School counselors move to the front

Recognized by students as she makes her way through the halls of East Elementary School in Jackson, school counselor Jenny Moyers leaves a kindergarten classroom to head to a second-grade classroom. As the counselor for the school, Moyers has the unique opportunity to spend time in each individual classroom and get to know the students filling the seats.

"I feel like I get to know all of my kids," Moyers said about the classroom lessons.

Moyers started as a K-4 school counselor eight years ago, and has been in the district since the beginning, starting at South Elementary and moving to East Elementary when it opened four years ago.

Moyers spends time with every classroom every other week, and beginning this school year, she has been using a program called "Second Step" in her classroom lessons.

"It's a resource to be able to teach the different standards for social and emotional learning," said Jessica Maxwell, principal of East Elementary.

Nolan Winkling hugs school counselor Jenny Moyers after a class session Tuesday at East Elementary in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

Moyers is one of 13 school counselors in the Jackson School District. Each elementary school has one counselor, the middle school and junior high each have two counselors per building, and the high school has four counselors, according to Maxwell.

In addition to classroom, small-group and individual counseling sessions, the counselors in the district coordinate the state testing for the building they work in, and work with teachers on the accommodations and modifications some students might need in order to take the test, Maxwell said. She also said the school counselors provide professional development and provided suicide training this year for all of the district staff from bus drivers to teachers.

A key hat school counselors wear is supporting students struggling academically or behaviorally. According to Maxwell, each building has a student assistance team to help create a plan of intervention for a struggling student, and the school counselor facilitates all the referrals, creates the agendas, leads the meetings and tracks the data to ensure the correct steps are being made for the student's success.

Moyers said she's seen her job change over the eight years she's been a counselor to better fit the needs of children today. She said as technology has advanced and people's lives have gotten busier, she's observed children "don't have that emotional regulation that used to kind of come in to elementary with them." She sees a lot more individual needs, and said it's interesting and keeps her on her toes.

"A building couldn't function anymore without a counselor," Maxwell said. "They just provide so much support to our staff and to the students, and they're amazing."

kjackson@semissourian.com

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