High School Counselor Week

The next teen epidemic
Deseret News – February 16, 2022
The crisis has bubbled for decades, and by 2019, one-third of high school students — half of females — reported feeling persistent sadness or hopelessness, a huge increase from 2009. The pandemic dumped grief and fear into the pot. But there are answers.

Unmasking Anxiety: Mask mandate lift brings a big range of emotions to parents and kids from increased anxiety to relief
Seattle’s Child – February 22, 2022
Parents and kids were already suffering from alarmingly high levels of anxiety and stress. Then came the national conversation on when and where to unmask. Not surprisingly, reactions of exhausted parents range widely on the decision to lift school mask mandates — from ‘the sooner the better’ to ‘no way, too soon.’ We talked to parents, therapists and health providers to hear their thoughts.

Michael Sorrell and Our Ability to Innovate
Post – February 23, 2022
Counselors’ Corner with Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D. 

What about those elite summer programs – “pay-to-play”– worth it??
Post – February 23, 2022
College Advice & Timely Tips with Lee Bierer 

In-School Clinicians Explain How They Address Student Trauma
The Washington Informer – February 16, 2022
Throughout the school year, in-school clinicians across the District have been working in conjunction with counselors and other officials to address pandemic-induced mental trauma. Through various levels of support, they push into classrooms, disseminate vital information and conduct one-on-one and group sessions to help students address underlying issues.

Schools Are Seeing More Hate and Bias Incidents. But Educators Are Not Helpless to Address Them.
EdSurge – February 17, 2022
A white art teacher in Houston uses the N-word during a classroom lesson. A high school student in Minnesota tells a Black classmate that her dark skin is ugly and that she hopes she takes her life. An Asian-American teen in California is attacked because his peers assumed, based on his ethnicity, that he was carrying COVID-19. These are not just cherry-picked headlines. At the school district where I serve as a counselor, incidents related to hate, bias and interpersonal violence have been…

Peer counseling gains popularity as California schools beef up student mental health services
EdSource – February 18, 2022
As schools look for new ways to address student mental health amid the Covid pandemic, more are turning to a practice that costs almost nothing and, if done well, can lead to life-changing results for all involved: peer counseling.

Senate proposal looks to add mental health to curriculum, implement student mental health council
WGEM (IL) – February 23, 2022
As written, the law would require teaching children how to access mental health resources during their health classes. The legislation would also implement a student mental health council, to include high school graduates and current students as members.

The 3 Documents Every Teen Needs Before Heading Off to College
MSN – February 20, 2022
If your kid is about to fly the coop and head to college, you’ll want to make sure they have some key items: extra-long sheets, a laptop, a printer, their toothbrush…oh, and a few legal documents.

Historically Black college in Texas has new twist on admissions: You can bring your family, too
KHOU Houston – February 21, 2022
During what they though was just a campus visit, more than 400 students from five Fort Worth high schools were surprised with acceptance letters to the historically Black college. But there was more. Each of them will also be able to select two family members or friends to enroll with them this fall to pursue their own certificate or degree.

13 Common College Admissions Myths Debunked
The College Post – February 20, 2022
There’s no doubt about it; preparing for college can get pretty intense. So, how can you make sure you’ve got the right game plan? Well, the first thing you need to do is weed out the college admissions myths that might misguide you. It’s time to learn what’s real and what’s not so you can plan accordingly!

4 College Prep Tasks for High School Juniors
U.S. News & World Report – February 22, 2022
Several college students and graduates who have been through this process shared insights about their own junior year experiences. Here are their recommendations.

This chatbot helps underserved students access aid for college
Mastercard Newsroom – February 22, 2022
In 2020, in a partnership with the College Board, Benefits Data Trust launched a chatbot called Wyatt, which offers reminders and personalized advice to help guide students through the financial aid application process. More than 60% of Wyatt users are students of color, and more than half come from low-income families…

More states are requiring high schoolers to complete financial aid application
Marketplace – February 16, 2022
One reason students aren’t completing the application? It can be really awkward. It asks students a lot of personal questions, like how much their parents make. Advocates of these policies say paying for hotlines and other student support is key to making those mandates work.

5 Reasons to Choose a Trade School Over a College or University
TechGenyz – February 18, 2022
Also known as a vocational school, a trade school is a post-secondary institution that teaches students everything they need to know before going into a highly skilled job, known as the skilled trades. So why should one consider going to a trade school over a four-year college?

Trade Schools Vs. Traditional College: What You Should Know
Forbes – February 21, 2022
We all know that a college education is usually worth the financial cost, but what about attending trade school instead? For far too many parents with kids in their junior or senior years of school, the stigma surrounding having a child skip four-year college would just be too much to bear. But, it’s time to change the narrative, and for more reasons than one.

Is going to college worth it? One study says yes, but it’s complicated.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) – February 21, 2022
Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce employed a new metric to a survey 4,500 institutions to get at that question. It also calculated the share of students at an institution whose earnings, 10 years after enrollment, are higher than those of workers with a high school diploma. It tracked earnings 40 years after leaving campus as well.

Commentary: What’s less fair than the SAT? You might be surprised
Los Angeles Times – February 21, 2022
Eliminating college entrance exams hasn’t brought us anywhere close to a college application process that is fair, equitable and just plain sane. Families see college admissions as a big, unfathomable machine, which is why those who can afford it hire expensive professionals who know how it operates. It doesn’t need a tuneup, this machine. It needs a complete overhaul.