A balloon toss was one activity that counselors used as a ‘Brain Break’ to relieve stress during finals week at Los Alamos High School. Courtesy/LAPS

Los Alamos Public Schools is brimming with amazing and dedicated employees, but school guidance counselors and clinical counselors have an especially important role in helping LAPS students grow and succeed.

In order to help the Los Alamos community better understand their unique contribution, LAPS wants to honor and recognize those who work tirelessly to support students, staff and families in the school district.

Counselors aid our students by helping them find their strengths and weaknesses both academically as well as socially, informing them about all the different careers available to them and what would suit their unique aptitudes, and working with students to set healthy goals for themselves in all parts of life and realize their full potentials.

With so many focus areas, it is no surprise that school counselors have a wide scope of responsibilities.

For example, school counselors tend to be the first go-to when a student needs support. When a need is identified, a Student Assistance Team (SAT) Meeting is scheduled, where pertinent school staff and the student’s family work together to discuss the concerns and put a plan in to assist the student.

Counselors also teach monthly lessons in each classroom. In grades K-6, they touch on topics such as friendship, bullying prevention, coping skills, empathy, kindness, diversity and much more.

At the high school, each and every student is monitored to make sure they are on track to graduate high school. In conjunction, counselors have a plethora of ways to support high school students with the daunting task of getting ready for college, including information and help with financial aid, SAT’s, scholarships and much more.

Stress reduction activities, especially before finals, are a big priority for the counselors. Brain Breaks help the students take a breather during typically stressful testing times. Overall, counselors strive to provide students with activities to promote wellness and resiliency.

Here are just a few more examples of the activities and programs the guidance counselors provide to support students, staff and families:

• Yoga for students and staff before class;
• Wednesday Lunchtime College Application Help Sessions;
• Walk and Talk with your Counselors;
• Individual and group counseling;
• Monthly themes;
• Site Test Coordinators for state mandated assessments such as PARCC, SBA, EOC’s;
• School wide initiatives, such as “Kindness Week”;
• Biweekly newsletter from the high school counselors;
• Coffee with Counselors/Snacks and Chats;
• Parent Nights; and
• Book Group.

Thank you to every LAPS guidance counselor for the work hard given to provide LAPS students the best chance for success.

The ‘Kindness Tree’ is in the main lobby of Barranca Elementary School. Each student during February’s classroom lesson on kindness is asked to either write or draw an act of kindness on a heart. Then the hearts are added to the tree. It is a work in progress, but eventually there will be 400+ hearts on the Kindness tree. Courtesy/LAPS