CALHOUN COUNTY, S.C. — National School Counseling Week is from February 6 to February 10. The week is sponsored by the American School Counselors Association. Schools across the country and right here in the Midlands are giving recognition to their roles and its impact on the students they support.
Mrs. Jamie Stephens is the director of school counseling at Calhoun County High School. This National School Counselors' Week, she says she wants people to recognize the work her fellow counselors do to serve students both in and out of the classroom.
“A lot of times the students are suffering because of the pandemic. Because of personal issues that’s going on.”
She says the work doesn't just stop at preparing her students for life after high school. It continues with checking in on a child's holistic well being while they're there.
Alissa Jeffcoat is one of the students Stephens has been serving for the past four years. She's in her senior year and says Stephens has helped her map out her next steps after graduation and much more.
“Just walking down the hallway and seeing her. She’ll look at me and be like 'are you alright?', said Jeffcoat, "I’ll be like yes m’am I’m fine and that really just means a lot because you could walk down the hallway smiling and for someone to know that you’re not really okay and they wanna talk to you, that means a lot to someone.”
The Orangeburg County School District is also recognizing about 50 school counselors and career specialists serving students throughout its schools.