Harker Heights High School

Principal: Dr. Jorge Soldevila

Website: https://www.killeenisd.org/hhhs

Location: 1001 E FM 2410 RD, Harker Heights, TX 76548

Phone: 254-336-0800

Twitter: @HhhsKnights

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HHHSKnights

Harker Heights High School is one of six high schools in Killeen Independent School District.

Enrollment: 2,175 students to include approximately 486 seniors

504: 14.8%

Special Education: 13.6%

At Risk: 52.5%

Gifted and Talented: 7.4%

English Language Learner: 6.7%

Harker Heights Counselors advocate and support all students in their personal, social, academic and career development. This is accomplished through delivery of guidance curriculum in various group sizes to support student development; individual and group counseling; individual student planning and goal-setting activities; consultation and coordination activities to support student success

Email: maria.garcia@killeenisd.org

Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, Administration & Supervision

Doctorate in Education, Curriculum & Instruction

School Counselor Alternative Certification Program - Region 4

Leadership Roles:

TSIA Assistant

PEIMS POC

Texas Bio Institute POC

Certifications:

Bilingual Generalist -Spanish EC-4

Generalist EC-4

Generalist EC-6

Secondary Spanish 6-12

English as a Second Language Supplemental EC-12

School Counselor EC-12

Principal EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas School Counselor Association

Texas Counseling Association

Email: sherce.hampton@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Bachelor’s of Social Work

Master’s in Education, LPC

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapist

Leadership Roles:

Threat Assessment Committee Member

Site-Based Decision Making Committee Member

At Risk Team POC

Edgenuity/Evening Academy POC

HB 4545 Interventions

Youth Sponsorship POC

Certifications:

School Counselor EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Mid-Texas Counseling Association

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Email: laura.house@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Leadership Roles:

At Risk POC

Edgenuity POC

HB 4545 Interventions

Youth Sponsorship POC

DAEP and HARP Transition counseling

Certifications:

Social Studies Grades 7-12

Core Subjects Grade 4-8

School Counselor EC-12 (Probationary)

Professional Membership:

Texas Counseling Association

Email: jordana.hughes@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, School Counseling

Leadership Roles:

Recruiter POC

Jason Foundation Presentation Organizer

FAFSA/Parent Night Organizer

Certifications:

Generalist EC-12

School Counselor EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Texas College Counseling Association

Email: maria.jackson@killeenisd.org

Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, School Counseling

Master's in Educational Leadership and Admin

Leadership Roles:

National Merit Scholarship Program POC

Website and Social Media Manager

Veterans Benefits School Certifying Official

Master Board Support

Newsletter POC

Certifications:

Secondary History 6-12

Physical Education EC-12

School Counselor EC-12

Memberships:

American School Counselor Association

Texas Counseling Association

Texas School Counseling Association

Email: warren.kostencki@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, School Counseling

Leadership Roles:

Military Recruiters POC

ASVAB POC

Jason Foundation Presentation Organizer

FAFSA/Parent Night Organizer

Certifications:

School Counselor EC-12

Principal EC-12

Secondary Business Administration 6-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Texas School Counseling Association

Email: laura.littlejohn@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, School Counseling

Leadership Roles:

TSIA Site Manager POC

High School Course Selection Assistant

Scholarship Assistant

FAFSA Assistant

Certifications:

Special Education EC-12

Technology Applications EC-12

School Counselor EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Texas School Counseling Association

Email: wendy.perry@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, School Counseling

LPC- Associate

Leadership Roles:

Lead Counselor

Site-Based Decision Making Committee Member

STEM Academy Counselor

High School Course Selection and Department POC

Certifications:

Generalist 4-8

ESL Certification

School Counselor EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Texas School Counseling Association

Email: deleen.price@killeenisd.org
Phone: 254-336-0842

Education:

Master's in Education, Guidance and Counseling

Leadership Roles:

District Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

Scholarship POC

Central Texas College Advising POC

Naviance POC

Certifications:

Generalist EC-6th

School Counselor EC-12

Professional Memberships:

Texas Counseling Association

Texas School Counseling Association

HHHS counselors work to ensure students' social-emotional needs are being met and help them cope with personal needs and responsibilities. Counselors support students’ academic well-being and conference with students to plan their high school careers, work toward post-secondary goals, and assess their academic progress. Through a partnership with Central Texas College, HHHS offers opportunities to earn an Associate Degree. Counselors provide prevention programs for at risk students to include behavior strategies, safety plans, and credit recovery. HHHS Counselors are leaders within the professional learning community by serving on different committees in the school to improve campus needs.

