Canyons School District counselors are in for a well-deserved treat this week.
To express the District’s gratitude during National School Counselors Week, Dr. Brian McGill, CSD’s Director of Student Services, and School Counseling Specialist Melissa Baker are visiting Canyons’ counselors to deliver tasty pastries, cute plants and posters for the Counseling Center.
The message on the vibrant poster shares the theme for this celebratory week, as chosen by the American School Counselor Association: “School Counselors: Helping Students Dream Big.”
“The critical care and need of counselors has never been more significant than right now,” McGill said Monday during his District tour, which began with Jordan High and its feeder schools (Mount Jordan Middle and Eastmont Middle), and will continue throughout the week.
McGill expressed his gratitude for the District’s 74 counselors, who help kids of all ages deal with school matters — registration, matriculation, academic planning, etc. — along with mental wellness matters. “They play a very vital and pivotal role in children’s lives,” he said.
As a former middle school and high school counselor, Baker learned first-hand how important it is to be there for students. Counselors’ efforts and support can have a huge, positive ripple effect. Counselors are often the first point of contact, who can help schools work with students to progress and even develop programs to help prevent unfortunate situations from escalating.
“I feel like they are the cornerstone a lot of times in our schools,” Baker said of school counselors. “They’re serving our students, our families, the whole community, our staff. I think they see the bigger picture a lot of times, advocating for our students and their families. I feel like a lot of our schools function at a higher capacity because of our counselors.”
Jordan High principal Bruce Eschler noted that counselors are “imperative” for the overall wellbeing of students who are dealing with a lot of challenges at school and elsewhere. He’s appreciative of the way counselors help students juggle academics with athletics, activities and other things to help them achieve their big dreams.
“This is the group that helps get those kids across the finish line,” Eschler said. “Utah’s complex constellation of different credits required sometimes makes getting all your graduation credits difficult. They have to pick and choose. They do an excellent job of making sure all these students get across that line and achieve that goal — whether it’s college or a career — and they get it on time.”
Please join the District in thanking counselors in your schools!
