Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Brandman University
CSPU 618
Veronica Pulido
CAPSTONE PROJECT 2
Abstract
present some recommendations that should be made to the district and board members in order to
School Background
Currently, I am doing my internship at Waterford High School and working alongside the
school’s only counselor. The district has a total of five schools, not including their preschool and
their adult center. There are two elementary schools, one middle school, a high school, and a
continuation school. Within these five schools, there are only two counselors, one at my high
school and the other at the middle school. None of the elementary schools have a counseling
program, but there is one psychologist. The continuation also does not have a counselor at their
site.
Needs Assessment
Before conducting the needs assessment, there were certain needs that were clear simply
from working at the school. Information from the American School Counselor Association
clearly states that the student to counselor ratio should be 1 to every 250 students. However, the
high school has a total of five hundred and twenty-nine students, more than doubling the
caseloads that the current counselor is dealing with. The high school counselor also has a great
amount on emphasis to academics, as well as college and career preparation. Unfortunately, this
allows for very minimal time for socioemotional counseling as well as mental health awareness.
The family and student advocate at the school seems to be the one doing most of that type of
Since there are no counselors at the elementary schools, there is no guidance program
being implemented. Yes, there is a psychologist, but the jobs are not the same, rather the
clinician should only be dealing with a specific students only to devote her/his time to them only
In conducting the needs assessment, it was clear that the guidance program could use
some recommendations. The assessment was administered to some staff and parents, specifically
to those parents who also had children in the other school sites. This way, I would be able to get
Recommendations
With the information gathered, the research conducted, and with my knowledge from this
graduate program, my recommendations are as follow: 1) Add another counselor to the high
school 2) implement a mental health program 3) provide more socioemotional counseling to high
school students 4) Add a school counselor to the elementary sites in order to implement a
guidance program.
Since the ratio of counselor to students is so high at the high school, adding another
counselor will better facilitate services to students because there is less caseload for each
counselor. This will allow sufficient time to be spent on including time on the socioemotional
counseling that doesn't happen as often. Also, the new counselor could also help with the
continuation school. Since there is such a small number (forty-one) of students, they can easily
Having two counselors will also give them both sufficient time to create and implement a
program that can help them focus on mental health. The necessity of bringing awareness is
crucial; it can help prevent issues in the long run to students once they leave school and into their
adult life.
Sometimes, there are issues in a child that do not get the necessary attention needed.
Sometimes, if a child gets help at a young age, it can prevent them from having major issues as
CAPSTONE PROJECT 5
they grow older. Having a school counselor can help, which is why I recommend to add another
counselor, but at an elementary level. This counselor can implement the necessary programs in
Budget
In regards to the cost, the starting pay for an elementary school counselor can range
anywhere from forty-five thousand dollars a year to fifty-five thousand, depending on education
and experience. On the other hand, the annual salary of a high school counselor is higher at a
There is always a way in education where a school can acquire funds if they do not
already have them. Waterford Unified School District already has the resources to give all of
their high school students free lunch, as well as paying for all of their AP testing. I am sure that
they are capable of bringing in two more counselors for the benefit of their students.
Evaluations
Evaluations are annually made by administrators. However, in order to assure that the
new counselors are doing their job right and that they are adhering to an adequate guidance
program, there should be an additional assessment in which the parents, staff and students are
administered a questionnaire. Presenting these people with question such regarding the
counselors’ performance, their collaboration, and any suggestions for the guidance program is all
necessary data that will help build better counseling services to the students.
Lesson Plans
At the high school level, there is a huge need to make changes o their guidance program
by including more mental health education, which should then also help create a bigger emphasis
CAPSTONE PROJECT 6
on providing socioemotional counseling to students. On the other hand, the elementary school
sites need a guidance program to begin with. I am sure that there are simple activities done that a
school counselor would do, but there still needs to be someone in charge whose time is focused
only on counseling.
High School
Given that there needs to be some emphasis on mental health awareness at the high
school level, I have provided a lesson plan that could be used. Bringing up the subject of mental
health may scare some of the students away, after all, they are teenagers who would want to be
identified as mentally ill. So, to start off, there needs to be a talk and activity that will break the
stigma from mental health in order to get students to talk about it. School counselors need to put
an effort in breaking the stigma and not make mental health a taboo where students can’t openly
talk about feeling anxious, depressed, or suffering from a stress disorder. Counselors need to
provide the help they need, to be ears that will hear them out, and the person who will provide
The following lesson plan is from a website called “Walk in Our Shoes.” Since the
passing of Proposition 63 of 2004 in California, there has been an emphasis to provide mental
health education to schools. In partnership with the California government and the California’s
Mental Health Movement, the “Walk in Our Shoes” website provides resources to school
counselor that can be used in their guidance program. The following are only one example of a
This example is only a way to begin to start talking to students about the topic of mental
health. First, there needs to be a talk on stigma and breaking it as well as properly informing
students about what mental health is. Typically, with young kids at this age, they tend to be
fearful about having “mental issues” thinking it means something bad. However, many teenagers
experience anxiety and depression at that age and they should be able to seek the help they need
Elementary School
Since there is not an actual guidance program being implemented at the elementary level,
there are many things that can be brought in to the schools. There are many different activities
that can be done in order to make children more aware. For example, there can be a bully free
week that would consist of showing animated videos to classrooms as well as an assembly. The
counselor could also help teachers with simple activities that can help incorporate the Zero
Tolerance Policy that many schools have in regards to bullies. Another good idea that would
promote good character traits to the older kids (5th and 6th graders) is to be peer mentors with
A topic that I feel needs to be focused on a lot more by some counselors that work with
the younger students is on self-esteem. Many times if a child does not have self-esteem from a
young age, then they can have issues about themselves and their image when they grow older.
Every child needs to understand that they are different, but that they are all specials, regardless.
The following are a few online examples from the Missouri Department of Education
demonstrating the type of activities that can be done in a classroom in order to boost up a
Since there is a big emphasis on college and careers at the high school level, it can also
be brought in even with the little ones. The easiest topic that can attract children at a younger age
is career exploration. Many times, teachers already have fun activites that make a student
communicate what they would like to be when they grow up. It would be fun to have a career
day where all the kids from all the grades can go and explore the different types of career paths
that they can take by having people there with those job occupations. For example, there can be a
booth of a veterinarian with small animals or firemen with all of their gear and a fire truck
outside.
These are only a few examples of what can be incorporated into the guidance program at
the elementary school site. There are still many things not mentioned, such as coping with a
crisis, red ribbon week, social skills training, etc. Clearly, there are many things that need to
brought in to a location that does not have a school counselor, but it all needs to start with the
References
Education.
Association.
“Mental Health.” Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63), 29 Apr. 2014,
www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Pages/MHSA.aspx.