• Trust-Based Relational Intervention
• District Threat Assessment Committee
• College Career Military Readiness Staff Training
• Weekly Leadership Meetings
• Site-Based Decision Making Committee
• Interventionist Team Meetings
• AVID Site Team
• Naviance Training
• Mental Health Staff Awareness

HHHS Counseling Advisory Council 23-24

Wendy Perry, Counselor

Maria Jackson, Counselor

Laura Littlejohn, Counselor

Sherce Hampton, Counselor

Deleen Price, Counselor

Maria Garcia, Counselor

Liz Rivera, Community Member

Jo Chance, Parent

Jordan Wood, Student

Misha Brownlee, Student

Kye Robertson, Admin

Kelly White, Admin

Allyssa Christ, AVID Teacher

Danny Cranford, Teacher

Council held two meetings during the school year, and 3 additional subcommittee meetings. Fall Meeting: November 06, 2023. Spring Meeting: May 23, 2024

Use of Implementation Cycle:

HHHS Counseling members created a yearlong plan in July 2023 to be approved and revised at each meeting with feedback from the council. Subcommittee meetings are held with different groups to focus on specific issues.

Example of the completed Implementation Cycle for a Specific Issue

Organizing: To organize our yearlong plan, we began with a comprehensive needs assessment given to parents, students, and staff in 22-23 school year. Based on data, we discussed the need to increase post-secondary readiness of our 12th grade students before graduation. We planned to increase educational opportunities for students in career, college and military readiness (CCMR). We used data of the previous year’s CCMR report and current CCMR data to create a goal and aligned activities to support.

Planning: The Council gave feedback as to what student readiness opportunities could be added and developed the goal to have the senior class meet the CCMR indicator of 90% by the end of the year. An annual plan for the counseling program was created with proposed events to be presented to the Council at the fall meeting. Counselors were seeking activities that included our community partners and stakeholders.

Designing: Our Counselors led the discussion on how students can meet the CCMR status. Admin provided support through the intervention team on campus to assist students by taking college prep courses to meet college readiness. Parent/community members encouraged options for career-based education and military advisement to students. Counselors planned to connect more to students through social media engagement and Schoology platform to provide a variety of information on the topic. A career fair was added to the annual plan increasing exposure to local companies and trade school opportunities that do not require a college degree.

Implementing: Counselors presented a CCMR presentation to staff for campus involvement. Counselors revised schedules for students to enroll in college prep courses if needed. ASVAB, SAT and TSIA testing was provided. Course selection meetings were held individually with 9th -11th graders with an emphasis on pathways to meet goals. (industry cert, college prep, military entrance). Senior meetings were held individually throughout the year as progress updates. College, trade school, and military recruiters presented information monthly. Classroom guidance lessons, intervention sessions, and counselor corner information was provided to students with resources for post-secondary pathways. A parent night for FAFSA and financial aid information was held during the year. We assisted all seniors in classroom guidance lessons to set up their FAFSA account and begin the application. Naviance lessons for college and career exploration were pushed out campus wide monthly. ‘Scholarship Lady’ presentations occurred monthly to AVID classrooms, and in the evening for parents/students to attend. Friday Frenzy was a session for all seniors to get scholarship info, apply to college, complete the FAFSA and speak with counselors about their next steps. Data was assessed throughout the year for progress checks. Celebrations for CCMR included the CCMR cord celebration in May. Resources and information were pushed out monthly in Schoology and Instagram as well as four parent newsletters sent quarterly to include a Senior Section.

