Jan Desmarais-Morse, a school counselor at Goshen Middle School in Goshen, Indiana, and a 2019 School Counselor of the Year finalist, is a guest contributor for Reach Higher
On a bookshelf in my office sits a greeting card in a frame. On the cover stands a peacock, adorned with crown and dappled in shades of lime, moss, and teal with a quote by Kobi Yamada. “I only wish you could see what I see when I look at you,” it says, and inside are the words, “You are amazing.” Just two simple sentences, yet that is all it takes to embody the scope of my vocation as a school counselor. Each day as I walk the busy halls of my school, enter classrooms, or talk with students, I catch glimpses of the “amazing” that is yet to be uncovered. As a school counselor, I am daily charged and challenged with the privilege of helping students discover those hidden gifts and beauty.
“I only wish you could see what I see when I look at you,” it says, and inside are the words, “You are amazing.”
Courtesy of Jan Desmarais-MorseAs I think about and approach my work as a school counselor, I consider what opportunities and programming I can put in place to expand my students’ awareness of who they are as individuals, what it is they value, and what dreams they have for their future. This is not accomplished by laying it out before students; instead, it unfolds through an intentional comprehensive school counseling program.
When I think of my students Sara, Michelle, and Suzanna, I am reminded of the many times these sixth graders met with me to resolve conflicts with peers. Through classroom guidance lessons and small group activities, the girls acquired knowledge and skills that helped them de-escalate tension that arose and resolve issues in appropriate ways. As eighth grade students, they continue to practice and hone those skills and now mentor incoming sixth grade students, passing on their wisdom and serving as role models in our Ripple Effect peer mentoring program.
Andreas was a talented athlete who lived to kick a soccer ball. In the classroom, though capable, his focus often wavered and his academics were overlooked as he daydreamed about his next goal. At his teachers’ prompting, he chose to participate in a small group on study skills that I was leading. Many days, I wondered why he had volunteered to participate because he seemed to balk at everything I taught. The following year, he greeted me at his high school with, “Mrs. DM! I’m using what you taught me and I’m doing great!” Just last year, he returned for a visit after his sophomore year of college. When I closed the door to my office, he sat down and was overcome by emotion as he shared how the skills I taught him had “saved his life” and helped bring him the success he was experiencing.
Through classroom guidance lessons and small group activities, the girls acquired knowledge and skills that helped them de-escalate tension that arose and resolve issues in appropriate ways.
Courtesy of Jan Desmarais-MorseIn collaboration with an eighth grade English teacher, I co-presented a college and career unit called “Invest in YOU.” Students were led through a career interest inventory and related college research activities which enabled them to later develop written reflections and vision boards of their future aspirations. Also presented was a values assessment activity where students worked individually to narrow down a list of values (such as wealth, independence, power, purpose, etc.) from ninety to ten, then three, and finally to just one. Once directions were given, a silence fell upon the classroom as the students first read and sorted through the values cards. While students talked themselves through the steps, volume slowly rose. Whispers turned to groans as the process of elimination proved challenging. Dialogue and discourse among the table groups gave evidence to the power of the soul-searching and self-reflection that emerged from the process. Flames of self-awareness burned brighter.
As school counselors, developing a comprehensive school counseling program is paramount to facilitating students’ journeys of self-discovery. School counseling is not simply a “to-do” list of tasks to be checked off, but is a carefully designed and implemented program that challenges, inspires, encourages, and empowers students to see what we see when we look at them and to find the “amazing” that lies within.
