Rewards and Challenges

Unfortunately for many educators we are not rewarded enough, in my opinion.  We are responsible for shaping the future of our students and yet a simple "thank you" seems to be less popular than asking students to do homework.  I have many friends that are school counselors and prior to becoming a teacher I did not understand just how much responsibility that is placed on their shoulders.  Our last school counselor, the third one in three years worked her last day last Friday, and I remember asking her was she happy to be leaving. She summed up for me the rewards and challenges that she faced during her short time as a high school counselor working in an urban district.  The reward for her was that many of the students who had not passed the GGT at the beginning of the school year had finally passed and were on their way to graduation. One of her last tasks was to announce to students the latest test results from the GGT and she told me that the face on the students that had failed the test multiple times and had finally passed was priceless. She also talked about helping students to fill out college applications particularly those who felt that the only way out of their current circumstance was to further their education. So in a nutshell, her reward was the prospect of a brighter future for the students at our school. Unfortunately the challenges outweighed the rewards in many cases, which helped lead Ms. H to leave our school.  In addition to being the school counselor, she was also the registrar, the attendance clerk, the back up secretary, and even a disciplinarian when fights would break out right outside of the principals suite.  Ms. H. shared with me that for all that she was able to do, she never felt like she had enough time to provide the students with the services that that needed.  Students often needed help with filling out food stamp applications, job applications, referrals for clothing and other social issues that were just as important as registering for the ACT, or the SAT.  I was sad to see her go, but I understand. Unfortunately the students, especially the seniors were left disappointed but a new counselor has started and my hope is that she will at least last until the end of the school year.