South Tama County school couselors celebrate National School Counseling Week Feb. 2-6. (L-R) Dan Lopez (high school), Kate Ihnen (high school), Sue Bugge (middle school), Anita Townsley (elementary) and Melanie Kemper (elementary) make up the South Tama counseling program. Chronicle Photo/Allison Graham

School counselors, are often unsung heroes whose job is to be there for students and families through the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly parts of life. School counselors wear several different hats from teacher of large group guidance classrooms, small group facilitator, individual counselors and college prep advisors. You will also find the counselors being with students at breakfast and lunch, at extracurricular events, and all over the school buildings during the day. School counselors truly enjoy being around their students.

A press release declared last week (Feb. 2-6) was National School Counseling Week. It was a week designed to spotlight those hardworking individuals while informing the public on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.

The South Tama County School District has five counselors who are highly educated as well as some of the most seasoned staff in the STC school district. Anita Townsley and Melanie Kemper work at the elementary school. Townsley has worked at South Tama for 33 years with 24 years as an elementary school counselor. Kemper has been counseling for 17 of her 23 years at STC. At the STC middle school Sue Bugge has been the counselor for 11 years with a total of 38 years in education. Kate Ihnen is the newest counselor to South Tama. This is her first year working as the counselor for grades 8-10. Dan Lopez has counseled at the high school for the past 15 years.

The mission of South Tama’s comprehensive school counseling program is to provide a comprehensive, developmental, counseling grogram that addresses the academic, career and personal/social development of all students

School counselors are professionally licensed school advocates who provide support to maximize student potential and academic achievements. In partnership with other educators, parents and the community, school counselors facilitate the support system to ensure that all students at South Tama County schools are prepared with the knowledge and skills to contribute at the highest level as productive members of society.

For each of these counselors their daily duties may look different but at the heart of everything they do is relationship building.

Townsley and Kemper work with students ranging in ages from 4-10. They each teach classroom guidance lessons ranging from personal social skills to getting along with others and how to be a successful student. They also meet with students individually and have small groups to address the needs of the students. Bugge sees herself as a student advocate who focuses on the mental health and well being of her middle school students. Ihnen works to prepare eighth graders for their transition into ninth grade at the high school. Lopez works with high school students on their career path as well as their academic and personal development. Lopez also provides college prep advising to students.

Trying to put a finger on what a typical day in the life of a school counselor looks like can be tricky, as their days really depend on what or who walks through their door. Some things that make up their days are classroom guidance lessons at the elementary and middle school levels, phone calls to parents, meetings with parents, one on one meetings with students, small groups and teacher contacts.

“We go to the students,” said Townsley. “We want to be proactive instead of reactive.”

In everyone’s profession there can be many challenges. For Lopez a challenge is working with students who “are kind of floating.” They are the students who don’t have a strong support system. For Bugge it is working with students who have no coping skills and teaching them how to help themselves as well as embrace their education. At the elementary level one of the challenges for Kemper is that she doesn’t always see the immediate difference she is making due to the age group she works with. For Townsley her greatest challenge is realizing that there are things you just can’t change and she simply can’t fix everything.

However with great challenges come great rewards. The common reward amongst each of the STC counselors is the relationships built throughout the years not just with students but with their families as well. Bugge shared a story about a former student who she hadn’t seen for many years. The student told her that he had become a father and loved it so much. It’s seeing students happy in their lives. For Ihnen, who is new to the district, her greatest challenge is also her greatest reward. She has a group of students who she can count on to come in every week and while it is a challenge to meet their needs it is also a reward for her that those students trust her to keep coming back. Townsley’s greatest reward is the trust she has built between the students, their families and the community.

“School counselors serve a vital role in K-12 education. They serve as advocates for the learning needs students in our system and also work to implement equitable services and interventions for all students. They work to build positive relationships with students and seek out community-based resources to meet needs beyond general academics,” said Superintendent Kerri Nelson.