Evaluating: The Counseling Advisory Committee was able to review the CCMR data of the Senior class at the Spring Meeting. Data report from 5/23/24 shows 96% will meet CCMR at HHHS graduation. Data from class of 23’ showed 90.6% met CCMR with a KISD overall of 84.7%. HHHS CCMR grew due to the collective efforts to increase student readiness for post-secondary life. This information was reviewed with the Council to improve for the following year program plan.

The mission of the Killeen Independent School District Counseling Program is to advocate, support, collaborate, and build relationships to empower all students to acquire academic, career, personal, and social competencies to make every student future-ready.

Definition:

The Harker Heights Counseling Department team will engage in social-emotional lessons using the Character Counts Curriculum, facilitate college and career readiness activities and events to increase student readiness for post-secondary life, and support students academically, so they can implement academic skills for higher achievement.

Rationale:

The Harker Heights High School Counseling Department uses the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling to create programs that target socio-emotional initiatives, provide unique academic opportunities, and prepare students for college and career readiness; life beyond high school. We abide by the American School Counseling Association, Texas Counseling Association, and Killeen ISD ethical guidelines.

In order to achieve our goal of creating and delivering an effective counseling program that targets all areas mentioned above, we collaborate with district officials, school administrators, faculty, staff, and community members.

Additionally, we focus on the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling components to better serve our student population:

• Guidance Curriculum
• Responsive Services
• Individual Planning
• System Support

Assumptions:

Harker Heights High School counseling team collaborates with the learning community every year. We support our district-wide initiatives, but also tailor our counseling program to meet the specific needs of the student population at our high school. The current program is based on the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Program and the following conditions exist for its implementation:

• All students, parents, teachers, staff, administration, and other recipients have equal access to the program.
• All Harker Heights High School Counselors are certified professional counselors.
• The counseling program is aligned with the district goals for counseling services.
• The program is tailored to address the developmental needs of the students; adolescents.
• The school administration understands and support the school counseling program’s priorities and demands.
• Parents are partners in education and are included in the process of creating, implementing, and evaluating the school counseling program.
• A specific budget is established to enhance the counseling program goals and implementation demands.
• Professional development is ongoing to help counselors stay current with new trends of the profession.
• Technology devices and software are available for counselors to assist in the areas of advising, academic, social-emotional support, and college and career readiness.

The Harker Heights School Counseling Team is diligent in their efforts to develop a comprehensive school counseling program that addresses the diverse needs of the student population. To achieve this, they have utilized data from various sources such as the Campus Improvement Plan, need assessments, state testing results, grades, discipline data, CCMR Data, attendance data and individual meetings. By analyzing these data points, the counseling team was able to identify areas of improvement and developed program goals that align with the school's overall mission. This has enabled the team to create a plan that is tailored to meet the unique needs of each student. Overall, the Harker Heights High School Counseling team's commitment to data-driven decision making has resulted in a successful and comprehensive counseling program that benefits all students.

The Harker Heights High School Counselors in conjunction with the Counseling Advisory Committee will re-evaluate the goals at the end of the year to identify areas of improvement. We will review a variety of data points to determine the best course of action to ensure an effective and comprehensive school counseling program goals are developed that address the diverse needs of the students.

SMART Goal by Delivery Components

Individual Planning:

Guidance:

Counselors provide proactive services individually and within large groups through Social Emotional Lessons such as Study Tips, SMART Goals, and Smart Phone Dependency within advisory lessons. The lessons are offered campus-wide twice a month.

Responsive Services:

System Support:

Host “Friday Frenzy for Seniors”, a campus-wide event to help students with scholarships, graduation requirements, and college applications. The goal is to ensure 50% of students who haven’t completed their FAFSA, or other graduation requirements will do so as a direct result of this event.

