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Hello and welcome! I’m so excited to begin this blog and share my journey, reflections, and resources as a school counselor. My path into counseling has been anything but traditional. I’m a proud retired Navy veteran, and after years of service, I found myself drawn to education. I began my second career as an elementary teacher, where I quickly discovered that while I loved teaching, I felt an even deeper pull toward supporting the mental and emotional needs of students. Tha

There are things they prepare us for in graduate school. We learn about crisis intervention, suicide prevention, mandated reporting, trauma-informed care, and how to support students through some of the hardest moments of their lives. But there is something no school counselor is ever truly ready for: losing a student. Maybe you have experienced this as a teacher. Maybe you haven't. But when you experience it as a school counselor, it takes on a whole new meaning. Suddenly, y

The Email Could Wait Every counseling office has stories. Some make us laugh. Some break our hearts. Some stay with us long after the student has walked out the door. But every one of them teaches us something—not only about the students we serve, but about ourselves as counselors, educators, and people. Welcome to From the Counseling Office. I was sitting at my desk staring at an inbox that seemed to multiply every time I refreshed it. There were referrals to enter. Emails w

When we try to do everything, we risk missing the work only we can do. A Story One of the questions I'm asked most often by new school counselors is, "How do you get everything done?" The honest answer? You don't. School counseling is one of the few professions where your calendar can change in an instant. You may begin the day planning classroom lessons, only to spend the morning responding to a student in crisis. You might be preparing for a parent meeting when you're asked

The Year Doesn't Have to Start Perfectly There is a lot of pressure to have the perfect first day, perfect lessons, and the perfect counseling office. We spend hours arranging classrooms, organizing supplies, creating engaging lessons, and preparing procedures to ensure the year gets off to a strong start. All of those things are important. However, students won't remember whether or not your bulletin board was Pinterest-worthy. They'll remember how you made them feel. There'

Every counseling office has stories. Some make us laugh. Some break our hearts. Some stay with us long after the student has walked out the door. But each of them teaches us something, not only about the students we serve but also about ourselves as counselors, educators, and people. Welcome to From the Counseling Office, where I share real stories (with identifying details changed to protect confidentiality), honest reflections, and practical lessons from the conversations t

The most important thing you prepare this school year may not be your lesson plans. A Story Next week, I'll officially be back in my counseling office. The hallways will still be quiet. The classrooms will still be empty. There won't be students stopping by my office just yet. Instead, there will be calendars to update, classroom lessons to revise, annual agreements to review, data to analyze, and meetings to prepare for. Like many school counselors, I have a mental checklist

If you're anything like me, the last couple of weeks of summer don't always feel like summer anymore. Your mind has already started making lists. Master schedule. Classroom lessons. Teacher and staff trainings. Program goals. Data review. Program assessments. Calendars. Meet-the-Counselor activities. Small groups. Parent communication. Office organization. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you're wondering how you're going to fit it all together before students walk

Every counseling office has stories. Some make us laugh. Some break our hearts. Some stay with us long after the student has walked out the door. But every one of them teaches us something, not only about the students we serve, but about ourselves as counselors, educators, and people. Welcome to From the Counseling Office, where I share real stories (with identifying details changed to protect confidentiality), honest reflections, and practical lessons from the conversations

How one question can change a student's future. A Story My office happens to be in the same suite as our grade-level assistant principals' offices. That means I have a front-row seat to one of the busiest intersections on campus. Students who have been sent to the AP for discipline often find their way into my office first, or at least while they're "waiting to talk to the AP." They usually come in hot. They're frustrated. They're embarrassed. They're convinced they have been

Every Student Gets a Fresh Start on Monday How many times have we heard the phrase, "Every day is a fresh start?" It's something we tell our students. It's something we remind teachers. It's something we believe. But if we're honest...do we always practice it ourselves? We're human. Sometimes, before the first bell even rings, we've already written today's story based on yesterday's chapter. Maybe it's the teacher whose name pops up on your phone, and you instinctively think,

The Student Who Showed Me I Was Exactly Where I Needed to Be If you had asked me ten years ago what grade level I would eventually work with as a school counselor, I can promise you one answer you would never have heard. Middle school. It simply wasn't part of the plan. I had experience with elementary students. Before that, I had spent twelve years serving in the military, working with young adults as a military intelligence analyst, sexual assault victim advocate, and Drug

What If We Worked on What Works? The question that changed the way I see students, and the way I hope schools begin seeing them, too. I remember sitting across from a student who had spent more time in the assistant principal's office than in class that week. By the time they reached my office, they had already been described as defiant, disrespectful, and unmotivated. Every conversation before mine had centered on what was wrong and how to fix it. As school counselors, we of

The last day of school always feels a little different as a counselor. Teachers are cleaning classrooms, students are signing yearbooks, administrators are making final announcements… and counselors? We’re quietly carrying hundreds of stories out with us for the summer. As people walk through the building, they see excitement everywhere. Students are counting down the minutes until freedom. Teachers are finally taking a breath after a long year. The energy feels lighter someh

It’s that time of year. You know… the part where every adult in the building can tell you exactly how many days are left until summer break. The teachers are exhausted. The principals are overwhelmed. The students? They are done. And the counselors… well, we have it all together, right? Yeah… nope. At this point in the year, I’ve pretty much mastered the art of the “put-together smile.” I’m doing my best to give off positive, calm, supportive energy, but the reality is… I am

Things School Counselors Say vs. What We’re Actually Thinking Have you ever said one thing as a school counselor while your inside voice had a completely different version ready to go? Well… you’re not alone. Our training teaches us how to respond with intention, empathy, and professionalism. We learn the right questions to ask, the right tone to use, and the right way to guide students (and adults) toward solutions. But let’s be real for a second—our thoughts are still our

If you’ve ever been a classroom teacher during state testing, you know the feeling. You’re standing in a room for hours. Silence. No teaching. No talking. Just… monitoring. You start counting ceiling tiles. Then you start recounting ceiling tiles because you lost track at 47. You read every poster on the wall like it’s a bestselling novel. You ’ve sung at least three full albums in your head. And somehow… only 12 minutes have passed. You’re just waiting for that testing cl

There is a unique energy in schools right before spring break. It’s not quite excitement, and it’s not quite exhaustion—it’s something in between. I call it the spring break amp up . Testing season is looming. Grades suddenly feel urgent. The end of the year is close enough to see, but still far enough away that the work hasn’t slowed down. Teachers are pushing to finish units, students are juggling assignments and exams, and everyone seems just a little more on edge than usu

Confidentiality Note: Details in this reflection have been generalized and modified to protect student privacy while preserving the professional learning experience. Well, I can officially say that none of my graduate programs prepared me for student-led mass walkouts. Three years into my role, I found myself sitting in a leadership meeting discussing a planned student protest walkout. As information was shared, the guidance from our district was clear: all staff were to rema

Section 504 plans are an essential part of our school systems. They ensure students with disabilities receive equitable access to their education. For many students, 504 accommodations are not optional supports; they are the difference between access and exclusion. But somewhere along the way, the role of coordinating 504 plans has increasingly shifted onto school counselors. And that shift matters. More and more counselors are being expected to schedule meetings, gather docu