as well as the students. Consider stressing that point by doing something out of this world awesome for your colleagues. Look at it this way, you are a lot more likely to win friends and influence people by doing something nice for them first before they shower you with gifts and attention.
You may be thinking, “Y’all have lost your minds. I’m still paying on my student debt. My kids take ballet and karate. I’m not spending any money on this staff who thinks I sit in my office playing Minesweeper all day!” We get that. But rest assured, no one plays Minesweeper anymore, so they’re probably not thinking that.
There are many companies and services that want to provide some incredible services to your staff for free.
– Chiropractors or Massage Therapists will usually bring a massage chair and set up in your teacher’s lounge for free. They will provide 5 or 10 minute massages as a possible way to get more business in the future.
– Do you know a skin care consultant? Have a friend who is a Mary Kay representative? Many times they would love an invitation to come set up at a school and provide facials or hand cream as a way to help you out with the possibility of gaining future customers.
– Set up a relaxation room. Maybe you could play instrumental music in the teachers lounge. Turn out the lights and bring in lamps to provide a homey feel. Use youtube to play sounds of a fountain streaming.
– Do you have a local gym? See if they have an instructor who would come out and do a class for your staff. Maybe a yoga class to help them relax., or a Zumba class to get everyone moving.
– See if your principal would allow you to do a faculty meeting or a grade level meeting to provide coping skills or mindfulness techniques to the staff. We concentrate on providing the students with these, but teachers need these skills, too!

3.) Food– I always say that food is a teacher’s love language. In the past we have used candy with tags that say, “I’m bursting with excitement that I get to be your school counselor!” (Starburst), or Kisses with some cute saying attached. We’ve made cookies and put up a sign that says, “Together we’re making our students smart cookies!” We’ve also put donuts in the work room with a sign that said, “I donut know what I would do if I didn’t get to be your school counselor!” We’ve also given out water with flavor packets with cute sayings.
The food is not necessarily a treat for them. It’s just a way to get their attention so that you can brag on yourself and your program. Set up a dish in the teacher’s lounge that says, “Take some candy and take some facts.” Have some information sheets about your counseling program. Once again, we’ll mention these posters/fliers. Put a stack of these out every day of the NSCW next to whatever treat you are handing out.

4.) Provide Documentation- This may require you to do a little math. How many whole group lessons have you done this year? How many students have you seen during those whole groups? For example, if you do 20 classes with 20 students twice a month, you’ve had 4,000 student encounters! Add in the number of small groups you are running plus the individual sessions you have done. If you put this together in some documentation, pat yourself on the back! I’m not sure what your responsibilities include, but we are the building test coordinators at our school. Add in the hours you have spent in training for that role, or the hours you have spent training others. We also handle all of the special education referrals at our schools. Let them know how many students have been referred, and how many hours you spend on each referral. How many student observations have you done? How many parent conferences?
This type of documentation would not be possible without this little gem. We each bought a school counselor planner from Carol Miller last year, and it may be our most favorite purchase ever. It helps us keep up with how we have spent our time and how many students we have seen throughout the year. Put this on your wish list and get one!

We hope this is your best School Counseling Week ever. Don’t get upset if the staff members don’t hoist you up on their shoulders and parade you around the school for your week. Remember, our job as school counselors is to serve the school. When you have a heart of service, you see NSCW in a completely different light. To borrow a thought from President Kennedy’s inaugural address, It’s truly not about what your school can do for you, but it should inspire you to examine how much you are doing for your school. Each year, while I am proud of what I have done, I always see opportunities to do more.

The fact that you’re reading this says so much about who you are. We know you are truly a hero at your school. Happy National School Counseling Week.