Celebrating our ASL counselors!

In International School Counseling Week, we celebrate our brave and fearless school counselors, who are available every day for our students. Lower School Counselor Kevin McKee (ASL 2018-present) created superhero capes for his colleagues. They have been spotted going about their important work sporting their new robes, emblazoned with the ASL logo. 

Kevin comments, “This year's International School Counseling Week theme is ‘celebrating school counselor superpowers’ and I thought making capes would be a fun way to celebrate all of the heroic things our mental health professionals do in the building every day. School counselors and educational psychologists are supporting students, teachers and families through one of the toughest global mental-health challenges people have faced, and they are doing it with grace, courage and care.” Kevin continues, “We know the biggest remedy for fatigue and burnout is a healthy dose of joy and laughter, and I thought these capes may bring a smile to some people's day.”

ASL school counselors and the vital support they provide for our students, K-12, are essential to the success of our program. Their work goes largely unseen, but underpins the nurturing environment of ASL that allows our students to thrive at our school. Counselors have been described as the “heart” of ASL because of their focus on supporting students in every way.

And their remit goes beyond helping students; counselors meet regularly with members of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss opportunities to cultivate a work culture that supports both the mental and emotional well-being of our faculty and staff. 

Counselors also spend time in essential training, exploring professional development opportunities, or preparing and teaching health class—a great way to connect with students in the classroom. A number of counselors are also members of the ASL Safeguarding Team, a 14-strong group of professionals to whom students are encouraged to reach out about any area of concern.

Our counselors work from a proactive approach to promote student well-being. They assist with individual academic planning and goal setting to ensure each student’s success in the classroom. Counseling may be short- or long-term, and collaboration and conversations involving students, families, teachers and administrators are essential to determining how best to address a student’s individual needs. Classroom teachers are the key adults in a child’s life at school, so counselors try to partner with them immediately if there is a problem. Teachers know our counselors are always available if they wish to discuss the needs of a student.

The daily life of a school counselor is unpredictable, as each day brings rewards and challenges in the pursuit of maintaining student well-being. And a great deal of their work is cross divisional.

If a child doesn’t feel connected or feels unhappy, this is likely to have a trickle-down effect on other parts of their school day and beyond. The goal of the counselor is to ensure that our students flourish in all aspects of their lives.

Counseling is talking therapy and students need access to someone outside of their normal family, friend and teacher relationships when facing the challenges of growing up in an increasingly complicated world. The pandemic has been especially hard on our young people and many of them are dealing with issues that need support. Kids need a safe place to vent, process feelings and talk. A counselor is someone who can listen and offer confidential advice, without judgement or preconditions, and allow students to share their concerns and seek advice and support, while maintaining the sense of control that builds students’ confidence and self-advocacy.  

Having a strong and open communication between school and home is the best way to support and safeguard our students. Our counselors encourage parents to contact them if they have concerns or need advice. Partnering with our parents is the key to our students’ success.