• New Student registrations
• Course Revisions with post-secondary pathways.
• Senior Meetings
• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Test
• Failure meeting with students.
• PSAT, SAT, Texas Student Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA 2.0) Testing
• Approximately, 1,821 individual student meetings for course planning with post-secondary alignment.
• TSIA Testing
• Individual CCMR Meetings
• Summer School credit advancement meetings.

The counselors identified the Seniors who have earned the CCMR indicator and who have not, implemented Senior Meetings with students for CCMR Goal setting, encouraged students to take the TSIA2, facilitated the use of the CCMR checklist with students to complete self-reflection and goal monitoring. The counselors monitor the CCMR progress throughout the year.

• Goal Setting with SMART Goals
• Respect
• Jason Foundation Suicide Prevention Presentation to all 9th & 10th graders.
• Good Citizenship
• Gratitude
• Empathy
• Study Tips
• Responsibility
• Communicating with Teachers
• Busting Stress
• Oversharing and Digital Footprint
• Resilience for Teens
• Fairness
• Healthy Relationships
• Naviance: SuperMatch College Search & College Interest
• Trustworthiness
• Perseverance
• Dangers of Fentanyl
• Self-Control
• Procrastination
• Smart Phone Dependency
• Exam Study Tips
• Conflict Resolution Groups

DAEP Transition meetings (occurs monthly)

HBCU Week including Staff shirt day

Suicide Prevention Walk

Attendance Meetings- Meet with students who have attendance issues- data provided by attendance officer.

Mid-year graduation consultation.

All counselors attended Government and Economic classes to start their FAFSA ID account

Mid-year graduation.

Healthy Relationships Bulletin Board

Counselor Corner Consent for Hershey Kisses Activity

Providing Pathways Application (alternative education campus within the district) to students whom are credit deficient

Counselor Corner including summer school options, credit recovery, and communication tips.

CCMR Cord Celebration Event

Go Green for Mental Health Day

Campus wide Academic Awards

• Various of college recruiters visiting campus to recruit students.
• SAT Bootcamp
• The Scholarship Lady of Central Texas presentation in AVID for scholarships.
• District- Academic Planning Fair
• Visit feeder Middle Schools to plan, and meet with 8th graders to plan their High School Endorsement
• “Career Fair at the Castle”- Local businesses spoke with students regarding careers at various of tables in the gym.
• Deleen Price attended the TSCA Conference.
• Senior Friday Frenzy- Counselors provided seniors a check off sheet to each station ex: graduation requirements, FAFSA station, applications to scholarships, and the local College to apply.
• Central Texas College- Student advising (seniors only)
• Culture Fair with community partners.
• SAT for all Juniors
• District- CCMR Career Camp- Business & Entrepreneurship
• Scholarship ceremonies with Rotary club, board of trustees, and Kiwanis Club.
• National Merit Scholarships Finalists
• District Military enlistment ceremony
• CTE Awards
• District Mental Health Night Resource with community members for parents and students.

Post-Secondary Planning: Career Fair. We hosted this event to connect students who wanted to enter the workforce directly after high school to entry-level employment opportunities and training programs based on student needs assessment results. It also provided students who will be continuing their education, the opportunity to explore summer job/ internship opportunities. We hosted 20+ businesses and training programs.

In alignment with the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling programs, our guidance curriculum “systematically and intentionally guides the planning of lessons & activities that assist all students in developing the knowledge and transferrable skills they need to enhance their educational, career, personal, and social development.” Students acquire age-appropriate competencies within the scope of four content areas:

• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Intrapersonal Effectiveness
• Personal Health & Safety
• Postsecondary Education & Career Readiness

The following is an example of how we addressed one of the four areas with example artifacts and a lesson plan.

According to results from our Teacher Needs Assessment at the beginning of the year, teachers had several concerns regarding their students, but among the top concerns that they hoped counselors would address were student self-regulation/ self-control and academics.

According to student responses on our Student Needs Assessment, our students’ greatest social/emotional concern was anxiety and worry. Their greatest needs were regarding assistance with determining factors in their future (graduation, securing employment, the college application process, & testing).

