On Jan. 6, Michelle Obama gave her final official address as First Lady. Her speech reflected on the work she and her team did to pursue better, more accessible education for students, and emphasized to those watching to encourage and pursue empowerment through education. It was only appropriate that Obama gave these final remarks at an event honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year. While we’re able to see government initiatives supporting educational empowerment on the news, this is the kind of work school counselors do every day, without recognition from the media. School counselors, as defined by the American School Counselor Association, are leaders within education who support students’ academics, career and college readiness, and socio-emotional developments. With the constant changes in our country and access to news, school counselors are allies in raising our students as responsible citizens in today’s world. Collaborating with teachers, parents and community members, school counselors provide resources for students and parents to navigate from childhood to adolescence. The next items on school counselors’ agendas are academic and college stress. School counselors help students manage levels of academic stress, anxiety, peer relationships and healthy self-image. The recommended student-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1, yet the California state average is 822-to-one, leading some students to get lost in the crowd and not receive services they might need. However, the students in our community are lucky enough to have counselors with a ratio of 325-to-one, in addition to a third counselor specifically for college and career counseling. This gives our students and parents the unique opportunity to spend extra time collaborating with the counselor to work toward the success of our students. The counselors at Malibu High School offer monthly “Coffee with the Counselors,” where parents can meet with counselors about what’s going on in the lives of our students.
As Michelle Obama left her office, she aimed to give a message of hope for the future. The work of school counselors pursues this hope as well, providing advocacy, equity and collaboration to ensure our hope for our students, for our leaders of the future.
Alyssa Hatton and Jennifer Price