School Counselor

Dear JJHS Families,

Welcome to a wonderful new school year! My name is Ms. Medina, and I am honored to serve as the school counselor at Jimtown Junior High. I am incredibly excited to partner with you to support your child’s academic success, social-emotional growth, and overall well-being during this unique time of transition. Together, I look forward to ensuring your child experiences a safe, encouraging, and fulfilling school year.

About Me
I was born and raised in Ensenada, B.C., Mexico, and moved to the United States in 2018 to pursue my master's degree. For the last eight years, I have lived in the peaceful town of Nappanee.

I am a parent to a teenager who attends Jimtown High School and a two-year-old who is in preschool. Our family also includes a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Munchkin Bengal cat. In my free time, I enjoy gardening, camping, traveling, biking, listening to music, coffee, and spending quality time with my family and friends.

My Professional Background
I have around 10 years of educational experience in Mexico, spanning multiple fields. I spent four years as a kindergarten PE teacher and coordinator, followed by six years as a middle school PE teacher and administrator. After moving to the area, I completed a one-year internship at Nappanee Elementary School (2021–2022) and have proudly been part of the Baugo Community Schools for the last five years.

My Education

B.S. in Physical Activity and Sport Science – Autonomous University of Baja California

B.A. in Early Childhood Education – Graduated in 2014 as a kindergarten teacher

M.A. in School Counseling – Andrews University (2022)

For me, a school is a place where students have equal opportunities in academic, career, and social-emotional support. My mission as School Counselor is to create an equal and inclusive environment for all the students with a program focused on the students' needs and goals. My role at school is to collaborate with students, staff members, parents, and the community to reach the students' needs. I have the professional and personal goal of advocating for all the students and promoting the opportunity to achieve success. My decision making is based on ethical guidelines and values to assure the well-being of the students, parents, school staff, and the school counseling program's integrity.

The classroom preventative lessons are related to the school counseling core curriculum. These lessons occur every Thursday in our classroom counselor corner, and some mandatory lessons will be on our auditorium. Some topics that might be discuss in classroom lessons: Using a Planner, keeping organized, time , management, self-awareness, bullying, spread kindness, college and Career, teen safety, and more.

Small Groups occur during homeroom time before instruction classes. These students can be referred by teachers, administrators, and parents. We are starting with groups for new students, with the purpose of making connections and getting familiar with the school. Other small group opportunities will be offered through our the school year. Small groups require parent permission.

Some group topics may include: new student, leadership, friendship, and more.

Hope Squad is a peer to peer suicide prevention program. We use an evidence based training and curriculum with the students We meet every month and present different topics during those days as the Hope Squad advisors during Homeroom.

Jimmie is our therapy dog, he is a black lab that is trained to provide affection, comfort, and love. We have a program with students that are trained to be Jimmie Handlers and we follow schedule so Jimmie can join different classes with them. Jimmie is trained at Top Notch Service Dogs an he supports our students at Junior High everyday.

At JJHS we use our PBIS program to celebrate students who make great choices and show respect, responsability, courage and integrity. When students earn boarding passes, they get the opportunity to get rewards at the end of each week.

To keep our shelves stocked with exciting items all year long, we put together a Jimtown Junior High School PBIS Amazon Wishlist. If you would like to support our students, please consider purchasing a small item from the list.

Thank you so much for partnering with us!

I am so excited for a fantastic school year ahead! Please remember that my door is always open. Whether you have a question or your child needs an extra boost of support, don't hesitate to reach out anytime.

Carolina Medina

JJHS School Counselor

E-mail cmedina@baugo.org

(574) 294-6586