Based on the data compiled through student, parent and staff needs assessments, we concluded that the lack of self-regulation teachers observed was due (in large part) to student’s inability to cope with their anxiety and worry. Research shows that “Higher stress reactivity [is] linked with less controlled, more impulsive reactions…” as “anxiety and stress cause an increase in activity in the amygdala and a decrease in activity in the executive function parts of the brain (the prefrontal cortex and others).” (“Anxiety Disorder Statistics and Facts - AnxietyCentre.com”)

We took an expansive multi-prong approach to addressing the data with our goals. A follow-up student poll (see results below), which was administered to understand how students were dealing with their anxiety/stress, alarmingly revealed that our students were struggling to attain Intrapersonal Effectiveness I.A. Student Competency: Students have a positive self-concept because they were unable to meet Goal: I.A.III Students will develop self-regulation skills, evaluate how they manage their feelings, and explore different ways to manage feelings that will increase attainment of personal goals.

The data from our Student Needs Assessment showed that our students did not feel prepared for their primary goal (graduation and post-secondary planning). The knowledge that this was a large source of their stress, guided our focus on the third Content Area: Post-Secondary Planning & Career Readiness

III.A. Student Competency: Students are motivated to succeed in personal endeavors.

III.A.ii Goal: Students will take advantage of their educational opportunities.

III.B.ii: Goal: Students will make connections between personal skills, interests, and abilities and career choices.

III.C.iv: Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the career-planning process, select course work that is relevant to career interests, and develop and implement an annual plan of study to maximize academic ability and achievement.

This was also in alignment with two of our program goals which were to increase student readiness for post-secondary success and increase academic skills. We developed a series of lessons with extension activities to address anxiety, worry and fear regarding planning for the future- primary concerns for students, as well as the expression of this stress in a lack of self-regulation, which was a primary concern for teachers regarding their students.

Planning for Your Future: Understanding Graduation Requirements & Planning for Your Life After High School (A video lesson to ensure equity.)

COMPETENCY INDICATOR: Students will analyze education opportunities within this school district.

EXPECTED RESULTS: Students will take personality assessments and career interest inventories, explore career opportunities on Naviance and make a plan to support their goals.

OBJECTIVE: Each student will be prepared to discuss their chosen endorsement, electives & core classes at the appropriate level in alignment with their career goal.

1:1 Counselor Meetings with each student to discuss their course selection and update plans for the next school year.

1:1 Senior Meetings with each senior to discuss their post-secondary plans.

4-Year Planning Meetings:

8th grade Classroom Lessons in collaboration with middle school counselors to help students prepare to take advantage of high school opportunities.

1:1 Meetings with Incoming/ Transferring Students & Families to select an endorsement path, and tentative classes, etc. for the rest of their high school career.

Addressing Self-Regulation with Tip Tuesdays: Preparing for Tomorrow TODAY. Harnessing the power of social media, we created data-driven short video lessons in direct response to student requests and addressed some of the stressors causing our students to struggle with self-regulation thus impeding academic achievement and student readiness. We posted Counselors’ Tip Tuesday videos on Schoology and Instagram. For example:

When a poll revealed our students were not feeling prepared for upcoming exams, we created a Study Tips video lesson.

A poll revealed that our students were struggling with test anxiety, so we did a video lesson wiht Tips to Beat Test Anxiety

Another poll revealed the root cause of our students' test anxiety. We created video lessons on how to "Overcome the Fear of Failure & Test-Taking Strategies"

We also encouraged students to self-assess to determine if they had a growth mindset or fixed mindset.

Interactive Bulletin Boards

For example, we created an interactive bulletin board on emotions. Students were able to identify their emotions at any given moment and find related support and assistance with self-regulation using QR codes.

Mental Health Awareness Night

Community wide Mental Health Awareness Night to help bring awareness

Tip Tuesdays Video Lessons

We did a 4-part video lesson with 50 Ways to Reduce Stress.

Post-Secondary Planning: Advanced Course Night Workshop for Parents & Students. We hosted this event to inform parents of the opportunities available to take honors, dual credit, and AP classes in high school, the advantages of doing so and the pre-requisites.

