National Counselors Week

In addition to keeping an eye on the labor needs of local business and industry, my job includes talking to high school counselors to let them know about the programs and courses offered through our Division.

During my visits with these highly trained professionals, we work to identify ways the Division can help newly minted graduates ease the transition from high school to college. In spite of their very busy schedules, I am always welcomed with enthusiasm and excitement about the possibilities our partnership might bring to their students.

While we talk, the counselors discuss their students - their successes and their challenges. They express concern and hope and they elaborate on the creative ways they are working to help students resolve academic and personal problems as they move down the road of becoming successful adults.

As I listen to these multi-tasking masterminds with the hearts of gold and nerves of steel, I am reminded of the unique contributions of professional school counselors within the U.S. school system.

Recently, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed resolutions (S. Res. 16 and H. Res. 56) proclaiming the week of Feb. 2–6, 2009 as National Counselors Week. Based on what I know, I think that Counselors should be celebrated all year long!

BASS Division Counselors
Here at the college, we are extremely lucky to have not one, but two counselors assigned to our division.

As licensed professionals, our counselors are trained to provide personalized guidance in the areas of academic counseling, career and educational counseling, personal-social counseling. They can tell you which courses will transfer into a four year degree and which courses will lead to a workforce certificate. They can help you figure out what kind of courses to take if you want a job that lets you spend all of your time outside, managing people, or crunching numbers.

College, like much of the rest of the world, has changed a lot in recent years. There are so many choices for students that the maze of academic options available can be immensely confusing for someone who has never been to college and would be almost unrecognizable to someone who graduated only a few years ago. It’s nice to know then that there's someone right there around the corner...someone in your corner...who's ready to light the way.
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For information about about programs and courses offered through the Business and Social Sciences Division, contact a Division Counselor:

Matthew Samford

Erma Walker