Monthly Afterschool College Workshops were also available for students & families of students in all grades.

To increase our FAFSA completion rate, we conducted classroom presentations for all our seniors to help them obtain their FSA IDs and complete their section of the FAFSA. We followed up with a Family FAFSA Night, a hands-on event for families to get answers to their individualized questions and assistance with completing their FAFSA on-site with college financial aid experts.

We hosted this event to help our seniors address their needs in a one-stop fashion. Students were able to apply for scholarships, complete required CPR/AED training, meet with a local partnering college, apply for college, get help with and finish their FAFSA, and more.

Students and staff were encouraged to wear college, career, or military apparel each Wednesday to support a school culture of student readiness.

We published a quarterly newsletter for students and families. It included a social emotional learning article, seasonal to-do lists by grade to keep students on track, upcoming events in the Counseling Center and more. It also included links to all our most recent presentations and videos for reference, as well as to aid families unable to attend workshops.

To support our Planning for Your Future lesson, we included the following links in our newsletter that quarter.

• KISD Guide to the Future
• KISD Course Selection Guidebook
• Advance Course Night Presentation

We published this special edition of our newsletter in the Spring, for our juniors. It contained numerous articles and a plenitude of resources to help students and their families prepare for senior year and post-secondary success.

We hosted numerous CCMR Visits with college and military representatives available to meet with students, inform them of opportunities with their organizations and answer questions.

Referrals. We referred our students to national non-profits for additional support with the college application process.

We celebrated seniors who achieved CCMR.

We celebrated our students accepted to college on our bulletin board.

We held a raffle at our Friday Frenzy for Seniors event for students who came and completed a necessary task for post-secondary success.

In coordination with semester exams and our Study Tips video lesson we further engaged with our students using social media with a contest to encourage students to study with pride.

Knight of the Month

Student Academic Awards Day

Students on the Honor Roll were acknowledged every 9 weeks.

We awarded ninth grade students with improved attendance.

We celebrated our partnership with staff to increase student achievement.

Our College, Career or Military (CCMR) indicator measures student readiness by looking at the percentage of graduating seniors who show they can either enroll in a college/university or trade school, enlist in the Armed Forces, or enter the workforce successfully.

Achievements:

Our CCMR rate increased from 71% to 96%.

Our newsletter readership by parents increased from 20% to 50%.

56% of Seniors who visited the FAFSA station at our Friday Frenzy for Seniors completed their FAFSA.

We regularly polled our students regarding their growth in academic skills after our video lessons.

For example:

Seventy-five percent of students polled did not initially feel prepared for semester exams. As a result of our Study Tips & Test-Taking Strategy video lessons we saw an increase in the number of study methods & test-taking strategies students were willing to explore.

After a we did a 2-part video lesson on Procrastination, a student poll revealed an increase in the student’s awareness & knowledge of the following:

By disaggregating our data (along with parent, teacher, administration, or self-referral), we identified 60% of our students to be at-risk. Our interventionist team followed up by matching students to mentors to follow-up on personal application of guidance lessons throughout the school year.

10 small group Advisory meetings on the topics pertaining to self-regulation and academic skills were conducted for students from ninth to twelfth grade. 100% of students in grades 9-11 met with counselors for 1:1 course & post-secondary planning meetings. Counselors conducted 561

individual senior meetings.

As a result, students were then able to reach Post Secondary Planning & Career Readiness.

III.A. Student Competency: Students are motivated to succeed in personal endeavors and meet:

III.A.ii Goal: Students will take advantage of their educational opportunities.

III.B.ii: Goal: Students will make connections between personal skills, interests, and abilities and career choices.

III.C.iv: Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the career-planning process, select course work that is relevant to career interests, and develop and implement an annual plan of study to maximize academic ability and achievement.

In individual counseling meetings with students and small group interventions, students referenced the guidance lesson and verbally showed competencies Intra-personal Effectiveness I.A. Student Competency: Students have a positive self-concept and met I.A.III Goal: Students will develop self-regulation skills, evaluate how they manage their feelings, and explore different ways to manage feelings that will increase attainment of personal goals.

As counselors, we understand that the delivery of services is a holistic and collaborative effort of all invested stakeholders including students, school staff, parents, administration, and our community. Together, we all contribute to the overall implementation and sustainability of our comprehensive school counseling program and ensure that we cover all four areas through a variety of methods throughout the school year.

Based on the identified needs derived from our bi-annual assessments of students, teachers & parents, and feedback from our Advisory Council we present monthly workshops and events addressing each of the four areas to students. We collaborate with teachers who extend lessons in campus-wide advisory lessons.

This year, many of our advisory lessons addressed Intra-personal Effectiveness. We support the Intrapersonal Effectiveness of staff by distributing monthly self-care calendars. This year Tap Tap Art Studio partnered with KISD & and we were able to encourage staff to attend a stress-releasing “Splatter Paint Night” to address staff intra-personal effectiveness as well. In addition, by disaggregating our attendance data and by cohort and academic grades, we collaborated with attendance administration, to identify 30 freshman to be at-risk due to lack of adequate school attendance. We matched those students to each member of our counseling team for regularly scheduled check-ins, where we were able to address with students and families the obstacles to regular school attendance, set goals and refer them to services to catch up.

We collaborate with Assistant Principals and teachers to address Interpersonal Effectiveness-identifying students in need of effective self-management & conflict resolution skills; conducting mediations and/or supporting stay-away contracts as needed. We also hold Counselor Corner events monthly in the cafeteria addressing issues like healthy relationships and consent.

We partner with teachers to present an annual lesson on suicide prevention for students, promoting Personal Health & Safety. As a community with a strong military presence, we partnered with members of the military stationed at Ft. Cavazos to coordinate our Suicide Prevention Walk with students who pledge to support others during our suicide prevention lesson. We also provide staff development presentations on bullying, suicide prevention awareness etc. As we had many students reporting test anxiety, we were also able to partner with administration to lead the sign-up and be an encouraging presence during TSIA testing. We also collaborate with our nursing team regarding health-related issues that impede student achievement ranging from hygiene issues that cause social problems to abuse.

We collaborate with local organizations bringing them in as guest presenters to help students see the real-world application of topics discussed. For example, for our Career Fair addressing Post Secondary Planning & Career Readiness we hosted numerous local businesses including our city parks and recreation, grocery stores, aestheticians and beauticians, banks and federal credit unions, law enforcement, first responders, apprenticeship programs and more.

During our weekly “Lunch & Learns” outside our cafeteria, we host college and trade school admission representatives. We partnered with local colleges to help students during our Friday Frenzy for Seniors and FAFSA night events. We invite outside experts as speakers and intentionally partnered with subject teachers to best present workshops. For example, our workshop on scholarships was held in English class where English teachers could help with essays, our scholarship workshop was held in economics classes where teachers could discuss the ROI of a college education, a career in a chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear (CBRN) unit demo was put on in collaboration with the Army and presented in science classes etc.

For students with an interest in joining the armed forces, we partner with the military to coordinate ASVAB practice tests, test prep and score interpretation workshops. In addition, we share middle school classroom presentations with eighth grade students to prepare them to take advantage of high school opportunities when they arrive, in collaboration with other school counselors in the district.

For the purview and engagement of all stakeholders, school counselors design interactive monthly themed bulletin boards as a visual reminder of key action points. We post articles, updates, and resources for parents and students in our quarterly newsletter, Schoology (100% of students & parents have access) and our Instagram account (stories &posts), in addition to individualized meetings, callouts, letters and emails.

*Warren, Stacie, et al. "Anxiety and Stress Alter Decision-Making Dynamics and Causal Amygdala-Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Circuits During Emotion Regulation in Children." (“Anxiety and stress alter decision-making dynamics and causal amygdala-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex circuits during emotion regulation in children”) Biological Psychiatry, April 2020, https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(20)30100-1/pdf